Customer Reviews

The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The title of this knitting book is accurate; you'll find thirty simple, straight lined knitting patterns for sweaters, tops, cardigans, jackets, hats and throws. Most of them are done in the trendy bulky wools that have become a hot item with the young and fashionable. If you are one of those "young and fashionable" who longs to learn knitting and make a trendy outfit to wear, you are going to like this book a lot.

The initial chapter illustrates basic knitting instruction with good drawings. However, if you are a brand-spankin' new knitter, it's probably a good idea to supplement this with a video or lessons from a knitting friend.

The rest of the book is devoted to various styles of clothing, including the popular funnel-neck pullovers and their kissin' cousin the turtleneck. There are sexy tank tops, from slim and summery to more season-crossing sleeveless tops that could go under a jacket in fall or even winter. There is a long jacket that is particularly nice and a poncho or ruana based on rectangles that looks elegant. There are quite a few models even I would knit, and I am not particularly a fan of the bulky yarn trend (and I certainly am not young and fashionable.) The back of the book lists the yarn sources, for those who want to replicate the models in identical wools.

If you don't like the bulky style, however, this book really isn't for you. There isn't a lot of fine detail work, color work, or other fancy technique. As the title says, this is simple. If you are a new young and trendy knitter, this book will probably become your designing bible-that is, until the styles change. And when they do, you can adapt these classic shapes to new yarns and new trends. Meanwhile, you can learn knitting from these patterns, as it is far easier to begin with straight lines and big yarns.

Recommended highly for new knitters and young knitters especially.

Joanna Daneman

Although there are stylish, simple projects in this book, the sizes tend to run much smaller than normal. The size small of the easy buttoned cardigan measures only 18 inches long, which must be a size 0-2. A beginner would not necessarily realize this; experts could make their own adjustments, but the book is written for those who have a bit less experience.

Like the book and format. It has written directions overall for each sweater and step by step instructions for shaping the necklines and shoulders.
However, I wished that for the true beginner's sake,they have more details on shaping of sleeves and more instructions on the 'anatomy' of cardigan fronts. Altho there is some step by step instructions, it does not explain to the beginner that the front left and right side shaping should starts at different side (right and wrong side), it just states reverse shaping. It should may be explain to the beginner why sometimes a 1 knit bind off is used but at other times, just knit 2 together.

The yarn use is also expensive type and uses alot of balls because the patterns usually asked for knitting with 2 or even 3 strands of yarn at the same time. For those who cannot tell the difference btw knit and purl, asking them to knit with 2 strands is quite difficult. They may miss a strand or accidentally increased into one of the 2 strands.

Patterns may not appeal to those who do not like bulky items.

There are also drawings to demonstrate stitches but are small and could not really tell the difference in the yarn and needle directions in the drawings.

However this book is good for those who alrady know how to knit and purl. The projects (mostly bulky yarn used) allows quick and easy items to be completed in just a few days.

I bought this book for my daughter, who was ready to move on from making scarves. She was able to make her first sweater from it, so it was a success. It's a very attractive book, the pictures are appealing to young knitters, and the instructions are readable, even though they have errors and ommissions (that's why you should make sure you have an experienced knitter around to get help from). There are sweaters for both men and women, and some very simple scarf, hat, and poncho designs.

Unfortunately, once she had made the first sweater (the hooded one with rotten directions, as it happens), that was about it for the book. The patterns are all much the same, many of them are just a rectangle or two to begin with, and with gauges ranging only from 1.5 stitches to the inch to 4 stitches to the inch, all the projects have much the same look. There are some different necklines, but they are not as well designed as traditional sweaters, so I would recommend -- if you want to use this book -- referring to a basic knitting reference (The Big Book of Knitting is a good one) for a better method of doing the neck shapings.
Most books that have simple, basic patterns can give you a good starting point for your own creativity, but the enormous gauges mean that you really can't add cables, patterns, or color work to these sweaters. In fact, it is really the yarns that make these sweaters look so good in the pictures. That makes sense for a book from a yarn shop, and if your main impetus for knitting is a desire to use your favorite gorgeous yarns (chunky ones, of course), then this book allows you to do that.
So, while it's a nice book for a beginning knitter, I don't think it will be one of those you will use again and again over the years.

I've been knitting five months and I really enjoyed this book. I'm currently knitting the "Design Your Own Throw" and I look forward to trying some of the other patterns soon.

The book is absolutely beautiful and well worth the purchase price. It's a hardcover and is loaded with colorful pictures on every page (unlike some of the dull, "traditional" books). No 80s babes with feathered hair and tight lavender cable knits in this book!

I agree that the yarns used in this book are sooo expensive (especially for the college student or young professional that this book seems targeted to), but with a little bit of brain power you can easily use their patterns and substitute less expensive yarns (try a big craft store like Michael's or Jo-Ann fabrics).

Knitting is an expensive hobby and I think that expensive yarn produces superior garments, but until I have the money to buy "gourmet yarn", this book has given me some ideas that I can work into my budget.

Yes, the book uses huge needles and bulky yarns, but that's why I love it! My friends who knit (we're all in our 20s) don't have time to sit around with toothpick sized needles and thin yarn. Experienced (often older) knitters seem to object to chunky, bulky knits for some reason. If you want instant gratification and stylish patterns (think stuff you'd see in the mall), you'll love this book. Patterns knit up quickly, which means the items make great gifts!

I give the book 5 stars because it's layout, colorful pictures, and trendy patterns speak to the modern, young knitter. The major drawback is that the yarns featured in the book are expensive and sometimes not enough details are given in the patterns (ask an experienced knitter for a little assistance).

