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 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.
I loved this book. It's not easy to find good, modern patterns for men. I spent hours searching on Ravelry and in the end decided to spend some money and buy a few books. Of the ones I bought, this is my favourite. The Instructions are easy to read - well-laid out with good typography and clear language. The patterns are modern, but not trendy - as the title says "new classics" - the designs will look up-to-date for a few years, so if you're tired of the same stripy jumpers and cabled cardigans, but you don't want something that's only "in" for six months, this is a great choice. It's things I would wear myself - in fact now I do. Much thanks to you for this post. men's issues
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