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celticdragonflyBook Info:
Never Knit Your Man A Sweater unless you’ve got the ring!: 22 Handsome Projects for Every Level of Commitment by Judith Durant
c 2006, ISBN 13 978-1-58017-646-0; ISBN 10: 1-58017-646-1
list price $19.95
Obtained from the Fort Worth Public Library. I believe this is one of the ones that they didn’t have, I sent in a request for purchase email, and they bought it and then reserved it for me. Support your public library, and ask them for the books you think they should have!
Main comments:
Okay, I giggled when I first saw the title of this book online months ago. Cute idea. And hey, sounded like a useful one – given that the men I’m most likely to knit for live in Texas, where it’s mostly too warm for sweaters, and one of them I’ve seen wearing shorts when it was snowing, so hey, I had great hopes of this book.
When I picked it up from the library where I had it on reserve, the librarian looked at the title and quizzically asked me about it. I had to give a quick explanation of the Sweater Curse. That was fun.
I was a bit frustrated by reading the introduction and getting the general idea of the book. Yes, she discusses the problems of knitting something special for a boyfriend, especially a new one. But I feel like she misses much of the point of how best to avoid it. Starting with smaller projects and working up to bigger ones, okay, good. But there’s none of the analysis of what causes things to go wrong, things like involving your SO in choice of projects. The book seems to be aimed towards making him surprise projects. Maybe he hates turtlenecks, doesn’t like surprises, finds wool itchy but loves cotton, can’t stand red but would wear green. The whole idea that good communication would produce good results – as true for knitting in relationships as it is for everything else in relationships – doesn’t come up at all. But then, from what I’ve glimpsed from people out there, it doesn’t seem to come up in most of life.
Frustratingly, the wearable projects are still aimed at northern climate cold weather. So mostly not going to help me with my original goal of looking for things to knit for my warm-climate men. I have more exciting coaster patterns already, I wouldn’t really need a pattern for an i-pod cozy, and they don’t have a Powerbook. (And I think the laptop cover would be better with a really good strap. As it is, it acts as bubble wrap, but not anything else.)
Anything I particularly liked:
Lots of different projects planned for men, some are sweaters but there’s a variety of options.
She makes a point that although she’s picked a favorite yarn for each project, that we may want to substitute. And although she doesn’t give yarn weights, she DOES give yarn band gauge to make it easier for us to substitute. I appreciate that. And the intro shows needle size with the caveat “or size you need to obtain the correct gauge”. Yes, I know that already, but it’s good to see it in there.
Hey, look! Hats knitted in the round, the way they ought to be. (In my not so humble opinion) The one hat knitted flat has complex colorwork – yeah, that makes sense. And she puts in three socks of varying complexity. Yay. Socks are fun, more people should do socks, and they make great gifts.
Anything I particularly disliked:
Sweater sizes – shows finished size measurements, does NOT list ease amount or what chest measurement that should be made for. How is a knitter to figure out what size to make? And it’d be good to have correspondence between the finished sizes and mens’ clothing sizes, *especially* if the aim is towards making him surprises – you could peek at his laundry and get a shirt size. As it is, even if you were pulling out the measuring tape, it’s going to be tricky without ease or chest size going along with finished size.
And while we’re on sizing issues – apparently the author thinks the men in your life should come in a very narrow range of sizes. The simplest hat mentions an option for upsizing. The headband has two versions with different sizes. And those are among the better options. Mittens and gloves are all one size. All socks are the same size – no allowance for wide or narrow feet. And the vests and sweaters finished chest measurements generally have 3 sizes varying from 38” to 48”. The final “only when you have a diamond ring” sweater only has two sizes, although it goes up to 50”. I’m not sure if this is because the cardigan needs more ease, or if it’s acceptable for him to put on a bit of weight once you have the diamond? Gah.
Oh, with the socks, she’s talking about telling the man that these socks should not go into the washer and dryer – and with one, suggesting you offer to wash the socks for him. What is she thinking? Hand a man a pair of socks with the directions that they have to be kept separate from the rest of his laundry – and the chances are awfully high that either there will be a disaster and ruined socks, or he’ll never wear them. There are LOTS of nice, soft, attractive sock yarns out there that are machine wash and dry. Hand a man a pair of socks that feel great and soft and warm, but you can tell him no fear; just toss them in with the rest of his laundry – that is far more likely to win you points!
Comments on photography:
Good photography. Projects are shown clearly, and from multiple angles. Sweaters have some diagrams for the pieces. Fairly good use of charts. The technique tips that are here and there through the book, alongside the projects that use them, have good illustrations
Projects from this book that I’m thinking of knitting:
Sadly, very little. One thing that tempts me is the cabled gloves with the seed stitch palms. Nice design elements, I’ve been wanting to try out gloves, and since it’s a man’s one-size, it looks like it would fit ME.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
selenite might like a pair of those; he occasionally appreciates gloves for driving in winter. I like two of the scarves, and might think about those, but I don’t know if I’d have anybody who’d want a scarf. I’m that weird oddity – a knitter who’s never done a scarf.
Might I buy this book?
If the sweaters came in more sizes, maybe. As it is, probably not. I might check it out from the library again if I choose to do the gloves. If the men in your life fit in that size range, you might want it.
Never Knit Your Man A Sweater unless you’ve got the ring!: 22 Handsome Projects for Every Level of Commitment by Judith Durant
c 2006, ISBN 13 978-1-58017-646-0; ISBN 10: 1-58017-646-1
list price $19.95
Obtained from the Fort Worth Public Library. I believe this is one of the ones that they didn’t have, I sent in a request for purchase email, and they bought it and then reserved it for me. Support your public library, and ask them for the books you think they should have!
