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

Knitting Sweaters from the Top Down provides a fine guide to top-down sweater-knitting and tells how to knit a sweater in one piece, with no seams. Easy techniques allow knitters to adjust a garment as they go, offering over twenty chic projects that can also be used as design templates for further pattern-free work. A fine pick for any knitter's library, this takes a far different approach than most.

The book is just what I was looking for. I've already made 2 sweaters using the book. It is a book well done and easy to read.

I found this book in my library and made one of the sweaters. Then I made another one. And finally I bought the book. I love the top down procedure. It is the easiest way to knit a sweater and raglan sleeves make my shoulders look smaller. At my age, its all about looking smaller.

It's all here, everything you need to know to successfully knit custom-fitting sweaters from the top down. From reading patterns to doing the math to designing your own sweaters, Carron takes you step by step from collar to cuffs. And if you just want to knit, there are plenty of patterns. With six sweaters in each of four different yarn weights including pullovers, cardigans, and long- and short-sleeved styles, there's sure to be one that's just right for you. The book could have used a more careful copyedit and I was tripped up by some of the abbreviations in the text, but once you get past that the information is sound.

Unlike past books on top-down knitting, this primer offers easy ways to alter and redesign the basic pullover and cardigan shapes. It goes beyond Walker, in that it also offers an alternative way to top-down shaping that avoids the complicated method of short-rowing the top back. Moreover, patterns are written so as to eliminate as many seams as possible - which means that even the collars are started from the very outer edge and worked down to the neckline before the yoke is shaped, i.e. so with few exceptions, there are no stitches to pick-up to complete collars. It's a holistic, as well as, a whole new way to think about shaping sweaters which will change your orientation to sweater knitting entirely. The art direction and styling of the book do leave something to be desired; the colored backgrounds used to photograph the sweaters diminish the luminosity of the yarns and the small-sized models don't do justice to the medium-sized samples submitted - all of which make for a less than desireable styling, fit and presentation....but don't let this get in the way of adding some very useful tools to your knitting knowledge. The book provides formulas for four sizes in both cardigan and pullover designs and then shows you how to tailor collars, cuffs & trims to your liking. That's what top-down is all about - knitting the style of your dreams to fit the way you want with the least amount of fuss. You'll never want to knit another seamed sweater again!