 Excellent book to feed the creative spirit! |
| Review Date: January 25, 1998 |
| Reviewer: , |
| 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. |
An excellent book
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| Review Date: September 14, 2002 |
| Reviewer: , |
| 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. |
Not just for would-be designers!
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| Review Date: April 14, 2002 |
| Reviewer: Gwen Kramer, Sunny and not-so-sunny California |
| I checked this book out of the library since I am fascinated with the idea of designing my own sweaters. But this book offers much, much more. It teaches the basics of color, it tells what colors work for you and why. Then there is a section on figure types. What sweater designs flatter and which do not. And the chapter does not have just the usual hour glass, pear, top heavy distinctions, there's the rectangle, the triangle, the oval, the tiffany diamond.... It is almost garanteed the you will find your body type in the list. The first part alone is worth the price of the book but there are many other lessons to offer. As mentioned before, most of the sweater projects are not very stylish (though I did like the sweater designed to use up left over yarn) but the lessons offered are sound. As usual for Maggie Righetti's books, the writing style is chatty and fun filled with anecdotes and nuggets of wisdom that can only come from a veteran knitter. My only real complaint about this book is that it often refers to information found in the author's previous book Knitting in Plain English. I suggest buying both books. (You'll want the other one anyway after reading this book.) This book is a must for any knitter who wishes to design sweaters but it is also an excellant course in dressing well and in adjusting knitting patterns. Also, it is a good look at advanced knitting techniques. This book is hours worth of knitting lessons condensed in a convenient package. Worth every penny! |
great book!
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| Review Date: April 18, 2001 |
| Reviewer: Angela, Des Moines, IA USA |
| 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. |
Phenominal!
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| Review Date: July 27, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Su, |
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! |
Essential reference
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| Review Date: January 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Ayla Khan, |
| 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. |
Like a compass, sextant and canteen for knitters
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| Review Date: May 13, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Dana S. Whitney, Plano, Texas |
| 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. |
A good start to designing your own sweaters.
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| Review Date: June 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Alaina Shaffer, Springfield, MO USA |
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. |
Make Sweaters That Really Fit!
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| Review Date: March 7, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Anami Bremer, Amsterdam, NY |
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. |
This is an old timer with staying power.
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| Review Date: August 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: K. Campbell, Santa Cruz CA |
| 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. |
Grateful for Reviews
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| Review Date: July 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A. Gregory, Dallas, TX |
| 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. |
Amazed and Thrilled
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| Review Date: July 23, 2010 |
| Reviewer: , |
| I was amazed to discover the amount of research, depth of the detail and information Ms Raghetti put into this book. I'm not through with the first read through yet but am thoroughly enjoying learning from this experienced knitter and am making notes as I go. I have even started typing up notes as I go through the book. |
Very easy to read and understand
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| Review Date: July 22, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Beba Kusevic, IL USA |
Sweater Design in Plain English
Great book, it is funny and very easy to read. Many small and helpful hints, which when you think about it are common sense.....
Thank you Maggie Righetti, for putting it all together and in perspective everyone can understand.
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too much elementary arithmetic and too few knitted fabric characteristics
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| Review Date: October 26, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Minnie, Italy |
I actually expected a book with in-depth description of the drape of knitted fabric, comparison and datailed discussion of stitch pattern. All these are mentioned only VERY superficially, e.g. knitted fabric is forgiving, cables pull in.
The author went too far into the arithmetic of sweater shaping (she even explained what is an even number...), she basically spans 2 pages worth of contents into 200 pages. Read a sample chapter on one of the sweater design and you'll get what I mean. If you find that kind of instruction useful you'll probably like this book.
I'd definitely return it if shipping is not that expensive. I gave it 3 stars however as probably it's just that I'm not a targeted audience of this book. |
Sweater Design
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| Review Date: July 25, 2008 |
| Reviewer: READING MERRY WIDOW, SUMMERFIELD, FL USA |
| Sweater Design in Plain English I just received this book but it looks good. I am a long time knitter who needs good directions. I am planning on using this book to solve problems in other designs as well as using the designs included. |
Great Product
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| Review Date: June 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Rickey Green, |
| This was sent in great condition and sent promptly. A great gift, it is already being used! Thanks!! |
Knitting away in Seattle
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| Review Date: August 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Catherine Dufendach, Seattle |
| I am excited about design and heard this book is about the best out there. It looks straight-forward and inspiring. I like her other Knitting in Plain English so I'm sure this will be satisfactory. Give it a whorl. |
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