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Men in Knits
This collection of men's sweater projects presents classic designs and trendy fashion-forward pieces, forgoing the stereotypical Mr. Rogers and Bill Cosby variety of sweater. Offering tips for overcoming men's reluctance to wear sweaters, this book provides the tools needed for making the right choices in fit, color, texture, and style to create beautiful, masculine knitted sweaters. Explored are how to understand his personal style and which colors and textures flatter particular physiques so that the sweater will be both enjoyable to knit and a favorite to wear. Patterns for Arans, Argyle, basket case, and cable rib are included for knitting cardigans, pullovers, V-necks, vests, and accessories such as scarves and gloves. Although intended for men, these sweaters have great unisex appeal and were developed for both new and seasoned knitters.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 7, 2012
Men in Knits is my favorite book for knitwear to make for men. The subtitle of this book is "Sweaters to Knit that He WILL Wear." I have made sweaters from the patterns in this book for family, and they did wear them and liked them very much. Chapter 1 is "What, Exactly, Does a Guy Want in a Sweater?" The author breaks it down to the basics. First one should ask the man what he wants in the sweater. There are several other steps in this process. She has patterns for boys, teens, and adult men, and includes sweaters, vests, mufflers, and gloves. The instructions are easy to follow with big pictures. The author provides lists of sources, resources, further reading, and menswear websites.
June 6, 2019
Most knitters are women. (Knitters who are men often complain about being overlooked. This is Goodreads. They should write their own reviews of this book.) Most knitters want to see our men model our knits. Many knitters are so frustrated that there's actually a Legend of a Sweater Hex, according to which, if you (presumably female) knit a sweater for a man, he'll leave you.
I knitted a sweater--unisex actually--for--display in a store window actually--and let my handsome car pool buddy model it at Stitches Fair. "Your husband?" Karen Bright rudely asked. "Just a friend," we chorused, mortified. The next time he wore one of my sweaters at Stitches Fair, he was my husband. So in 2003 he and I actually wrote an article about how women knitters get so lucky. Well, first they choose the right models (Eugene Bourgeois, Roy Jones, Arnold Zimmermann, Mark Nichols...), but then there are the questions of professionalism (you at least mention a price, even if you barter rather than selling it) versus emotional neediness, precise fit, not stifling an active man in a heavy pullover, choosing styles that men don't see as girly...What worked for me was having a collection of salable sweaters and letting my model pick one with which he was comfortable, then letting him choose patterns and correct fit as his subsequent sweaters were knitted.
So, around that time, along came Tara Jon Manning with an even more complete and professional guide to knitting things men can model with pride. I like it. I bought it. I bought all four of the books she'd published while I was going to Stitches Fair on the strength of this one.
Because the sweaters men will wear are even more classic than the ones women will wear, all you need to do to update these patterns is choose current yarns. And, if you are a woman knitting for a man, pay close attention to the tips on LETTING HIM CHOOSE what you knit and making sure it's a PRECISE FIT.
I knitted a sweater--unisex actually--for--display in a store window actually--and let my handsome car pool buddy model it at Stitches Fair. "Your husband?" Karen Bright rudely asked. "Just a friend," we chorused, mortified. The next time he wore one of my sweaters at Stitches Fair, he was my husband. So in 2003 he and I actually wrote an article about how women knitters get so lucky. Well, first they choose the right models (Eugene Bourgeois, Roy Jones, Arnold Zimmermann, Mark Nichols...), but then there are the questions of professionalism (you at least mention a price, even if you barter rather than selling it) versus emotional neediness, precise fit, not stifling an active man in a heavy pullover, choosing styles that men don't see as girly...What worked for me was having a collection of salable sweaters and letting my model pick one with which he was comfortable, then letting him choose patterns and correct fit as his subsequent sweaters were knitted.
So, around that time, along came Tara Jon Manning with an even more complete and professional guide to knitting things men can model with pride. I like it. I bought it. I bought all four of the books she'd published while I was going to Stitches Fair on the strength of this one.
Because the sweaters men will wear are even more classic than the ones women will wear, all you need to do to update these patterns is choose current yarns. And, if you are a woman knitting for a man, pay close attention to the tips on LETTING HIM CHOOSE what you knit and making sure it's a PRECISE FIT.
October 21, 2018
I liked the intro that looked at the planning part of knitting a sweater and the importance of knitting a sweater that your target audience liked. wished that it had a wider range of sweater styles as there seemed by bbe a lot of vest and Aryan pattern.
October 5, 2018
So many chunky cable-knit sweaters. Sooo many.
December 29, 2011
BOTTOM LINE: Solid, entertaining pattern book with many basic-but-interesting styles, well-set-out, but nothing truly stunning.
The high rating here is mainly because I almost wanted to make many of the patterns - they're fairly basic but sometimes elegantly put together sweaters that I liked very much. I'm a sucker for aran patterns and/or simple shapes with interesting pattern stitches, and this is filled with that sort of thing. An occasional peculiarly overwrought pattern doesn't detract much from the overall well-thought-out organization of the book.
The high rating here is mainly because I almost wanted to make many of the patterns - they're fairly basic but sometimes elegantly put together sweaters that I liked very much. I'm a sucker for aran patterns and/or simple shapes with interesting pattern stitches, and this is filled with that sort of thing. An occasional peculiarly overwrought pattern doesn't detract much from the overall well-thought-out organization of the book.
October 4, 2008
Several great sweater patterns! Thanks to this book, I finally found a pattern that appealed to my husband and won't be boring for me to knit. He's happy because he'll finally get the hand knit sweater I promised to make him after we got engaged. Best of all is I don't have to write my own pattern (which I thought I was going to end up doing). Yay!
October 21, 2008
An insightful look at how to knit your guy a sweater. Manning's approach was wise and helpful. I don't know that my guy will ever want me to knit him a sweater, but at least I have some good ideas on how to go about helping him choose one he might actually wear. I thought the projects were so-so, but they still gave me some good ideas.
January 20, 2008
First section of book is devoted to understanding style and fit; how to choose which color and texture flatters his physique and how to customize pattern for fit. 20 Aran, argle, and cabled rib patterns for cardigans, pullovers, v-necks and vests with a few scarves and gloves. Great book!
August 6, 2008
I think it's hard for women to write about what men like. Every knitting book written by a woman for men's knits has been somewhat disappointing. A few cute designs, but Martin Storey's book (Knitting for Him)is much better.
August 22, 2010
Great patterns for guys - knits that they'll actually wear.
August 30, 2012
Got this to look at some sweater patterns for my husband. They had some nice ones, but mostly cardigans, and some vests as well.
November 5, 2015
Unique book; definitely worth reading for her tips and advice, not just the patterns.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews