Customer Reviews

Everyday Style: Classic Knits for Women

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

 

 

I must differ with the previous review. The styles are classic and nicely done. I like all of the designs, except for the design for a gansey with elongated ribbing at the bottom. Everything else is wearable, and sized for _real_ women. Most designs will fit at least a 1x.
There is a nice shawl pattern and an everyday cardigan as well as the beautiful top pictured here. Yarns used range from worsted to bulky, although the shawl is laceweight. There is a beautiful sleeveless top, with very pretty lace on the bottom.
This book is a great purchase for anyone that wants classic designs, especially for real sized women.

I actually was thinking of buying this book, based on one sweater shown in one of my knitting catalogs. However the other reviewers held me back from buying it. At the same time, I wondered if they were being just too fussy.

No, they were not. They were right on the button.

I have just returned from two days at the Stitches West Convention where I saw this book. I looked through the entire book. There were only two sweaters I would have made in the whole book (that's why it gets 2 stars). The rest were not my taste at all.

Another reviewer complained about the book having too many designs for fat people in the book. A lot of the models wearing the sweaters were on the plump side but so am I (in the olden days, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, it was called a matronly figure). I still would not wear the sweaters they were modeling.

Just because I am plump and older does not mean I want to look dowdy or out of date. However I also do not want to look silly dressing in something that really only looks good on young women or those who have had extensive comestic surgery so they look like a young woman. In the dinosaur days, it was called "mutton dressed as lamb."

So pretty much everything in this book was unappealing to me. I could not even think of ways to alter the patterns to make then more appealing.

After having seen it, I am definitely NOT buying it.

Got this one at Amazon's latest clearance for a fraction of cover price, and that mitigates for me in favor of ownership. Only a few patterns in here that I might make, but I agree that it's nice to see a pattern book that swings more towards sizes more common for grownup women. "Fat sizes"? I'd say the most common in the book are 36-40 inches, although yes, there's more here in the way of "big girl" 52" bust sizes than "human coathanger" 28".

Some interesting uses of variagated yarns, if you have some of those to use up. Otherwise unremarkable, but the patterns are simple and clearly diagramed so as to be a joy for those interested in simple templates to incorporate some element or accomodate a different gauge yarn. It's a tough market for knitting books these days - so many amazing free patterns out there, that you really have to be "well above average". By that standard, Ms. Noble's book is fun, but no "must have".

I had to return this book immediately.

There was nothing I would want to make or wear, most of the sweaters were for fat sizes and the styling was ordinary. I guess classic means ordinary in this context.

The lace panel at the bottom of a "Hawaiian" sleeveless blue variagated top was chaotic.

The picture in the illustration for this book is the only acceptably stylish sweater in the book, but not good enough for me to keep the book.