Knitted Jackets [Paperback]

Cheryl Oberle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2008

These 20 patterns, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced, take knitters on a world tour of buttoned, clasped, and tied coats, jackets, and wraps. Inspired by open-front garments and textiles from around the globe—including Austria, England, Japan, Peru, and Norway—these figure-flattering designs bring a contemporary edge to a variety of knitting traditions. Step-by-step instructions and copious photographs illustrate how to use standard stockinette, garter, and cable stitches to create chic projects such as shepherd’s frocks, tweed coats, Peruvian gauntlet wraps, and Faroese-patterned jackets. More advanced techniques for fanciful lace and colorwork and the history behind beach pattern is also included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Simplicity of design and construction, intelligent instructions, and end products that are attractive, wearable, and timeless rather than trendy recommend this book for all collections."  —Library Journal

"These figure-flattering designs bring a contemporary edge to a variety of knitting traditions. Simple, classic lines provide a nice backdrop for a variety of techniques."  —monstersandcritics.com

"A really nice collection of patterns. Cheryl Oberle obviously worked hard to cover a wide variety of bases, so that there’s something in here for almost everyone."  —KnittingScholar.com

"There are some very interesting jackets. . . . Jackets from short to long and both close and loose-fitting, something for everyone."  —Knitting News

"The designs are imaginative and interesting."  —Bangor Daily News

About the Author

Cheryl Oberle is a regular contributor to Interweave Knits and the author of Folk Shawls and Folk Vests. She is the owner of Cheryl Oberle Designs, a knitting studio. She lives in Denver.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Interweave Press (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596680261
• ISBN-13: 978-1596680265
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great collection!, November 21, 2008

By 

wildknits - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitted Jackets (Paperback)

A really diverse and classic collection of jackets here. The author has showcased some of her signature design techniques like seamless construction and beautiful finishing detail. There is everything from simple garter and seed stitch to two-color work, lace and cables. Many different yarns are used in the projects and each pattern includes information on the yarns that will allow the knitter to choose a substitute yarn easily.

While the majority of the jackets are sized in the conventional method, using one gauge and a different set of numbers for each size, the garments that are sized by changing the needle size are done so for valid design reason. This kind of sizing is actually not new and has been used for centuries to maintain the placement of a well thought out design. The discussion of gauge in the Techniques section of the book makes this super clear. Knitters who understand gauge or want to learn to do so, and those who aren't afraid to try a different technique will enjoy adding this one to their knitting tool belts. The author is also a teacher and is known for the clarity of her directions. The knitter can rest assured that these designs DO work though they might lead to more unconventional and creative thinking!

Interweave has done a nice job visually on Knitted Jackets. The photos do a great job of showing both the whole garment and the detail of the stitches and construction. Every pattern has a diagram with measurements for all sizes. A more detailed index would have been nice though.

Lots here to knit!

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knit jackets from subdued to dramatic--a fascinating collection, November 8, 2008

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Knitted Jackets (Paperback)

Cheryl Oberle is a knit designer who often takes her inspiration from various cultures and traditional garments. Then she fuses the ideas with other cultures or techniques to come up with something unique. The jackets here are quite varied, from traditional structured cabled fabric to more free-form kimono style jackets. When traditional shapes (kimono for example) or Salish jackets are used, there is always a twist or a fusion with an unrelated technique of lace, texture or colorwork to surprise you. Wow! Lace and kimono shaping? Celtic knotwork and Native American knitting? Andean design on modern unconstructed shaping? Wow, that's really interesting--and beautiful.

The book is divided in to three sections:
1. Simplicity (simple shapes)
2. Contrast (color work)
3. Texture (lace and cabling)

As I mentioned above, there are some very interesting fusions--a Celtic-Salish jacket for one example. The jacket is knit in the style of Northwestern Native American knitting in natural wool colors, but the light pattern on the dark wool is a Celtic knot, not a traditional Salish motif! This is sure to please anyone who likes the comfy jacket-style Salish sweater but wants it to look rather different. I also loved the "Wabi Sabi" kimono jacket, which is knit using panels of shaded yarn--a great use for hand-dyed yarns if you can find one in a similar gauge and certainly adaptable if you are handy at modifying patterns (and with simple shapes, this can be done with a bit of thought.) The Cusco jacket has beautiful textures and uses two rectangles to create a short swing jacket with lapels in a modern unconstructed shape that is pleasing and flattering to many figure shapes. The shapes in this book will inspire you to create ideas of your own--especially those based on flat rectangles. These are very adaptable to other knitting techniques and ideas, even to machine-knit fabrics in some cases.

What I didn't like as much were some of the cabled patterns; I thought they were mundane and even some of the designs seemed too similar to one another. However, you might want more structured garments or more traditional (ie Irish or Aran) knitting, so you'd love these. Plus, the book has designs that would work, in some cases, equally well for men or women. I didn't find any of the cabled designs I wanted to make, but that also may reflect my personal tastes in knitting these days. I'll bet there are plenty of knitters who will totally disagree with me about the cables and find they are just what they've been looking for in designs.

As for me, I want to knit the long Edo coat, a mix of Japanese shapes from a hanten coat with lace panels (wow!), the Wabi Sabi (that's the shaded yarn jacket closed with an ornamental buckle) and the Cusco wrap. I have a feeling that there is a jacket in here for every knitter, and that the jackets may inspire your own variation. Just like Cheryl's book of shawls, I think this book is destined to be a staple on many knitters' bookshelves. Recommended --a really wonderful new knitting book.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Knitted Jackets, November 21, 2008

By 

WV Knitter (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitted Jackets (Paperback)

Nice patterns, nice looking book. That said, there is one not-quite-fatal flaw (in my view). Most (not all) of the patterns are sized by changing needle size and gauge, as was done in Folk Vests. I don't believe this works out well on either end of the gauge spectrum; either the knitting is too loose or too tight. With the stable of talent available at Interweave Press, I think they could have done true pattern grading for these.

Intermediate knitters can of course, resize any of these patterns using the "correct" gauge, but it's just one extra step that should have been done by the author/editor.

As with any pattern book, you should check it out before you buy it, but I'd say there will be something that will please every knitter in this one.