Niente male...?

(Not bad...?) 

(Oggi ho fatto un esercizio:  ho fatto la traduzione senza dei dizionari.  Chiedo scusa per tutti i sbagli!)

While waiting in the Milano Centrale train station to make a connection to Venice, I spotted several Italian knitting and crochet magazines in a newsstand.  I chose one based only on the cover; these stands display their less-popular magazines behind locked glass doors, so you can't flip though them, and it takes a braver person than me to riffle through all the pages while the newsstand proprietor is standing there waiting, key in hand, glaring at you as his other customers shuffle their feet impatiently.

 Mentre stavo aspettando un treno nella stazione Milano Centrale, ho visto alcune riviste lavorare a maglia ed uncinetto italiane in edicola.  Ne ho scelto una usando solamente il coperto; queste edicole hanno tante riviste dentro vetrine chiuse, quindi non si puo vedere le pagine, e ci vuole qualcono piu coraggioso di me di vederle con calmo mentre il commesso (e gli altri in coda) stanno aspettando.

 So I had no idea of what I would find inside this magazine, and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and creativity of styles.  Altogether there are 38 patterns, and pictured are my favorites.

Ecco, non sapevo per niente che cosa trovarei dentro questa rivista, e non aspettavo cosi tanti modelli diversi.   Sono 38 modelli, e queste foto sono di miei preferiti.

When would I ever find the time to knit these?  No idea, to be honest.  But I took a look at the directions anyway, and very quickly I noticed a few things:

1)  All yarns called for are Lana Grossa.  Yes, this magazine is in fact published by Lana Grossa.
2)  It was published in Germany (and translated into Italian), thus cannot really be called an Italian knitting magazine.
3)  For most of the styles, directions are given for only one size; for 13 of them, directions are given for 2 sizes.

Quando avrei il tempo per fare questi?  Non lo so.  Pero', li guardavo attentamente, e subito ho scoperto alcune cose:

1)  Tutti i filati sono Lana Grossa.  E' vero, questa rivista e pubblicata da Lana Grossa.
2)  Era pubblicata in tedesco (e tradotto in italiano), quindi non si puo chiamarla veramente una rivista italiana.
3)  Per la maggiorparta dei modelli, le istruzioni sono per soltanto una taglia; per ne 13 di loro, le istruzioni ne sono per due.

 I had read that most Japanese patterns are written for only one size, and it is up to knitters to resize if they are unlucky enough to fall in love with a pattern that doesn't happen to be written in their size.  I'm bemused by this:  on the one hand, the Japanese patterns I've seen tend to be quite complex and would probably be difficult to write in a range of sizes; on the other hand, that complexity would make it hard for the average knitter to resize a pattern for her (or him) self.   On the other hand, every pattern doesn't have to be written for lots of sizes; a complex stitch or color pattern might work with only a certain number of stitches (some of Alice Starmore's work comes to mind), and could probably be resized somewhat by changing gauge.

But I digress.  The patterns in this booklet are not that complex.  So out of curiosity, I got out my calculator to see how many of these 37 patterns (1 of 38 was for a cap, in one size) a knitter of a certain size could make.  I've changed European sizes of 38 to 50 to CYCA standard sizes; note that XS-S, S-M and M-L are in-between sizes, NOT inclusive of both.

Causa di curiosita', volevo capire quanti modelli qualcuno di qualche taglia (CYCA taglie) potrebbe fare.  Ed eccoci qua:

XS-S:  0
S:  10
S-M:  21
M:  12
M-L:  8
L and up:  0

Now, I know that this is not because all women in Germany are between a size S (bust circumference 33 to 34 1/2 inches) and a size "M-L", (bust circ. of 38 to 39 1/2 inches)!  I've been told that Italian knitting patterns tend to be written in only one size; is this typical of European patterns in general?

Allora, ben so che questo non e' perche' tutte le donne in Germania sono fra taglie "S" (84-88 cm) e "M-L" per una taglia; e' anche generalmente normale per modelli europei? (96-100 cm)!  Ho sentito che le modelli maglie italiane sono solitamente scritti

Comments

[iris]

I grew up in the States of German parents. My mother sewed/knit all my clothes until I was a teen when I would sew/knit some of them. We always used Burda magazines, sometimes Neue Schnitt. Patterns were always included (we would trace them off the master sheet with wax paper or tracing paper) and they always appeared in just one size, until about 20-25 years ago when they started offering them in perhaps two sizes, and then they started having one special pattern per month that came in all sizes (knitting pattern continued to be offered in only one or two sizes). It still remains pretty much the same today.

We learned a few things from this: first, to adapt anything to fit our own measurements; second, to look at the pattern diagram, not the picture, find another similarly-shaped pattern in some other magazine that's the correct size and just include the design features that we liked from the wrong-sized pattern. European knitting patterns also use charts which makes it easier to make changes. And yes, we adjusted the gauge routinely with both needle size and yarn weight, the yarn weight mostly out of necessity because we couldn't get the same brand of yarn here anyway in those days.

I often found that the patterns were well-suited to, and most flattering for, the sizes they were designed for. I also found that if I waited long enough they'd eventually offer a similar pattern in the size I needed.

One thing I have found in the past five years or so, there is nothing in Burda that calls to me anymore - I have stopped my subscriptions completely and occasionally look at one on the newsstand but seldom buy it. The knitting books here are much more interesting these days than any I have seen in Europe. But I really like the one you picked up - will have to look for that one when I'm in Bavaria at the end of the month!

[Annette]

My experience with Burda magazine is different from Iris's - perhaps because it's more recent. Burda now offers all sizes (and I think it was the same about 20 years ago, but perhaps the size range was more limited).
As knitting (and crochet) patterns go, here in France the market is dominated by Phildar and Bergere de France. They offer multiple sizes in their catalogues/mags. Phildar crochet patterns are charted, and each size is charted out on special "tear-out" sheets at the back of the mag. (They are not very complex, though). However, when I stumble upon an occasional pattern in a general craft mag (like Marie-Claire Idées), the size range is often limited, sometimes only to one size.

[melusine_tricote]

Sappi anche che 'Filati' è tradotto in francese. Non l'ho mai comprato, ma ci guardo spesso. Buona domenica !

[Typesetter]

Most Italian magazines offer only one or two sizes, both smallish. You should try and buy a knitting special from Mani di Fata: most patterns are only sized for sizes 42 and 46 (that would be a S and a M, except that in recent years sizes seem to have been "resized" a lot. most are very briefly explained , to the poin that usually to knit a pattern you need lots of extra infor that you usually don't know where to get: essentially knitting in Italy is made popular through books that are aimed at absolute beginners and magazines that offer intermediate knits explained for very expert knitters (due to te brief text). Also, most commonly the explainations are hard to interpret also because they are compressed at the end of the magazine, with very small type and no interlines, allin one paragraph, so that you have a very hard time each time you need to look for an information included in the pattern.