Main comments:
Okay, I giggled when I first saw the title of this book online months ago. Cute idea. And hey, sounded like a useful one – given that the men I’m most likely to knit for live in Texas, where it’s mostly too warm for sweaters, and one of them I’ve seen wearing shorts when it was snowing, so hey, I had great hopes of this book.
When I picked it up from the library where I had it on reserve, the librarian looked at the title and quizzically asked me about it. I had to give a quick explanation of the Sweater Curse. That was fun.
I was a bit frustrated by reading the introduction and getting the general idea of the book. Yes, she discusses the problems of knitting something special for a boyfriend, especially a new one. But I feel like she misses much of the point of how best to avoid it. Starting with smaller projects and working up to bigger ones, okay, good. But there’s none of the analysis of what causes things to go wrong, things like involving your SO in choice of projects. The book seems to be aimed towards making him surprise projects. Maybe he hates turtlenecks, doesn’t like surprises, finds wool itchy but loves cotton, can’t stand red but would wear green. The whole idea that good communication would produce good results – as true for knitting in relationships as it is for everything else in relationships – doesn’t come up at all. But then, from what I’ve glimpsed from people out there, it doesn’t seem to come up in most of life.
Frustratingly, the wearable projects are still aimed at northern climate cold weather. So mostly not going to help me with my original goal of looking for things to knit for my warm-climate men. I have more exciting coaster patterns already, I wouldn’t really need a pattern for an i-pod cozy, and they don’t have a Powerbook. (And I think the laptop cover would be better with a really good strap. As it is, it acts as bubble wrap, but not anything else.)
Anything I particularly liked:
Lots of different projects planned for men, some are sweaters but there’s a variety of options.
She makes a point that although she’s picked a favorite yarn for each project, that we may want to substitute. And although she doesn’t give yarn weights, she DOES give yarn band gauge to make it easier for us to substitute. I appreciate that. And the intro shows needle size with the caveat “or size you need to obtain the correct gauge”. Yes, I know that already, but it’s good to see it in there.
Hey, look! Hats knitted in the round, the way they ought to be. (In my not so humble opinion) The one hat knitted flat has complex colorwork – yeah, that makes sense. And she puts in three socks of varying complexity. Yay. Socks are fun, more people should do socks, and they make great gifts.
Anything I particularly disliked:
Sweater sizes – shows finished size measurements, does NOT list ease amount or what chest measurement that should be made for. How is a knitter to figure out what size to make? And it’d be good to have correspondence between the finished sizes and mens’ clothing sizes, *especially* if the aim is towards making him surprises – you could peek at his laundry and get a shirt size. As it is, even if you were pulling out the measuring tape, it’s going to be tricky without ease or chest size going along with finished size.
And while we’re on sizing issues – apparently the author thinks the men in your life should come in a very narrow range of sizes. The simplest hat mentions an option for upsizing. The headband has two versions with different sizes. And those are among the better options. Mittens and gloves are all one size. All socks are the same size – no allowance for wide or narrow feet. And the vests and sweaters finished chest measurements generally have 3 sizes varying from 38” to 48”. The final “only when you have a diamond ring” sweater only has two sizes, although it goes up to 50”. I’m not sure if this is because the cardigan needs more ease, or if it’s acceptable for him to put on a bit of weight once you have the diamond? Gah.
Oh, with the socks, she’s talking about telling the man that these socks should not go into the washer and dryer – and with one, suggesting you offer to wash the socks for him. What is she thinking? Hand a man a pair of socks with the directions that they have to be kept separate from the rest of his laundry – and the chances are awfully high that either there will be a disaster and ruined socks, or he’ll never wear them. There are LOTS of nice, soft, attractive sock yarns out there that are machine wash and dry. Hand a man a pair of socks that feel great and soft and warm, but you can tell him no fear; just toss them in with the rest of his laundry – that is far more likely to win you points!
Comments on photography:
Good photography. Projects are shown clearly, and from multiple angles. Sweaters have some diagrams for the pieces. Fairly good use of charts. The technique tips that are here and there through the book, alongside the projects that use them, have good illustrations
Projects from this book that I’m thinking of knitting:
Sadly, very little. One thing that tempts me is the cabled gloves with the seed stitch palms. Nice design elements, I’ve been wanting to try out gloves, and since it’s a man’s one-size, it looks like it would fit ME.
selenite might like a pair of those; he occasionally appreciates gloves for driving in winter. I like two of the scarves, and might think about those, but I don’t know if I’d have anybody who’d want a scarf. I’m that weird oddity – a knitter who’s never done a scarf. Might I buy this book?
If the sweaters came in more sizes, maybe. As it is, probably not. I might check it out from the library again if I choose to do the gloves. If the men in your life fit in that size range, you might want it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-10 07:17 pm (UTC)Um, yeah. Whatever.
It's usually about the right weight for a February morning around here.
I think the narrow size ranges are just laziness. It takes work to figure out the increases. Most can't be bothered.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-10 07:44 pm (UTC)I admit working out the huge range of sizes does sound hard. (Just wait until you see the next review I have going up!) I know if I was designing a sweater, I'd probably just be setting it up for my size. It'll be a while before I could confidently put it into small sizes. But I do try to do multiple sizes for socks. I'm working on a sock pattern now, that I'll put up in three sizes. (Even though it feels so easy that it feels silly to do it - I know there are knitters who need it.)
What I wish I could find is more stuff aimed just at the plus sizes - surely that ought to be easier than covering the full range of sizes?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-10 10:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-11 12:15 am (UTC)The one time I knit gloves, it felt like a huge, obnoxious chore. The fingers made me want to cry. Then again, I was also a much more inexperienced knitter, and am tempted to attempt gloves again. I'd probably start with a pair or myself, so I can measure them against my hand.
I will say this, my brother still has the gloves I knit for him, and wears them regularly, after more than 10 years.