Knit Mitts

Knit Mitts by Kate Atherley is a follow up and companion book to her Custom Socks book.  It's to be released 26th October by F+W's Interweave imprint.

I think most knitters have felt the frustration of substituting yarn or fibre and winding up with a finished article that didn't fit or wear correctly.  The problem is compounded by the fact that we're knitting essentially a 2 dimensional object (sock/mitten/etc) to fit on a very variable 3 dimensional body.

This book is very in-depth and clearly explains how to measure the recipient's hand correctly and compensate for variations (short (or maybe missing) fingers, oddly shaped or very petite hands, a thin or thick wrist etc) and wind up with a finished product that really fits and flatters the recipient.

There's an entire chapter on fit, and one on fibres and how to make appropriate and warm fabrics for mittens and gloves.  There are follow up chapters on the nuts and bolts of construction and on basic patterns and variations.  This is all before introducing the individual patterns.

I -really- love the fact that the measurement and size tables are so complete and detailed.  I've seen some reviews saying it's 'very math intensive' and I would disagree somewhat.  The tables are so detailed and complete and the instructions are so well written that it's just a matter of measuring and finding the row and column in the book.  The mathematical gymnastics are all done for you.
For people who enjoy the number-crunching, there are good guidelines included so you can do your own pattern writing.  I really enjoyed that freedom.

Roughly half the book's content is given to fit and construction.  It's well supported and complete.  The last half of the book is given over to the individual beautiful patterns.  One thing I love about knitting is making cleverly constructed useful objects to warm my family and friends.  The included patterns are lovely, functional, and very cleverly constructed with fitted wrist ribbing and patterning details.

I immediately sat down to cast on a pair of the lovely lace fingerless gloves called 'Forsyte' for my youngest daughter in a luscious aubergine sport weight alpaca.  She's come in practically every hour since then to see if they're done yet.  They're knitting up beautifully. There were no discernible mistakes in that pattern.

Lovely book, wonderfully detailed and well written.  Gorgeous full color detailed photography which illustrates the gloves and mittens very well.

Five stars.  Great value for experimenters and 'blind followers' alike.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.