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March 19, 2009

The great Maize debate

The body on Maize is done (Ravelry project page).

So what’s the debate, you say? I’m falling a little bit in love with it as a sleeveless layering piece (though, my inner hates-to-get-sleeves-done goblin is, admittedly, playing a role in this). Should I…

a. get it edited now and offer it for sale as is
b. stop being such a sleevehater, get ’em done and then edit/sell
c. offer the sleeveless version for sale now, finish sleeves, rephotograph and send updated file to purchasers when the sleeve info is done?

In writing this out, I’m realizing maybe my sleeve annoyance is a little larger than even I’d thought…argh!

Yes, the designs on the fronts are not the same and are not perfectly symmetrical. Since when have you seen a symmetrical field of corn? Also, I want to add some leaves on to the neckline and corncobs… plus find awesome buttons, of course.

Maybe I should just go fix Ulrike and get her ready for photography and sale first, eh? Get psyched up for sleeve knitting?

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24 comments

  • Janine

    it would look fabulous with trumpet sleeves that echo the flare at the bottom of the body….

    Reply to Janine
  • Tonya

    I actually kind of like it as is – the way the shaping is done would make Maize really cute layered over something simple.

    Reply to Tonya
  • Dana

    I think it is beautiful now, although I have to admit I’d love to see what you did with the sleeves. I guess my vote would be for c. Then it is two patterns in one!

    Reply to Dana
  • spider

    i love it as it is! absolutely gorgeous. you could go for option c.

    Reply to spider
  • Donna

    I really like it as a layering piece as well. What a beautiful pattern!

    Reply to Donna
  • Aesox

    I’m really liking it the way that it is…maybe your sleeve dislike, in this case, is because it doesn’t really seem to need it 🙂

    Reply to Aesox
  • Susie

    No sleeves! No sleeves! What a fabulous summer/transitional piece. With NO sleeves!

    Reply to Susie
  • Kathi D

    I love it without the sleeves. The proportions look great as a sleeveless piece. It is fantastic! Unfortunately, my knitting skills are far too weak to even think of attempting this.

    Reply to Kathi D
  • jonquil

    i plump for c–not only 2 for 1 pattern, but another way to examine how a sleeveless pattern can be altered into sleeves.

    Reply to jonquil
  • wen

    I love it without sleeves however I too suffer from sleeve itis. I hate knitting sleeves as much if not more than you do.

  • Bess

    I vote for c as well. I can see it frolicking at a sunny august picnic noshing the corn on the cob in cotton, or as a late fall post-harvest jacket in wool.

    Reply to Bess
  • Post authorShannon

    I knew you’d all have opinions — yay, thanks! Janine, you’re dead on with what I was thinking (and had a few inches of already on the sleeve needles…)

    In any event, I’ll write it up so you can do it either way.

    Kathi, you could totally do this! The cables are not difficult ones in the least, you just need to pay attention at the funkier parts, just 2 over 2 and 3 over 3 simple cables. You could omit the bobbles altogether if they freak you out or you hate bobbles. Rest is pretty much seed stitch or knitting and purling — really!

    Reply to Shannon
  • honeybee33

    I was gonna vote for (C) too – so glad you decided to go that route! There’s nothing better than a “knitterly” design with a touch of versatility …

    Gorgeous piece! I’m sure my love for golden-yellows has something to do with it. Let’s hear it for us strawberry-blondes! ;~D

    ~ hb33 ~

    Reply to honeybee33
  • Tara

    Oh, I am SMITTEN! I can’t imagine wearing it without sleeves, but if you published it now and sent the sleeves later, we could get started on the body.

    Reply to Tara
  • MagHag

    I thought I never wanted to knit golden-yellow (too much exposure to crappy seventies harvest gold, I guess). Then I saw this pattern. I think it might have changed my mind.

    I vote for sleeves. Definitely. The first comment about flared sleeves to match the peplum of the body was dead on. But I don’t like sleeves with too much volume at the wrist – it tends to get in my way. I wonder how it would look with fitted upper arms and a flare at the elbow so the sleeves end up at about three-quarter length, rather than (as was my first thought) fitted sleeves down to about mid-lower arm and then the flare ending at the wrist. Could you write it both ways?

    And now I’m wondering if there could be a way to knit a body and two sets of sleeves, one full length, one shorter, and be able to swap them out depending on my mood and the weather… but I may just have to see if I can manage the one set of sleeves and a body first, before I go getting all ambitious. I’m just not that fast a knitter.

    Reply to MagHag
  • Jennifer

    I like it sans sleeves!!!

    Reply to Jennifer
  • MD Smith

    Oh, sleeves, please. My arms are not a pretty sight, and I really don’t feel obliged to inflict it upon the unsuspecting public! Even though it is more work for you, I really like MagHag’s suggestion of sleeve variations?

    Many thanks!

    Reply to MD Smith
  • Kim

    Definitely ‘c’. Although I am totally intrigued by the way the armholes are finished and why mess with that?

  • Molly

    I think with the length and the volume at the bottom, it sort of needs some sleeves to balance out that volume. to add one more option – if you cut it off at the bottom of the cables – then it would be AWESOME without sleeves.

    Reply to Molly
  • Kelli Miner

    Gorgeous piece! My vote is for (c). The more choices/options available, the better! Especially for knitted garments. Not all garments fit all people the same … some like sleeves, some don’t … and visa versa.

    Reply to Kelli Miner
  • kristi

    I’d be curious to see it on a person before I really made up my mind 🙂 But for now, I’m seeing it as a vest/jerkin with a poofy sleeved shirt beneath. In a corn field. I think of fresh corn being such a summer treat… maybe that’s steering my thinking.

    But it could be really beautiful with sleeves…

    Reply to kristi
  • Tami

    I am loving it as a sleeveless layering piece ! I think you should stop and edit , then put the pattern up for sale !

    Reply to Tami

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