
My cousin Colleen's husband is a watercolor painter who told me something about wet paint that got me thinking about wet wool. Turns out water plays the same trick on both of us -- you can't know what you really have until it's done its work.
A woman in my shop once told me she's never worn a single sweater she's knit. That stuck with me -- because there's a real difference between knitting to relax and knitting for the wardrobe you actually want.
Sizes solved one problem in knitting patterns and quietly created another -- nobody ever taught us how to choose one, or what to do once we had. Here's the real guidance, built around ease, tummy fit, and what construction style has to do with it.