Review: Norwegian Sweater Techniques for Today's Knitter

I love reading knitting books.   I love to write reviews of the best of these books.  Here's the latest I just finished reading.

Therese Chynoweth's first book, Norwegian Sweater Techniques for Today's Knitter, is a great example of my favorite kind of book!  You know the kind of book I mean:  packed with great techniques, great eye-candy designs, and filled with the author's passion for the art.  Chynoweth, famous for her Norwegian-inspired knitwear designs (and former designer and educator for Dale of Norway USA) has created a book that explains, step-by-step, how to work the various traditional Norwegian knitting techniques and further, how to incorporate these techniques into chic, contemporary designs.

When most folks think of Norwegian sweaters ... we instantly visualize ski sweaters from the Olympic teams, bright color-work on staid backgrounds and simple shaping to minimize distraction from the gorgeous snowflakes and other intricate color-work.  Knit in the round, with sew-and-slash to add bands or sleeves, these sweaters have stood the test of time both fashion-wise and durability-wise.  Chynoweth delves into the intricacies of these techniques, breaking them down and explaining multiple methods of obtaining the results, so that any knitter can apply these techniques to the standard Norwegian sweater.

But more than that ... the second half of the book is devoted to 20 designs that incorporate these techniques into beautiful sweaters that use color-work, cables, lace and knit-purl stitches to make gorgeous sweaters for today (these are for women, men and kids). 

This is one of those books that will stay in my personal library for reference ... design inspiration ... and just to enjoy how beautiful the knitting art truly is!

Well done, Therese!

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com