"Knitting without tears" book review

While learning to knit this fall, I looked at a lot of how-to books and blogs. I found the most helpful book to help me make my first sweater to be "Knitting Without Tears" by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

This book doesn't have many pictures or diagrams (it's loosely sprinkled with both...in b&w) however it holds you by the hand and tells you a "formula" for making a sweater in any size. There are other sweater types, as well as other accessories like hats and mittens, but the gem of this book is how to make seamless sweaters (in both directions: bottom up or top down). I feel knowledgeable enough to make a sweater for anybody in any size, from memory (I might write down the key measurements to jog my memory). It feels liberating to know a sweater "recipe" rather than following a pattern.

Note: I also altered one additional aspect of the seamless sweater pattern... The under arm. The book has you put the stitches on strings at the underarm, but instead, I knit the sleeves onto the body at the underarm (binding off the armpit) making it a true seamless sweater.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Annette's posterous