Elemental Knits is for women who aspire to be ever stylish, more comfortable, and less wasteful. With knitwear designer Courtney Spainhower, you'll craft an appearance that truly reflects your spirit with a collection of 20 knitting patterns designed to enhance your wardrobe year-round. • Knit with intention, selecting patterns and fibers for their wearablity, versatility, and how they enhance your existing wardrobe. • 20 patterns explore a range of knitting techniques with features suited to each season--texture and cables for autumn, allover patterning for winter, garter and lace for spring, and colorful accents for summer. • Revel in gorgeous details that take these garments and accessories from functional to essential in a way that will have you wearing them year after year. Enrich your hand-knit wardrobe with intentional projects that will act as wardrobe staples for years to come with Elemental Knits.

Fiber and yarn enthusiasts nationwide will celebrate Ann Budd's latest addition to The Knitter's Handy Book series. Answering to a growing interest in knitting sweaters from the top down and knitting seamless sweaters that require little finishing, this handy book offers instructions for knitting five basic sweater types: circular yoke, raglan, modified-drop shoulder, set-in sleeve, and saddle shoulder. Patterns are offered in multiple sizes and yarn gauges and for a broad age group. Following the basics for each of the five sweater types are three diverse patterns from top designers that illustrate some of the many ways that instructions can be used as springboards for creative expression, including color, texture, and shaping variations. Also included for intermediate to advanced knitters are personal design touches, detailed charts, clear instruction, and quick tips to expand knitting possibilities and maintain creative originality. A key reference for knitters of all skill levels, this is the new essential knitting resource on your bookshelf.

The projects in Pam Allen's Plain & Simple: 11 Knits to Wear Every Day are proof that, with the right yarn, simple shapes and stitches are all that's needed to create essential knits. Worked in Quince & Co.'s worsted weight wool/alpaca Owl yarn, the 11 designs featured in the book cover all manner of plain, simple, and utterly necessary knits including pullovers, cardigans and accessories with details to keep the knitter engaged and the wearer happily warm--a classic collection for the ages.

No matter your skill level, stay warm and stylish in cold weather with this simple guide to creating 100 wonderful, winter accessories. This gorgeous book brings together 100 of the best winter knits from bestselling author and knitting designer, Monica Russel. Previously published in the 20 to Make series, these fabulous designs are quick and easy to make, and include scarves, wrist warmers, hats, boot cuffs, headbands and snoods. With designs for men, women and children in a range of colors and styles, there is something for everyone in this valuable knitting resource. “These 100 patterns for winter accessories will satisfy beginning and experienced knitters alike . . . . Knitters will find the variety of patterns inspiring, and most will not be able to resist making pig boot cuffs for their wellies. The range of style and skill level represented in these patterns . . . make this a solid choice.” —Booklist

Introduction It’s all in the details! The use of what designers call fully fashioned shaping marks the difference between an ordinary ho-hum sweater and an undeniably spectacular fashion garment. Using mirrored increases and decreases—slanting certain stitches toward the left or the right to create design details can easily give a garment a couture touch. It is the construction difference between an $80 J.Crew cashmere V-neck sweater and the one that sells for $200 in the same catalog. Though both are knitted out of the same soft yarn, the less expensive sweater is usually made by assembling front, back, or sleeve pieces cut from huge bolts of machine-knit fabric and then sewn with a serger, while the more expensive sweater is created with hand-manipulated, machine-made knitting stitches. Many handknitters already use shaping details in their garments: decreases for armholes, necklines, or sleeve caps and increases for sleeves. We don’t cut our pieces into shape, we knit them into shape! But most knitters do not understand how shaping works or how to use simple increases and decreases to add visual interest to their garments. I’ve taught these techniques to hundreds of knitters, and during my workshop they begin to look at their knitting in a whole new way. I still remember that exciting aha! moment when a student in one of my classes worked her first fully fashioned V neckline a few years ago. “It’s so neat and perfect,” she proudly proclaimed. In these pages we will explore simple fully fashioned techniques and how to apply them to create interesting designer elements and flattering shaping details in garments for any body shape. You will learn that just adding a few extra details can take any project to an entirely new level of sophistication. Chapter 1 of this book is a refresher course on all the basics any knitter will need to master, from different increase and decrease methods, to Knitting Charts 101, and the dos and don’ts of figure flattery. Chapter 2 illustrates simple ways to incorporate fully fashioned shaping in stockinette garments. Included are four wearable—and knittable!—projects to get your needles clicking as you practice these basic shaping techniques. Chapter 3 provides ways of using fully fashioned shaping for designer details such as decorative raglan seams and figure-flattering vertical lines. Many of the projects include incorporated neckbands and armbands to make the finishing of the garment faster and easier. Chapter 4 delves into exciting ways to use strategically placed increases and decreases to create figure-flattering sweaters. Some of the projects in this section even use fully fashioned details to fool the eye and create the illusion of shape: You don’t have to have a perfect hourglass shape to look great! Throughout the book, you’ll discover little body shape icons that will direct you to garments that are specifically designed for your individual figure type. Diagonal lines will draw attention to certain sections of the garment—and of your body. If you’re going to take the time—and spend the money—to make custom garments, you might as well knit flattering ones! You’ll have fun experimenting with fully fashioned designer details—and using your knitting prowess to create knockout pieces that fit and flatter. Let’s get started.…