Customer Reviews

Sweater Design in Plain English

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am an intermediate knitter who has been stifling my own creativity by knitting from commercial patterns for years. I have no knitters in my family, and taught myself to knit from books and help from art teachers in junior high school. Maggie Righetti is the knitting grandmother I never had, and always wanted. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a no-nonsense attitude of playfulness that cuts through the mystery and fear associated with design. Her first chapters are about the psychological barriers that keep knitters from taking control of their own craft, and this good-natured lecture is truly inspiring. Then she talks about the design issues and challenges associated with designing for REAL bodies of all types. Her attitude toward the fact that many people are bigger than the commercial designers assume, and that proportions can differ from that standard, but can still be beautiful, is refreshing. It's even--dare I say it--feminist! Righetti tells us to choose yarn that inspires us, then knit swatches with a variety of stitches and patterns. The swatch is not just to check gauge, but to let the yarn "tell you what it wants to be." Some may find this silly, but it has helped me to let my creativity go, and I am now working with a beautiful, inspiring purple mohair that told me it wanted to be a short-sleeved evening sweater with simple lines. The yarn didn't want anything fancy to upstage it (as if that was possible). My only complaint with the book is that the practice sweaters given are not the most stylish, and as many design techniques are taught in the context of these sweaters, it can be difficult to find a technique you want to use if you don't go through each of the design projects in detail. I highly recommend this book, and plan to check out her other books.

When I first bought this book, my knitting experience was not matured enough to appreciate the depth of the information contained in this book. To be honest, I was even dissapointed since the style of sweaters shown was not stylish, the models wearing them were not stylish commercial models. The book is full of English text and has no eye-candy photos. So it had been sitting in my bookshelf for almost one year,I even thought about selling it.

One Saturday afternoon, out of boredom, I decided to pick it up to read, laying on the bed. I could not believe that I could not discover the wisdom that the authour generously shares with us. My knitting knowleadge by then has grown to understand the authour's intention. Most of us do not have perfect bodies so that we need skills to knit to fit better. The models shown are real people with real mesurements! The sweaters are simples ones knitters tend to come back after ellaborately ornamented commercial patterns, which are often too-stylish to wear everyday.

All these knitting skills for size-manipulation were right there in her book at my hand. I looked for those informaiton here and there scattered in many other books, but most of the time I could not find them in any where. For example, how to plan bust darts by short-rowing were something I always wanted to know.

Her charting system is good model to copy. Math for knitting is well explined. If you can draw it and can do the math part of it, you can knit it. The price is very generous for the wealth of information contained. Probably, no color photos, no expensive commercial models have contributed greatly to its price. I am grad she made the book easy access to many people.

I would reccomend this book to intermidiate to advanced knitters.

I bought this book after I read "Knitting in Plain English". It is a great book. It helped me get over my fear of actually making a sweater. And though I didn't use any of the patterns in the book they did help me when I wanted to a make a certain sleeve or vary the neckline. It is a great reference book for anyone tired of following patterns that don't quite look right.

This book is amazing! I'm not even completely through the first section and I find that it's been well worth the money. Even if you never plan on designing your own sweaters this book is worth reading. The explanations of how the various factors such as body shape, 'standard' measurements and the drape of different yarn types affect the finished project will help anyone improve on the fit of even published patterns as well as improve your satisfaction with the final product.
Buy it, you won't be disappointed!

The author does an excellent job of explaining sweater construction and fit for a wide variety of body types. She also discusses common sweater knitting pitfalls at length. This book is not only an essential reference for designing a sweater from scratch, but also for customizing and/or correcting other people's patterns.

I bought Sweater Design in Plain English based on written reviews from experienced knitters and find that it is now the most important book in my knitting library. There is wealth of pertinent information for any knitter who is serious about design and quality. I am a veteran knitter and appreciate all the information that is now at my fingertips. Thank you Maggie.

This is the first book that really explained how to design your own sweaters! She teaches you how to completely measure the individual you are knitting for, how to chart your sweater, and how to sketch it all out so you can execute it properly.

This book has everything you need to start using your knitting skills to design your own sweaters instead of relying on poorly written patters or even modify commercial patters to suit your needs.

Maggie Righetti's sweater design book walks the timid knitter through the swamps, crags and deserts that a pattern addict must travel to design her (or his) own sweater. Clear writing, pleasant encouragement and plenty of illustrations make this a basic addition to the serious knitter's book shelf.

If you have ever made a sweater just hoping it would fit, well, no more. Maggie takes the guesswork out of the planning, so the knitting really gives you the sweater you want to wear. The language is easy to understand, the examples and details make sense and give you tools to apply to your own knitting. She defines body types and tells how to plan sweaters that will look good on them. She warns of pitfalls in planning for Big and Beautiful people and then tells how to adapt the design to make it look great.

It is an excellent resouce for any knitter.

Lots of practical style and shape advice about what works with what body style and what doesn't. Sensible instructions on making your garments fit. Patterns and advice are also available and the patterns are easy to read. The patterns are also practical. Use this book to futher your education in knitting and designing garments that you will be happy with.