I'm definitely with those reviewers who find these patterns hip and flattering. Sure, they're very basic, but while I can't picture myself looking good in the sweaters from most "basic" pattern books, I'm pretty sure I can wear the hell out of most of these. I plan to make several of them...if I can make sense of the yarn info.

Which leads me to what I don't like about the book:

1. What's with the pictures of hanks of yarn to indicate suggested weight? The yarn icons are too similar, so I keep having to flip back to the page where they're defined. This doesn't save any space on the individual pattern pages, yet it's a big inconvenience to the reader.

2. I understand that
a. they're trying to avoid confusing beginners by offering too many options,
b. they're trying to sell absurd amounts of expensive yarn, and
c. it's standard annoying operating procedure for pattern books only to mention specific yarns that will be discontinued in six months,
but really, it's got to be a basic assumption that MOST people will need/want to substitute the yarns in these patterns, so why make it so fricking hard? They use doubled strands for almost every pattern, so they yardages are huge, yet they list the gauge as though a single strand were being used.

To figure out the yardage needed for such a pattern in a single-strand yarn of the weight that's shown (per the stupid icon--flip back to p. 53 to figure out what it means), you have to divide the stated yardage by the number of strands they used. This is very confusing to the beginner.

3. The general instructions are okay if you're on a desert island with no other knitting books and a lot of free time in which you can knit, rip, and knit again, but I'd hate to try to learn knitting from them. They only show one way of doing each step, and they fail to offer any guidance on how to avoid common trouble spots. For example, many beginning knitters cast on and bind off too tightly, which can be a big problem on something like a sweater, yet there's no mention of how to avoid this. So you might bind off your funnel-neck and then not be able to get it over your head. How much more discouraged could you get?

Obviously, it makes no sense to append an encyclopedia of knitting to this book, but since they can't cover the instructions well, I'd rather they leave them out altogether and instead refer readers to a couple of good, comprehensive manuals.

I do think this is a useful book for instilling confidence in beginning knitters who're afraid to venture past scarves, but I wouldn't give it to such a friend without several healthy handfuls of guidance from other sources. And a calculator.

i checked this book out of the library because i thought it might have some hip, new knitting patterns. unfortunately, i can't tell what half of the finished designs actually look like because the photographs are so bad. one sweater is shown hanging on a clothesline and most of the others are photographed on dress forms and cropped so that only half of the sweater is visible! i'd like to know what these clothes look like on real people before i put the time into making them.

I am an intermediate knitter, and I had a lot of trouble with this book. First, many of the patterns are just not that appealing. They're quite bulky -- and while thicker yarns do knit up quickly, they're not so attractive on anyone larger than a beanpole. While I'm fairly small (size 6), I do have a chest and cannot imagine wearing such bulky garments.

Second, I found the yarn selections hard to substitute because of the way they were almost all used double. And the yarns suggested were quite expensive.

All in all, I resold my book on Amazon after holding on to it for about six months. I just never was that interested in knitting anything in it. I like the kids' book much better, and am looking forward to the "Beyond the Basics" book.

The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 stars is that there are many mistakes in this book. To find corrections for pattern errors, go to www.theyarnco.com/corrections.php. Otherwise, there are great projects in here. It's a book that I checked out at the library but I definitely am going to buy. Recommended for knitters who can cast on, bind off, knit and purl -- and who are are starting to increase and decrease. Also recommended for those who want to work on circular needles for some of their projects.

I picked up the Yarn Girls' Guide specifically because I really wanted to make a sweater but was a little intimidated by the process. After making my first sweater (the Craving to Knit cardigan in the book), I realize that the process isn't quite so scary. I'm now working on the hoodie (my book has the correct instructions so the errors referred to before must have been updated in later editions). Obviously everyone's opinions on patterns will differ depending on their personal style but I really enjoy the patterns in this book.

The book does have instructions on how to knit but I don't know that it's enough for a true beginner. I would recommend a book that has a lot more than just a couple of pages on knitting and purling. I did think the seaming instructions were pretty good. That was the part of the sweater making process that intimidated me most.

The patterns feature 3 variations of each of 10 different styles of project (including cardigans, v-necks, funnel necks, men's sweaters, hats, scarves, tank tops and afghans) for a total of 30 patterns. The projects are very simple. You won't find any cables or intarsia and the shaping for each project is minimal. For a first sweater, these are perfect, especially because line by line instructions are given for shaping. The styles are basic but still very modern looking, definitely things I would wear. I've made the Cardigan, Knitting Club Hat, Feeling Fuzzy Hat, Hole in One Scarf, and Chunky scarf, and have been pleased with all of them so far. Because they are so basic, you can use different yarns to achieve different looks but if you wanted, you could also easily add different textures or colors.

No pattern is done on less than a size 9 needle. Those have the benefit of knitting up quickly. Unfortunately, bulky sweaters can look bad on people that are small or large so you may want to take that into account. I can't imagine wearing a sweater knit on very large needles but there are plenty of options knit on 9-11 needles that I like.

The sizes in the book are probably along the lines of the "small, medium, and large" you'd find in many clothing stores at the mall, though there really are no plus sized options for any of the projects. However, they definitely would fit someone with over a size 33 bust. If you're petite, finding patterns that fit well without adjustment can be difficult but these should fit pretty well. If you are tall, you may have to lengthen some of the more cropped sweaters, like the cardigan and the v-neck. They really don't give instructions on how to do this other than a mention in the v-neck to description to add a few inches before the armhole shaping so this is why I'd recommend a different book to learn to knit.