Customer Reviews

Design Your Own Knits in 5 Easy Steps

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is very exciting. It's just what I was looking for. It is extremely well organized and concisely put together. I think that is the most impressive part, for me. Sections include choosing the right fiber, proper swatching, proportion, going from idea to paper, and then paper to pattern. It's true there aren't any patterns included, but that's the point isn't it?

Instead there are frameworks to help you design your own. For example, under Basic Shapes is the Scarf. How to design and knit a scarf. Points to consider for scarves. A template of a scarf. Too easy? How about a Slipover. A drop-shoulder sweater. A sweater with set-in sleeves. Each comes with a "how to design and knit" section and a template to give you an idea of what pieces are involved and how they go together. There's a section on necklines, collars, and sizing charts for men, women, children, and babies.

The book addresses choosing a direction to knit in (top to bottom or vice versa, center out, etc), working with color, and determining how much yarn will be needed. Working with repeating patterns, texture, scale. Sorry, I'm rambling. It's just that cool of a book.

Very easy to read and understand and starts from real basics about design and inspiration. It doesn't teach all the fundamentals about knitting itself but that's because this is a design (for knitting) book so it assumes the reader already knows how to knit (otherwise why would you want to be designing something you have no clue about, right?!) I give it 4 stars only because it doesn't go through all the possible stitches you can do for knit design, but then, like I said, this is more about setting up design, rather than how to do the stitching. If you want to learn more about stitch dictionary, other books will be necessary, such as Vogue reference book.

I like the illustrations and photos in it that really help visualize the concepts, the language is simple, and the graph paper is definitely going to be helpful.

this book is good in:
1. it's quite complete for basic designing reference...
2. it has formulas of some knitting project...
3. it has grid paper on the bag...so you can scan it and use it..
4. it gives more knowledge about knitting to newbie...like yarns type, swatching, etc...
this book is really-really basic for designing...no patterns here...

the paper of this book is thick, plastic like...very good stuff...

hey, this is not a tutorial book, ok?...so, if you expect a tutorial, don't buy this book...this book is a tutorial for knit designing...

This would be far more useful if the knitting graph paper included had been of several different sizes--3 stitches to the inch, 4, 6, etc. instead of being all at the same gauge--and been included separately. Not everybody likes to write in books.

The instruction was fine, as far as it went, but I would have liked to see more in terms of edging/finishing instruction, or as least a comprehensive bibliography.

Check out of your library first.