Customer Reviews

Men Who Knit & The Dogs Who Love Them: 30 Great-Looking Designs for Man & His Best Friend

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own a couple of other books on sweaters for men. This one has a nice variety--nice twist on some classic styles for men. There are 11 sweater/pullover projects, 1 vest, 1 pair of socks, 3 hats, and 1 scarf for men. Most of the sweaters call for needles from US size 4 to size 8. There is only 1 project that calls for US size 10.5. They cover a variety of technique from simple stripes and textured stitches to intarsia, fair isle, slip stitch/mosaic, regular vs. yoked, double row collar, etc.

There are a lot of variety for men's best friend, too--kerchief, pullovers, muscle T, toy, socks, sofa, bed, saddlebag--17 projects. Even though I don't own a dog, I will probably try out some of these doggie patterns anyway and may adapt some for the cats.

There is a good section on techniques and sizing charts for men AND dogs. Special techniques covered includes short row, tubular knitting with 2 circular needles and cabling without a cable needle. The cabling trick is really helpful as I am working on a aran sweater. This trick allows me to do the cables faster. Annie Modesitt also invented the special stitch to make the dreadlocks shown on the cover. I may use this for fringes on my next scarf. Sprinkled through out the book are also quotes from men who knit. This book is a definite keep for me.

My DH recently had knee surgery. To alleviate his boredom during recovery, I quickly taught him to knit, and ordered this book and The Knitting Man(ual): 20+ Projects for Guys to help him along (and keep him out of my organized knitting reference library!)

DH disliked The Knitting Man(ual) and considered the patterns "impractical." He didn't like its rolled-neck, -sleeved, -waisted sweater (tho' there's a similar one in this book), or one featuring a "too-wide" boat neck. He also didn't like The Knitting Man(ual)'s minimalist instructions. The other book was written by a woman, and DH felt it presented a limited view that all men who knit are of a single young, urban, artsy demographic. (I, however, am keeping that book for its top-down hat pattern, and its sock patterns, since it's already here.) DH did like its hiking sock pattern.

But THIS book - written by male and female knitters - really fueled DH's knitting frenzy. Although he would never wear the Rasta hat on the cover, he immediately considered making it without the curlicues. He loved many of the other designs, particularly the colorwork ones, and wondered out loud how they would look in such-and-such different colors.

DH found the instructions (including "Western," "Eastern," and "Combined" knitting techniques - i.e., English/German, Crossed, and Eastern Uncrossed) to be in-depth, easy to understand, and well-illustrated. Being a Combination knitter myself, I was glad this book presented such "open-minded" instructions from which a beginner could choose what happened to be most comfortable.

DH thinks the photos are good, and the designs are "practical" and "wearable," yet not ultra-conservative. He said the other book was "trying too hard to look cool" whereas this one showed realistic models in realistic - yet creative - clothing.

As he paged through it, DH stated that he would be comfortable wearing any of the designs (with some modifications) whereas he would only wear one or two things out of the other book. This book made him want to MAKE these items, too - as well as several items for our beloved rescue Doberman, Emma. He has several projects now in mental queue...

The only reason he gave this book four stars out of five is because he felt many of the patterns were high on the difficulty scale (multiple colors) for someone without a lot of knitting experience - yet those are the designs he likes the most, too. After looking at it, I (a more experienced knitter) feel it offers a very wide range of projects, from easy to thought-provoking. Annie Modesitt's authorship is evident.

The range of sizes for both humans and dogs is from XXS to XXXL (humans to XXXXL), with great measurement charts. There are brief instructions for using stitch markers, working from charts, increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches, cable cast-on, intarsia, double knitting, steeking, short rows, cabling without a cable needle, knitting a tube with two circular needles, i-cord, sewing in a zipper, seaming, and three-needle bind-off; there is also a knitting term glossary. The instruction illustrations are clear, as are the pattern charts.

Projects include: many differing human and dog sweaters, dog kerchief, dog toy, a dog bed, a dog "sofa," human toe-up socks, dog cuff-down mutt-luks, a dog treat bag (so handy for clicker training!), mitered dog blanket, human funky Fair Isle hat, double-knit hemp leash (for which DH is already planning to raid my stash), doggie saddlebags, a simple human scarf and hat, cabled vests for humans and dogs, and the Rasta items on the cover.

Both dog and human models are attractive and friendly looking. The presentation is excellent. I personally find some of these designs to be more "artsy" than the OTHER book (though I also like this one better), which just goes to show you: it is hard for a woman to choose a knitting pattern - or knitting BOOK - for a man. Best just to teach them to knit and let them make their own knitted items!

Even the introduction is witty and made DH laugh.

I bought this book after seeing one of the hats on "Knitty Gritty" and was not disappointed. The designs are wearable and just beautiful, and instructions are clear and thoughtfully given. There are many sweater designs here that I will eventually knit up. Can't wait.

I currently have no family of the four legged variety (does one count a crawling baby?) but I have plenty of plans for the mens patterns! Snatched this from my local B&N as soon as it came out, and I love it. Definetely recommend!

Great book. Loved it. Many neat patterns for guys, as well for their four-legged pals, the dogs. An ideal book for any dude who knits. Entertaining to read, and easy to follow the various patterns and instructions.

It is so hard to get decent knitting patterns for men --this book delivers. The doggie patterns are cute too.

I love this book it is well written and the photo images are illustrated beautifully.I can assure you your hubby,best friend,& fido will love to recieve
any one knitted item from this wonderful book.

Enjoy,
Rickey.

I liked this book because it had some different dog sweaters than other books out there. The instructions are clear. The pictures of the sweaters ae very good to get an idea for your dog. I made two sweaters from this book and they are both very nice. They knit up fast.

I really liked this book. Great photos, size charts for both men and dogs, easy to follow directions. HOWEVER, Amazon is now selling this as a defective bargain book at reduced price. I got it here last week before it was determined they were defective and reduced the price. It's got a crushed spine, (not exactly a slight imperfection) but they won't replace it or give me a price reduction. I can get a refund and then buy it from one of their outside sellers, pay shipping, and wind up paying even more!! Buy the book, but NOT FROM AMAZON.

I love this book! It's as simple as that. I love the dogs (how did the photographer get them to do that?), I love to look at the handsome (the "take home to met the folks" type) male models, and most of all I love the patterns. There is something for every experience level, from small/easy dog toys to a sweater that incorporated cables AND fair isle, which will be my first project as soon as I finish my current project. (I can't wait) I've read a few tutorials in the front of a few knitting books in my time, and this one is very well written, with easy to understand sizing charts for men and for dogs, both of which can be hard to find.

You won't be disappointed.