Knits Men Want
Mar. 22nd, 2010 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizabeth_mnI went on a bit of a book-buying binge last week, and I'm going to take a few days to review some of them. Today is Knits Men Want by Bruce Weinstein.
It's organized into chapters based on the author's Rules of Knitting for Men. They are way over-generalized, and the tone is sometimes a little sexist (I am so tired of the word hardwired when discussing gender differences) but still, a lot of the things he says are basically true for (probably) a majority of men.
His Rules boil down to: Men want practical, comfortable, simple garments that don't look weird or stand out in a crowd. Already I can think of about 10 exceptions to that in the form of men I've known and clothes they've owned and loved, but I think it's a good general principle.
I think Simple, Practical, Comfortable are good guidelines when knitting for any gender if the garment is a gift, especially a surprise one. Most people who like wacky, odd things like picking them out themselves; even odd tastes tend to be specific. A plainer, simpler style has a greater probability of success when made for another person.
The value of this book is in the patterns, not the commentary. Each one is presented in a table format, given in multiple gauges (and sizes, of course). There are only 10 patterns: several sweaters, a scarf, a vest, a hat, socks, and mitts. My favorite is the Henley. My HB likes the zip cardigan and the watch cap. The patterns are clear and versatile. The gauges (and therefore the yarns) are variable, but yarns the sample garments are made in are listed.
The photos are nice, too. I like that most of the photos feature men with beards!
The real reason I bought this book? My husband liked it. He knits, too, and every time we are in the bookstore and I see a new men's knits book, I eagerly show it to him. His responses are pretty ho-hum, usually. But he was excited about this one. I almost couldn't understand why; the patterns are so simple as to almost verge on boring. But I guess that is what my man wants!
It's organized into chapters based on the author's Rules of Knitting for Men. They are way over-generalized, and the tone is sometimes a little sexist (I am so tired of the word hardwired when discussing gender differences) but still, a lot of the things he says are basically true for (probably) a majority of men.
His Rules boil down to: Men want practical, comfortable, simple garments that don't look weird or stand out in a crowd. Already I can think of about 10 exceptions to that in the form of men I've known and clothes they've owned and loved, but I think it's a good general principle.
I think Simple, Practical, Comfortable are good guidelines when knitting for any gender if the garment is a gift, especially a surprise one. Most people who like wacky, odd things like picking them out themselves; even odd tastes tend to be specific. A plainer, simpler style has a greater probability of success when made for another person.
The value of this book is in the patterns, not the commentary. Each one is presented in a table format, given in multiple gauges (and sizes, of course). There are only 10 patterns: several sweaters, a scarf, a vest, a hat, socks, and mitts. My favorite is the Henley. My HB likes the zip cardigan and the watch cap. The patterns are clear and versatile. The gauges (and therefore the yarns) are variable, but yarns the sample garments are made in are listed.
The photos are nice, too. I like that most of the photos feature men with beards!
The real reason I bought this book? My husband liked it. He knits, too, and every time we are in the bookstore and I see a new men's knits book, I eagerly show it to him. His responses are pretty ho-hum, usually. But he was excited about this one. I almost couldn't understand why; the patterns are so simple as to almost verge on boring. But I guess that is what my man wants!
