Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The decision for many buyers on whether to buy this lovely trade paperback may well rest on how long you've subscribed to Knitters Magazine and just organized you are. This book is another in their series of "best of" books and it includes over 30 beautiful sweaters. However, they only took patterns out of eight issues (16, 40,44,46,48,51,56,and 60). So, if you've subscribed since the mid-90's (as I have) you probably own most of the patterns already. Still, I plan to keep my copy for the sheer convenience of having so many patterns in one place and the knowledge that all the quirks should be fixed for these often complex patterns. If redundancy isn't an issue for you, A&C is a very appealing collection of patterns. The format is similiar to the magazine including charts rather than line by line written instructions. There are numerous sidebars with very handy instructions. The look of the sweaters is essentially equally divided between the traditional and modern takes on traditional techniques. While probably half the sweaters are basically unisex, the breakdown based on the gender of the models is as follows: women - 2 turtlenecks, 8 crew necks, 7 cardigans, 2 vests and 2 looks I can only describe as "other." Men are featured in 3 crewnecks and 3 vests. Children's looks are 3 crewnecks, 1 cardigan and 1 vest. This isn't a book for beginners. Only 1 pattern is described as "easy+." The vast majority are described as intermediate with 5 advanced/expert sweaters. 21 sweaters call for medium weight (worsted) yarns with 7 light weight yarn sweaters and 6 bulky yarn sweaters. Needle sizes reflect this distribution with all but 4 of the sweaters being knit on needles within the US size 4 to 8 range. Bottom line: Not a must have book for every knitter, but a worthy addition to your shelf if you like cables and texture knitting