Book review: The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters a knit-to-fit workshop
Lynne Vogel, Interweave Press 2007 143 pp
The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook was a super-popular source of inspiration and instruction, in the art of getting socks you love from the yarn you spin (and dye). Although the Sisters' follow up book has been out for a while, I hadn't seen much buzz (possibly I am hanging around in the wrong places!) so I was extra keen to add a copy to my library and see what the girls had come up with this time.
Two basic ways to construct a sweater are offered: up and down or side to side. After an explanation of ease, and how to convert your personal body measurements into measurements for a garment that will fit the way you want it to, a worksheet is presented into which yarn, stitch and outcome variables are plugged. Then, the book launches into an explanation of the construction of a simple drop shouldered sweater- in which the bodice back is made first, then the exact stitch count for the front is worked out, based on the back! This, as far as I know, is original- at least I don't think it happens like this in any of my other books.
A step by step and graphic explanation is given of how to choose the neckline you want, and how to graph it and do the math that will leave you casting off in the right places for the neck-edge shape that you desire. The bodice front is then knit- and a similar procedure follows for the sleeves- from the pieces that have been already knitted, taking into account the actual drape and gauge of the fabric, the armhole depth and sleeve length are worked out, including the rate of sleeve taper and cuff circumference. Finally, the option is ours whether to go cuff-up or cast on and work up from the wrist. Flat or in the round! How empowering is this? As a devotee of EZ, I already prefer the idea of being the boss of my knitting, rather than the other way around. This book's approach fits more closely with the way I seem to knit anyway (often starting out following a pattern, but usually fudging at some point, either because my actual measurements diverge from the pattern or because I make a mistake that has to be accommodated because damn if I am ripping out perfectly good knitting)- but goes into the technical detail of how to design a garment that works with the yarn, needles and gauge that I actually have. I have other books that offer a set of tables for a variety of garments at a variety of sizes- but I have to admit I really like the idea of letting the reality of one piece help dictate the plan for the next. The basic worked example is for a pullover, but directions are given to adapt for a cardigan, different shoulder types (well - drop shoulder or modified drop shoulder), sleeve types and edgings.
The side-to-side design is likewise gone through in step by step detail, starting with a basic crew neck pullover. The worksheet is completed, a generous swatch completed (drat- but the different behaviour of side-to-side knitted fabric needs a realistic swatch, apparently). Again, back bodice is worked first, and the various other pieces drafted and then knit in order. Instructions on modifying pullover into a cardi, v-neck or turtleneck are included. I really love the look of side to side knits, I love the vertical striping!
The next section of the book gives patterns, with explanations of how each uses the basic construction template, and how it has been modified. Insets explain the dyeing or spinning of the yarns used in the pictured examples. Coats, cardigans, tutrlenecks, even an aran pullover is there to take us through the technique of fitting cabling and texture into our designing of the different pieces.
Finally there is a full-colour gallery with pictures of sweaters spun, dyed designed and knit by the Twisted Sisters. Text explains how each is based on and varies from one of the basic designs given in the book.
The snippets about the yarns used in the examples fascinated me- I always love to see how people use handspun, and these ladies seem to have a particular gift for putting a lot of different bits together and having it come out beautifully. In one example, the knitter dyed her own fibre in a colourway that complemented some commercially dyed roving she had purchased, enabling her to spun enough yarn for her project without the line between the different fibre sources being at all apparent. I thought that was pretty cool, actually, as I have a stupidly large collection of spectacular rovings, in 100 or at most 200g dyelots- dyeing my own coordinating fibre actually had not occurred to me!
If you are solely a fan of fitted, closely contoured knits, this book won't have much to offer you- I don't think there is any discussion of waist or bust shaping in any of the patterns. Short rows are mentioned only in the 'techniques' appendix, but not in terms of bodice shaping. However- if you don't mind a bit of boxy in your knits (and I don't, personally), this book is a great design primer, with an approach that appeals to the seat-of-my-pants knitter and the handspinner in me. I find the worksheets and formulae less intimidating than the tables in, say, the 'Knitter's Book of Handy Sweater Patterns', and there are no size constraints on either end of the scale- whatever size the person you are knitting for is, this method will accommodate them. I feel that th
is book is an excellent addition to my library- filling in a gap between my EZ books “knit so and so til you're sick of it” and other very prescriptive design recipe books.
The steeking alone was worth the price of admission. I sewed it on my sewing machine, cut it- tacked the steek back as a facing- and blimey if that wasn't just way too easy. I am no longer a steek virgin- and more importantly, having done one, I can see how they work, and now armhole steeks don't scare me either. Yay. It's kind of sad that it took me til the age of 40 to start really learning how knitting works, but better late than never eh? So, while this cardi is really a waste of some very nice yarn, it was a learning exprience worth having.
