Custom Knits: 25 Projects (plus Variations) and Techniques for Customizing to Fit Your Style and Your Body (Custom Knits)

by Wendy Bernard

Kimball Hall (Photographer)

Along with being pleasurable and satisfying, knitting can sometimes be frustrating: the turtleneck that looked so fabulous on the model is too bulky for your body, or the cardigan you spent countless hours on just doesn't fit right. Herein lies the beauty of "Custom Knits," which teaches knitters how to use improvisational techniques to achieve spectacular results--and to unleash their inner designers. Wendy Bernard, creator of the popular blog Knit and Tonic, provides 25 original designs for sweaters of nearly every type, plus variations, most knitted in one piece starting at the top, a method that allows you to try on as you go, alter as desired, and essentially design on the fly. "Make It Your Own" prompts in each pattern suggest easy alterations to suit your style and body type. And an in-depth reference section teaches how to alter key sweater elements, for example, change a crewneck to a V-neck, add sleeves to a vest, and much more. For the truly adventurous, the book concludes with guidelines for knitting sweaters with no pattern at all. Bernard's friendly writing style and photographer Kimball Hall's lively images create an inviting book of beautiful designs and key techniques that a knitter can use to customize nearly every garment she knits from now on.

• ISBN13: 9781584797135
• Publish Date: 1 September 2008
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Stewart, Tabori & Chang Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 168
• Language: English
• URL: https://abramsandchronicle.co.uk/book/9781584797135-custom-knits/

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

An interesting book. It starts with the authors philosophy and a "how to make your own custom dress form" guide, then takes you on a journey through some patterns and then to how to adapt said patterns to suit yourself.

This is all top-down construction, which suits some people and doesn't suit some others, but it does talk about adjusting designs and working them for yourself. This is a book for someone who knows something about what they're letting themselves in for. Definitely not a beginners book, though many of the patterns are mostly stocking (or stockingette) stitch or with a little bit of fairly simple design involved. It's a book to stretch you, to make you think about your relationship with your favourite jumpers and see how you can make them yourself, in your own favourite colours and with your own detail.

Overall, I'm torn, it's a good book with interesting ideas but nothing really sings to me in it, except of course the guidelines.