First, the facts:
Author: Bruce Weinstein
Published by: Potter Craft, 2012
Pages: 159
Type: Patterns
Chapters:
1. Line and Drape
2. Texture
3. Reversibility
4. Color
The In-Depth Look:
You know how, sometimes when you’re flipping through a catalog or a magazine, you just want to climb into some of the photos because it all looks so cozy and inviting?
This book is just like that.
This book has nineteen designs for your “boyfriend.” Except … a good half the photos show women wearing these so-called “boyfriend” sweaters. Because they’re that comfy, that inviting–it’s all about sharing.
The author begins, “In the thirties, Marlene Dietrich showed the world it was just plain sexy. In the fifties it was a sign of going steady. In the seventies it was just hard to tell men’s clothes from women. If you were too young to have lived through it, ask your mother who David Cassidy was. But the underlying reason women like men’s fashion has always been, and continues to be, comfort. … So, what is a boyfriend sweater exactly? It’s a garment designed with the lines and colors men like, but with an unmistakable appeal to women, too.”
Well, he certainly got that right. These sweaters are appealing. I’m really not kidding when I say I’d like to crawl right into some of these pictures just so I can cuddle with some of these. (The sweaters, that is.)
Most of the patterns have notes to “Make it more feminine,” and they all have sizes for men and for women, with tips as to which options you might want to change depending on who you’re really knitting them for.
Seriously, these are comfy-looking patterns. I think I’m in love.
The photos by Jared Flood (of Brooklyn Knitting) certainly don’t hurt either. They show the sweaters without hiding them behind books and slouches, and they’re quietly atmospheric, often with both men and women in the shots … making it quite clear that while this book may be called “Boyfriend Sweaters,” nobody is under any illusions about the fact that any or all of these could be knitted by or for a woman to wear.
All in all, definitely a winner, and I think it’s one of my favorite books this year.
You can get yours from Amazon.com.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
This review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!
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