The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges Spiral-bound – September 1, 2004

Lots of great sweater patterns, well organized. This book will get lots of use.

The ready-made patterns aren’t that great, but it’s really easy to use the charts to design your own.

If you want to make your own sweater design, this book provides great charts and references on how to go beyond the stockinette stitch. Pictures of the sweaters also complement the instructions. You can make sweaters for everyone - babies, children, men, and women. Instructions are included on how to measure gauge, calculating yarn, sweater measurements, etc. Six different types of sweaters are included - drop shoulder, modified drop shoulder, set-in sleeve, saddle shoulder, raglan and seamless yoke. Personal touches are also included such as different neck finishes. I am a beginning knitter but I know this is one book that I can use as I expand my skills. Also, adjusting body or sleeve length, adding stitch or color patterns, and adjusting for different gauges are included. A great basic reference!

This is a great book if you want to design your own sweater. It basically is a buffet of shape and construction options, including drop-shoulder, modified drop-shoulder, set-in sleeve, saddle-shoulder, raglan, and seamless yoke. There's a section on expanding your options, and there are directions, in a chart format, for several different gauges (chart as in a chart listing all the different options, not a chart of stitches... hope that makes sense). The directions are very clear and the back of the book has directions for techniques such as the three-needle bind-off, grafting, etc.The downside to this book is that the sweaters pictured are rather large-gauge sweaters that often do not fit the model very well and so look dated. (I'm thinking particularly of the modified drop shouldered sweater that makes the poor model look like she is being eaten by a snuffleupagus... that she looks so happy to be wearing it is a credit to her. Maybe the studio was really cold.) My guess is that a LOT of sweaters had to be knit for this book, and knitting in a large gauge sped up the process. This is somewhat understandable but unfortunate. Realize that you certainly don't have to knit them that way: directions are given for sweaters with innumerable amounts of ease and plenty of different fits, so the knitter can certainly do better than this. The sweaters pictured are merely examples and not meant to be "this is how your sweater will look." The pictures are the ONLY reason I gave this book four stars as opposed to five because I believe a knitting book's pictures should make people want to knit the patterns.Other than this, however, the book is an invaluable resource for those who want to get away from simply knitting patterns and wish to be creative in their knitting. And the spiral binding is a HUGE plus... I believe more knitting books should be designed this way, because who wants to have to prop their book open and destroy the bidning? I'm currently knitting a British Fisherman's Gansey and several notes in this book helped me a lot.

I know many (I for one) are happy this highly anticipated book came out earlier than the stated release date and it is even more packed with so much good information than Ann Budd's first book of ...Handy Book of Knitting Patterns. Some initial good points about the book: many sweater "palettes" are presented, there's many side points within each section - like how to convert a yarn gauge of yours that isn't included in the book to one that is compatible to a gauge, there's eighteen sweaters knitted up in different yarns that are shown in clear photos, different styles of necks, sleeves, bodies are set out and explained, and! so much more! And for those familiar with the first book - there is an even nicer (deeper) inside pocket provided. The same spiral format is kept which will help in your designing/decision making of your sweater(s). Don't let the higher price point scare you away - the information in this great book more than makes up for the cost.

I was excited to get this book as I like to design my own patterns. I followed one of the patterns and the sweater I made ended up rather big. I think there are some mathematic assumptions made in the master patterns that are generally correct, but may need some readjusting as the knitting happens. For example, in the pattern for a set-in-sleeves sweater (cardigan version), the width at the top of the sleeves is very deep, and the length is way too long. This is more of a tailoring issue, but that should be addressed in the book more. In other words, it would be great if there was a chapter about 'how to customize patterns to fit your particular shape). It doesn't really address (well, at least) how to adjust patterns to fit different body types, or where typically those adjustments are made on the sweater.What DOES work well is that the patterns DO make sense. They are a bit complex to follow (you'll have to leaf through about 10-12 pages as you're working the different parts of the sweater). Also, the math works (I did end up with the proper amount of stitches that the book told me I should end up with at the end of each part.) I also found the different parts fairly easy to put together after I had blocked them.But all in all, I think planning, blocking, seaming, finishing, are all equal parts of the final design and need to be addressed. I think the book could do with expansion on these other areas. It's not a bad introduction, but I ended up more curious about pattern making, and am now starting to make my own patterns as a result.