THE KNITTER’S HANDY BOOK OF SWEATER PATTERNS

by Ann Budd,

Interweave Press, 201 East Fourth Street, Loveland, Colorado 80537-5655, Hard cover spiral bound, 218 pages, $26.95.

For most experienced knitters, constructing a sweater and assembling it is not a problem. The hard part is getting sweaters to fit or attempting to modify a pattern or a particular sweater pattern to work with different types of yarns. In her earlier work The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns, Ann provides unique easy to follow instructions for different projects. This book picks up where that one leaves off by detailing charted instructions for six different sweater styles: drop shoulder, modified drop-shoulder, set-in sleeve, saddle shoulder, raglan, and seamless yoke. It is an instruction book of basic designs in multiple sizes and gauges. Each section has a printed tab visible from the edge that makes it easy to locate. And, the entire book is spiral bound which enables it to lay flat while you are working with it.

Ann begins with an overall description of the particular style and then a step-by-step instruction for following the numerous charts in each section. She also provides information about knitting a swatch and measuring one’s gauge prior to getting started. And, she’s offered recommendations for yarn requirements which are also available in a separate laminated brochure in the back pocket of the book.

In the sections for each type of sweater, Ann provides a description of the sweater itself as well as what she calls “basic anatomy.” Then the real detail of the section follows beginning with Child sizing, finished measurements and instructions. The instructions are really a sequence of charts and the knitter progresses through each section being careful to follow the same sizing, gauge from chart to chart. Adult sizes follow the Child section and range from a finished size of 36 to 54. At the end of the various charts, Ann provides finishing details and assembly instructions and hints.

This is a particularly valuable resource for the experienced knitter, but it is not a beginner’s tool. For those of us who have knitted numerous sweaters over the years, the various steps of a sweater are well understood. However, Ann has substituted written instructions with charts and this could be confusing and perhaps a little intimidating to the novice. The parentheses that one is accustomed to for sizing purposes is provided in chart form, sans the detail. Since there can be as many as nineteen different charts on facing pages, it is recommended that you copy or highlight your particular chart or reproduce the information prior to knitting. This will save frustration and prevent reading the wrong chart in the middle of the project.

If you are an experienced knitter and sweater maker, you will love this book. It will be challenging to identify a style of sweater and then put it together utilizing the various options available. According to the author: there are 75 options for each of six styles, or 450 patterns. And if you consider the cardigan versions, that’s 900 possibilities! This could easily be the last sweater pattern book you have to buy.

Reviewed by Betty T. Johnson
Dahlonega, Georgia