Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Visually Knitting Design: Working from a Master Pattern to Fashion Your Own Knits (Teach Yourself Visually)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book. I used to search high and low for patterns that would suit particular yarns from my (huge) stash. Now I can sit down with yarn, needles, this book, and an idea of what I want to make, and I'm ready to go. Sharon Turner has done all the tedious math in this book so I can focus on the design.

I've made a number of garments with this book already: socks, hats, hand warmers, mittens, and even a sweater (which was a piece of cake!). As I've worked on these knitted items, I've begun to get a much better understanding of knitting (patterns aren't so mysterious after all), and I'm finding that I don't even need the book all the time when I want to create something new. On top of that, I've grown really frustrated with run-of-the-mill patterns because they're often so poorly written and buggy. Why struggle through that when I can use this clear, well-written book to create my own unique items?

This is probably the last knitting book I'll ever have to buy. Yay! I spent hours last year searching for a cabled vest pattern and couldn't find exactly what I was envisioning. Then I got this book with directions for every kind of vest, sweater, scarf, bag, hats, mittens and shawls one could possible want. Not only are there all the elements to incorporate into creating one's own patterns for all these items, but Sharon Turner's directions are so clear that even a rather inexperienced knitter (me!) can easily follow them and create the pattern of one's dreams. Sharon even shows you varied stitch patterns. I sincerely recommend this book for every knitter from inexperienced to expert! Joan Parlin

I have been looking for a book like this for ages. I never seem to be able to stick to a knitting pattern from start to finish. There is always something I want to change, and this book shows how to do just that.

The book really does break down the design process, but doesn't leave everything up to you. The author has done all of the dirty work (like the math and yarn calculations), leaving the fun stuff like choosing yarn gauge and style for me! There are charts with many different gauges and sizes included for hats, sweaters, mittens, socks and other stuff. I have never gotten how to do gloves, and there are some very clear pictures of how to do the fingers step by step.

This books is going to get a lot of use. I just wish it were spiral bound.

I own a whole shelf of knitting books, and I have to say I use my
Visually knitting book more than any of the others. I used to buy
knitting books based on how they looked, but I'm so tired of getting
these books that look beautiful, but contain instructions that are
riddled with errors or are just plain incomprehensible. These books are
not like that. (I also have the sewing one in addition to these 2
knitting books.) I have only just gotten this latest book, but I have
already started to make a fun bag, and my first pair of socks. I didn't
even have to go out and buy special yarn, because the book contains
instructions for making all of the things (scarves, mittens, wrist
warmers, gloves, sweaters, hats, bags etc) in several sizes AND gauges.
I was able to just use yarn I had on hand.

Like the other Visually Knitting book, this one is chock full of useful
information, clear illustrations and photos and very clear
instructions. I could use just this one book to make hundreds of
things.

This book is an incredibly dense knitting resource. It is literally packed with knitting patterns, techniques and suggestions for individualizing other knitting patterns--written clearly and filled with color images on every page. It covers every possible thing you could want to knit (hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, sweaters, bags) but in every size from baby to adult male, and in several different gauges for each category! It breaks each thing down into steps so that you can choose one type of hem, brim or cuff, then choose another shaping style, and so on. All the math is right there. I didn't really realize how knit items could be interchanged in terms of parts like that, and I feel like I have a renewed understanding of how to approach all knitting projects. The only thing I wish it included is how to add a hood to a sweater. Other than that, everything's in this book. A great value.

As a college student, I am always interested in the current trends. While I had heard for quite some time now that knitting was making a comeback, it seemed difficult to apply this trend to my everyday life. Though the idea of knitting a cute sweater or funky miniskirt always seemed appealing, I have often left knitting shops discouraged at the thought of spending hard-earned money and hours of time only to be left with a frumpy, unfashionable garment.

My mom sent me this book recently hoping it would solve my knitting dilemma, and to my amazement, it has! Though I am by no means the best knitter, this book makes it easy to make the image in my head correspond with the product that emerges from my needles. It is so fun to see a product in an expensive boutique and know that I could make it for half the cost, in a better color no less.

I own Sharon Turner's other two books, and therefore did not need any convincing to explore this latest one she has written. But for anyone who is not certain if this product will suit your needs, I encourage you to buy it and take a look. You won't be sorry!

"Teach Yourself Visually Knitting Design" provides master patterns for knitting scarves, hats, bags, socks, gloves, mittens, vests, sweaters and cardigans. What that means is that all you have to know is the size of the garment you want to knit and the tension you are going to knit it in (you select the wool and needle size you want to use) and gives you instructions (numbers of stitches to cast on, increase, decrease etc) for knitting the particular garment you want to knit. A large number of variations are provided in each case. So, for example, if you wanted to knit a sweater, you can choose between a round neck or a v-neck, and from one of five different sleeve styles. And, from my experience, these patterns work every time.

I find this book to be particularly useful when used in combination with other knitting books. Often I will see instructions for knitting a jumper where I like the intarsia design on the front, but I don't like the style of the jumper. By using this book, I can design the style of jumper that I want to wear and then add the intarsia design to the front of that.

This book is very well presented, with much of the vital information provided in easy to read tables. There are colour photographs throughout and detailed instuctions (with illustrative photos) are given on the basic knitting techniques. This is the most useful knitting book that I own and I highly recommend it to knitters of all skill levels.

This is a wonderful book to add to your knitting library. With master patterns for scarves, hats, bags, socks, mittens and gloves, vests, and sweaters everything is just about covered. Many variations are offered to make each knitted item your very own design. And I really love being able to use the yarn and needles that I have on hand rather than having to buy more yarn for a certain project. This book will give you inspiration for a lifetime of knitting.

This book is a little strange, it gives you some good info, and on the other hand, some weird things as well. For instance in the hats section, she only gives gauge for casting on as 2 sts per inch, 3 or 4, but gives up to seven per inch for yardage requirements, and decreasing.

The printing on my copy was quite bad, some pages were blurry, so blurry it hurts my eyes to look at them. A few of the pictures are also slightly blurry.

Lastly, I found the actual garments to show some horrid knitting errors, that really have me wondering who test knitted these things? The gloves are slightly bulbous on the fingertips, the mitten thumbs look like they were made for sausages, and there is a sweater that the sleeves were set in so badly I can't believe they put it in the book, several times. Many of the garments are knitted with uneven gauge, with tight rows of stitches and loose floppy rows. Some of the knitting just looks horrible, and I am rather disappointed at the quality. It appears to have some good stuff in it, but I'm a little afraid to cast on a sweater that has arm joins that are awful, with obvious blaring mistakes all over it. Most of them had some sort of mistake that I could see, and I usually can't see that stuff. I wouldn't pay too much for this book.

I'm a relatively new knitter, yet at the point where I was frustrated by the lack of patterns for the type of sweater that suited my style. I now feel so free to make whatever suits me in my exact size. The instructions are perfect for us "visual learners" - very clear and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.