I have to say, in all honestly, that the sweaters in this book are the ugliest sweaters I have ever seen. Also, even though some of the patterns are for cropped sweaters, all ot the rest look like they were made for very short and very wide people. I have been knitting for over 55 years and when I bought this book and saw the patterns I had to say something to keep other knitters from making the same mistake I did. I did preview the book on Amazon but I remember thinking is must have a few good patterns in it. I honestly do not know anybody who would wear these sweaters. I gave the book one star because the author managed to get the book published. Maybe this author should think about writing an UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER BOOK! The words beautiful and spectacular do not belong in this book. Not at allo.

Got this book again for the t-shirt sweater instructions. I had this book a few years ago as well. Pretty sweaters, even if the yarns shown are not still available, it is easy enough to substitute. Looking through this book, I think I have used several of these patterns in the past.

Can't go wrong with this book. It has an excellent array of sweater that are created with unbelievably beautiful yarns. Truly experts at what they do best.

I already have the Simply Beautiful sweaters for Men. It is great too. I surely want to go to the shop when I am next in Seattle. Thanks very much for a great book!

thanks

These are beautiful patterns, mostly easy. Getting the yarn called for may be a problem as they are not readily available in my area, and they are expensive.

I'm hoping this will help me with the fit and in changing patterns. It looks like it has detailed instructions.

I’ll say this up-front: Even though this book is framed around the authors’ business, Tricoter, and its resources from which buyers can purchase items, this book uses the HK business as a mechanism to create beautiful sweaters (they are!) – the designs, the yarn colors, and timeless patterns. In short, this, then, is really 2 books in one: the first is about the business, and the second is about buying items from that business to then provide the 20 patterns for making them.

I loved this book for its: beautiful photos; gorgeous, richly-colored yarn; fitted sweater patterns and armholes (not dated, blocky, bulky, designs and patterns, which no one would HK today); timeless patterns; attention to details (see the buttons on pages 66-67), which somehow perfectly match the variegated yarn colors on this vest; and problem-solving, on the fly – ‘from mess to success’ (see pages 58-59).

In the ‘The Story of Tricoter’ on page 8, the authors state an important maxim. “’OUR PHILOSOPHY OF KNITTING’: Where, when, or more important, why knit? For us, the answers to the first two questions are anytime, anywhere. As for the third, there are times in all of our lives when knitting has helped us through the most challenging situations. And certain types of knitting are more appropriate than others, based on our ability or need to concentrate on, cope with, resolve, or escape a particular situation.” These words are true and pure wisdom speaking to all of us who buy this book and want to knit!

This slightly over-sized, 1999 soft-cover book has 144 semi-glossy pages, half of which have beautiful color photos of finished HK items. Other graphics include: black and white stitch pattern charts, and there are pattern-piece graphics, so that knitters can see what the post-knitted pieces look like before seaming.

The authors of this book are Ticoter yarn shop owner, Beryl Hiatt, and her next-door business neighbor, coffee shop owner, store design and merchandizing specialist and knitting co-conspirator, Lindy Phelps. On page 142, note that Beryl and Lindy “offer a variety of classes from basic skills through advanced techniques and finishing.” Note that in any knitting book with patterns, Skills-Levels are key for buyers, for successfully knitted, finished projects.

The publisher is Martingale & Company, Bothell, WA. Martingales’ Mission Statement is: “We are dedicated to providing quality products and service by working together to inspire creativity and to enrich the lives we touch”. This book, “Simply Beautiful Sweaters” certainly fits the publisher’s Mission Statement.

There are 4 pre-Part sections to this book: ‘Dedication’, ‘Acknowledgements’, ‘Contents’ and ‘The Story of Tricoter’. (Note that the ‘Acknowledgements’ shows a large photo and a description of what each acknowledged person does to help with the store and with this book. This shows that the authors are decent and respectful people, who acknowledge the people who banded together to make the store and this book a success. Not many authors would do this.

By looking carefully at the ‘Contents’, it becomes clear that the book is really divided into 4 main Parts – even though they are not labelled that way but should be. These main Parts are classified as the necessities of knitting. There are also sub-Parts and sub-sub-Parts, which I will include for Part 1 only. Buy the book to see what the patterns are in Part 2 and the other information in Parts 3 and 4.
Part 1. ‘Preliminary Information’
a. ‘Getting Started’
i. ‘Finding Your Inspiration’
ii. ‘The Knitter’s Necessities’
iii. ‘A Second Project’
b. ‘Knitting Sweaters that Fit’
a. ‘Determining the Right Dimensions for You’
b. ‘Knitting Your Swatch’
c. ‘Determining Your Gauge’
d. ‘Checking Your Gauge’
c. ‘How to Read a Tricoter Pattern’
i. ‘Knitting terms and Abbreviations’

Part 2. ‘Twenty Patterns for Beautifully Simple Sweaters’. (Note see the book.)
(See the book.)

Part 3. ‘Some Knitting Basics’.
(See the book.)

Part 4.’Finishing’
(See the book.)

After these, there are 2 post-Part sections:
a. ‘Resources’
i. ‘Tricoter Services’
ii. ‘Yarn Resources’
b. ‘Bibliography’

This is what I found by carefully examining this book:
*1. The photography and staging are gorgeous.
*2. There are pattern piece graphics for patterns, so that the knitter can see what the just-knit piece should resemble (especially around the armholes). Some HK books don’t have these.
*3. Unfortunately, there are no formal ‘Skills-Levels’ given for any of the patterns. There are also no patterns for Beginners.
*4. There is a short ‘Bibliography’ section, which is really necessary for including books on different stitches, to especially assist lower-level knitters.
*5. Unfortunately, ‘Knitting Basics’ is only 2 pages long (pages 133-135), and there need to be more information for knitters of all Skills-Levels.
*6. Unfortunately, there is no ‘Techniques’ section, but the ‘Bibliography’ has some books which cover these.

Because this book has gorgeous photography and has so many positive points, it receives 5 stars. Knitters need to have all of the tools at their disposal when they want to knit an item from a book. The book that they use, however, should provide them with these tools. For example, this book doesn’t have a ‘Techniques’ section to show all of the stitches that are required for the patterns offered in this book. However, a ‘Bibliography’ is included that has books about ‘Techniques’ in them.