Knitting Sweaters from the Top Down: Fabulous Seamless Patterns to Suit Your Style [Brossura]

I compulsively buy every top-down sweater book I can find. I was hoping this would be a good addition to my collection, but there is very little benefit to be gained by owning this book.

First, what I liked about the book: the section on necklines and collars was good. I get tired of the old crew neck sweater, and this book has given me the idea to try a polo neck. Some of the sweaters are pretty and I think they can be used as inspiration.

What I didn't like: everything else. The author claims her way of starting at the collar and avoiding any shaping of the neck is revolutionary. It's not. It's simplistic and makes a garment lie funny. Putting more stitches on the front than on the back couldn't possibly make up for no neck shaping. I myself do not mind going back and picking up stitches around the neck to make the collar. It gives a more polished look. You can tell by looking at the photographs that some of the models have the front of the sweater riding up on their necks. I want to tug down the front of my own sweater just looking at them! The sweaters with wider, deeper necklines look OK without any shaping.

And the armpits on the sweaters are very deep. One reason for making top-down sweaters is so that you can try it on as you go. If you're already at the underam and you still don't have the required number of stitches, don't keep knitting! Just cast on the extra stitches at the underarms.

I wouldn't waste my money on this book. There are only a few sweaters that are attractive enough to even use as inspiration, and the design information given leaves a lot to be desired.

This book is really disappointing to me. I have been knitting for 20+ years, I have been teaching for 4+ years, I am a big fan of one-piece sweaters and in fact favor the top down approach (as opposed to bottom up) - but I know this book will confuse & frustrate a lot of knitters trying to make a nice sweater. I've read through it twice so far and I have found several things wrong or unappealing, from styling (a matter of opinion) to technique (a matter of experience) to plain ol' math (simple fact).

1) Math errors in the initial, basic explanations (30/2 = 10?) which make it hard to follow.

I also found one reference to a "psso" (pass slipped st over) where there isn't a preceding st that was slipped - any knitter, novice or experienced, will be brought up short at that one. I think what they meant, and what they should have written, was "bind off one st".

2a) The only decrease technique used is k2tog; nowhere have I found a mention of using paired decreases (i.e. using left-leaning decs, such as ssk or skp, to mirror the right-leaning k2tog). This is a relatively basic technique.

2b) The author apparently has not learned how to correctly do short rows, and she makes it sound like a difficult and tricky technique to explain why she doesn't use it. This is in fact the most elegant shaping solution for issues such as raising the back neck of a sweater, or adding extra fullness required at the bust. I have successfully taught many knitters the short-row technique in a single 2-hour class session.

3) The method the author suggests to get around doing short rows is to place (a LOT of) additional fabric on the front of the sweater. This may be fine for busty gals - I personally wouldn't know! - but makes for a poor-fitting sweater for anyone else. You will have to make the yoke much longer in order for the back of the sweater to be big enough across, and you will end up with wads of extra fabric under the arms. Take a close look at the pics and you'll see almost every one shows a model with her arms down, or else with baggy underarms.

I also thought the layout of the book in 3 columns made for choppy sentences which made the instructions that much harder to follow.

The saving graces are:

1) The section on collars looks pretty complete and is nice to show the variety of collar types (though I am leery of the instructions at this point).

2) A nice use of details, such as bows and other embellishments, plus some good examples of yarn combinations.

Too many knitting publishers are now trying to take advantage of the popularity of the sport, and are flooding the market with substandard books. No repercussions occur to them - but I imagine the poor knitter who spends hours of work, and cries tears of frustration - and it makes me angry.

You're far better off with Barbara Walker's old standard - it doesn't have glossy pictures but the information is the best.

This book appears to have been written to teach experienced knitters how to make seamless garments starting from the neck instead of the hem. It accomplishes that goal reasonably well, with good information about the basic anatomy of cardigans and pullovers in different yarn weights and gauges. Unfortunately, the sweaters chosen to illustrate top down techniques are heavy looking, done in unappealing colors and textures with minimal shaping. The emphasis on collars is also overdone. It would be nice to see a revision of this entire publication with more attractive, up to date sweater designs. Otherwise, it's difficult to find inspiration to try the practical top down approach. Too bad.....