Synopses & Reviews
Along with being pleasurable and satisfying, knitting can sometimes be frustrating: the turtleneck that looked so fabulous on the model is too bulky for your body, or the cardigan you spent countless hours on just doesnt fit right. Herein lies the beauty of Custom Knits, which teaches knitters how to use improvisational techniques to achieve spectacular resultsand to unleash their inner designers.
Wendy Bernard, creator of the popular blog Knit and Tonic, provides 25 original designs for sweaters of nearly every type, plus variations, most knitted in one piece starting at the top, a method that allows you to try on as you go, alter as desired, and essentially design on the fly. Make It Your Own” prompts in each pattern suggest easy alterations to suit your style and body type. And an in-depth reference section teaches how to alter key sweater elements, for example, change a crewneck to a V-neck, add sleeves to a vest, and much more. For the truly adventurous, the book concludes with guidelines for knitting sweaters with no pattern at all.
Bernards friendly writing style and photographer Kimball Halls lively images create an inviting book of beautiful designs and key techniques that a knitter can use to customize nearly every garment she knits from now on.
Synopsis
In
Custom Knits 2, Wendy Bernard picks up where she left off in the bestselling
Custom Knits (published by STC Craft), empowering knitters to delve even further into customization. Each chapter begins with a tutorial on the featured topic—such as converting patterns to fit men, women, or children, or tricks and techniques for substituting yarn, gauge, and stitch patterns—and is followed by a selection of Bernards fashionable designs on which to try them. The patterns can be knit as-written or customized; specific prompts for customization are included throughout.
Custom Knits 2 concludes with formulas for making garments without a pattern, using only body measurements as a guide—a graduation of sorts for adventurous knitters.
Custom Knits 2:
“If you thought you learned a lot with Wendy Bernards first book, Custom Knits, hold on to your calculators, knitters! If Custom Knits showed you how do some top-down gymnastics, Custom Knits 2 invites you to join Cirque du Soleil with your brain.”
—Knitty.com
Synopsis
How often have you seen a sweater that was almost perfectandmdash;if only the neckline were different or the sleeves adjusted? Renowned author, designer, and teacher Melissa Leapman shows how to make it so, by modifying a basic pullover sweater pattern to create every possible neckline, sleeve, and body option. The result: more than 6,000 interchangeable combinations to fit every personal preference and sizeandmdash;the most ever included in one book! From saddle shoulder long sleeves to raglan bell sleeves, scoop necks to Henley plackets, or straight silhouettes to empire waistlines, knitters will be delighted to have so many alternatives to choose from.
About the Author
Wendy Bernards work has been featured in the online pages of Knitty and Stitch Diva Studios, in the book No Sheep for You, and in Interweave Knits and Knitscene magazines. She lives in Thousand Oaks, California.
Kimball Hall is a Los Angelesbased photographer with 25 years of editorial and advertising experience. Among his clients are Four Seasons Hotel, American Express, and Bank of America.