Jacqueline Fee

What fun!

I've been knitting enough to know many of the tasks the sample called for (ribbing, increasing, etc.) but she has some nifty tips for simple tasks, so worth it, and the more complicated bits or clever notions (how simple to make a pocket after the fact!) are well worth learning.

(The structure of the book is you knit a "sweater" sample, vastly smaller than a normal sweater, containing all of the components that 95% of the sweater patterns out there might call for, so that by the time you're done you've learned to cast on, ribbing, stockinette, garter, increases, decreases, changing colours, adding pockets, stranded knitting, icords, lace edging, etc. etc. etc., but without having to spend the time on the umpteen actual sweaters it would have taken to practice this for realsies).

After the sample section are patterns/methods for constructing actual sweaters, which you will no longer be intimidated by.

Just shy of 5 stars because it's at heart a manual, and the prose is apt and to-the-point, but not 5-star quality writing (like M.F.K. Fisher on food, say).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).… (more)

Fitted knits. 25 designs for the fashionable knitter. Stefanie Japel. North Light Books. 2007.

The author/designer is 6’ tall which explains the long line of most of her sweaters. Most are top down and unseamed and one shapes and adapts as required by one’s own dimensions. There is a skill level guide and a chapter on how to fit your knits. There are lots of patterns: tubes, tanks, tees, tunics, shrugs, cardigans, wraps, sweaters, vests and coats and one dress. The photographs are clear and some detail is shown.

Jacqueline Biéler, December 2008… (more)