Men's Knits: 20 New Classics

Men's Knits: 20 New Classics by Erika Knight

As a woman, I find it much easier to knit for other women than it is to knit for men. This issue isn't just about me being female, I have met male knitters who struggle to find good, modern knitting patterns for men. I recently checked out a bunch of men's knitting books I had never seen before from my local library. (Thank you Evanston Public Library for being the source of so much content for my blog!)

I love it when I open a knitting book and there are thumbnails of all of the designs in the contents. Right away I have an amazing summary of what the book is about.

The patterns include:

• Pullovers - 11
• Vests - 2 (but there are at least 4 different vests you can make from these two patterns)
• Cardigans - 5
• Scarves - 2
• Hats - 2

I like that the book is focused mostly on sweaters. These designs are very classic, and you should be able to find one that will suit your men's taste. I love that these designs are so simple that they are basically a blank slate to add your own colorwork.

I have been looking a lot at sweater vest patterns recently. My SIL wants us to have an ugly Christmas sweater tradition (Her sweater dress with reindeer isn't ugly at all, but I know what she is going for.) I cannot see myself making Keith a whole sweater that he may only wear once a year, but I would love to design a vest for him. Sorry for the digression from the review, but the Plain, Argyll and Check Vests is the type of silhouette that I would go for.

Don't come to this book if you don't already know how to knit. There are instructions for garment care and fiber selection, but there is no how-to-knit section here.

This book shows pictures of each garment flat (as the schematic) in addition to multiple modeled photos. I give this book an A+ for showing off the sweaters. You wouldn't look at these sweaters and immediately go to thinking that they are hand knit, which speaks to a level of refinement to the designs.

I think my favorite sweater of the bunch is the Herringbone Sweater - and not just because it is knit with baby alpaca! I love the herringbone zigzags, and the sweater is so classic and lovely. Too bad Keith won't wear V-neck sweaters... but a crew neck wouldn't be as wonderful with the design.