book:"The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns"

[skNYC]

Does anyone have this book? How do you like it?

[Ingrid]

I have it, but to be honest I haven't used it. It helps you to design your own sweater with lots of different options. I'm not saying it's a bad book--I'm glad I have it. I did use it once to change a neckline, actually. I just have so many other books that I haven't needed to use it, yet.

[Amber]

I have it and just used it to knit a sweater for my ds. I like it. It has several different basic sweater patterns. You choose a yarn and knit a swatch to get your gauge, and then the book does all of the math for you -- you just follow the instructions on the chart for your particular gauge.

I will say that if you want to do anything beyond the most basic stuff, you will still have to do some calculations yourself -- although the book does give instructions on how to do that.

[janelanespaintbrush]

I borrowed it from the library, and returned it without really using it. Still, I can see how it could be really handy. The book pretty much gives step-by-step instructions for several different sweaters styles (drop shoulder, set-in-sleeve, raglan, saddle shoulder, etc., etc., pretty much the basics). It's laid out in a sort of grid form so that it's easy to follow what you need to do for pretty much any size (kids and adults) in any gauge of yarn. The basic instructions include directions for crew neck, v-neck, pullover, and cardigan. She also gives examples on how to personalize the basic designs using different stitch patterns, collars, etc. One thing that I really thought was useful was that she gave yardage estimates for everything. (This is not given in her first book of patterns.) Try checking out amazon for more reviews.[/i]

[Boogs]

I have it and I think it is an excellent guide for constructing your own sweaters.

[Jackie F.]

I have it and recommend it. Each chapter is devoted to a major type of sweater. Within each chapter are charts based on size, guage, cardigan vs. pullover, crewneck vs. other kinds of necklines. (There are also charts for yardage estimates based on guage and size.) The charts are guides as to how you shape the sweater. What I found that was really helpful were the Copycat patterns. I used a raglan Copycat pattern which was written for only one size. Using the pattern, I had to follow the charts and take my own measurements to custom fit and rewrite the pattern for my size. Because of this experience, I now have more confidence in tweaking patterns to fit my size, and I feel that I can change things if I want. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the glossary: it was incomplete as a reference IMHO. But, the glossary is not what I bought the book for.