What do you think?
Rate this book
Knitting Simple Sweaters from Luxurious Yarns
Beginning and intermediate knitters who have little time or patience for complicated patterns, but who want to make something elegant and chic, will find just what they are looking for in these lavishly photographed sweaters. The designs are simple, but the wools are sumptuous. Imagine snuggling into--and showing off--a handmade, cozy white cardigan and matching scarf in a thick, chunky yarn; a black cashmere hooded design; or a buttery soft gray Merino wool cable sweater. Look graceful with a versatile ballet-neck style, or for an evening out, a silvery sweater that makes you shine. There are lightweight spring and summer fashions, too.
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2003
2 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2013
Superb pattern book that, for ME, was truly "only" a 4-and-a-half-star but for most knitters will likely be considered a five-star book because it has beautiful designs, excellent instructions, gorgeous lay-out and production, and gives you exactly what the title says. Keep this one in your personal knitting library!
My marginally lower rating is due to two things: the sizing limitations, and the yarn weights/needle sizes that are mainly used. Firstly, one of my Pet Peeves - the sizings available, while probably fine for most folks, are simply not large enough for my use. Most of the patterns work up to only ~42", with a couple of the sweaters that are meant to be worn very loosely work up to 46"; smallest size for a close-fitting sweater was for 38". This is a fairly good range in general, though, and ought to suit many, if not most, knitters.
My other difficulty is a purely personal thing - I really, really hate working with extra-large needles and/or bulky yarns, and many of the otherwise very interesting designs in this book have both these features. Of the 28 patterns offered, 17 utilize needles #9 (5.5mm) or larger, with the smallest needle used being #4 (3.5mm) on only two designs.
But the designs are wonderful, the yarns look terrific, AND the author does one of my most favorite things regarding the yarns listed - she only gives weights and contents of each yarn used, never any actual brand! This allows each knitter to use whatever yarn she wishes. Each yarn is listed like this: "Approx 1078 yards or 985.5m of 70% super kid mohair/25% nylon/5% wool yarn, sport weight" - thereby giving you all the information you need to make the item up properly, yet allowing a huge range of possible choices for each knitter.
This book has been written by an author who seems to know what a hand-knitter needs and, more importantly, what we want in a pattern book. Thank you very much Ms. Cohen for these lovely designs. Now please work up some for us larger ladies, pretty please??
My marginally lower rating is due to two things: the sizing limitations, and the yarn weights/needle sizes that are mainly used. Firstly, one of my Pet Peeves - the sizings available, while probably fine for most folks, are simply not large enough for my use. Most of the patterns work up to only ~42", with a couple of the sweaters that are meant to be worn very loosely work up to 46"; smallest size for a close-fitting sweater was for 38". This is a fairly good range in general, though, and ought to suit many, if not most, knitters.
My other difficulty is a purely personal thing - I really, really hate working with extra-large needles and/or bulky yarns, and many of the otherwise very interesting designs in this book have both these features. Of the 28 patterns offered, 17 utilize needles #9 (5.5mm) or larger, with the smallest needle used being #4 (3.5mm) on only two designs.
But the designs are wonderful, the yarns look terrific, AND the author does one of my most favorite things regarding the yarns listed - she only gives weights and contents of each yarn used, never any actual brand! This allows each knitter to use whatever yarn she wishes. Each yarn is listed like this: "Approx 1078 yards or 985.5m of 70% super kid mohair/25% nylon/5% wool yarn, sport weight" - thereby giving you all the information you need to make the item up properly, yet allowing a huge range of possible choices for each knitter.
This book has been written by an author who seems to know what a hand-knitter needs and, more importantly, what we want in a pattern book. Thank you very much Ms. Cohen for these lovely designs. Now please work up some for us larger ladies, pretty please??
February 25, 2019
Simple is the main aim of this book. Squares with sleeves as another reviewer mentioned. I might be tempted to add a little more rib to some of the sweaters but I was surprised how good some of these simple patterns looked. Now whether its the stylish photos and gorgeous models that make the difference, I can't decide. I can't quite picture myself looking so elegant as the cover model in a big cream box even if the stitches are wonderful. There are a number of simple sweaters patterns to choose from and it depends on your bank account whether you have the ready to plurge on luxurious yarns to make them up. The cotton eyelet rib sweater might not break the bank just yet.
November 20, 2018
Nothing for me.
January 3, 2015
Okay, the patterns in here are exactly as advertised: "simple sweaters." They're basically squares and rectangles with arms sewn onto them. However, they still manage to look *fabulous*. There's many patterns in here that I'm looking forward to trying out. A good 80% of the patterns are appealing to me, which is a great switch from books where I'll maybe want to try out two or three of the patterns.
January 21, 2011
love the look of these sweaters, however it'll be a while before I have a chance to make one. Sweaters require SO much yarn. And luxurious yarn =$$$ so a sweater for me could be $100 or more.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews