Knitting Plus

Finally a book specifically on fit! Knitting Plus by Lisa Shroyer is on custom fitting plus-sized sweaters, and it has a lot of really great, solid information. The first chapter goes over the various parts that make up a sweater and the different fit issues a plus-sized knitter might face. It also explains a lot of the logic behind the standards for plus-sized sweaters and why those standards might cause fit problems for knitters who carry their weight in different places than the hour glass shape that the standards are modeled on. The next chapter covers the basics of where and what to modify on the sweater body. There isn’t a lot of hand-holding or detail here, so you need to be pretty comfortable with doing calculations based on gauge and figuring out how to incorporate them into your sweater pattern. I think the book could have gone into more detail here, but all of the necessary information can easily be found in other sources. Little Red in the City covers everything that I feel like is missing from this chapter.

The rest of the books covers five different basic sweater construction methods: drop-shoulder sweaters, set-in sleeve sweaters, raglan sweaters, seamless circular yokes, and dolman sweaters. The book gives an overview of these different methods and suggestions on which type of plus-sized bodies they’ll fit best and the limitations of the particular styles when it comes to plus-sized modifications. It includes some really good advice on how to alter this section, like how to recalculate set-in sleeves to get a custom fit and where to hide additional shaping in a raglan yoke if you need more stitches through the upper arm. A lot of the fit books I’ve read have simply suggested that you choose a sweater size that fits through the shoulders and upper arms and then focus on modifying the body because altering this part of the sweater can be challenging, but that doesn’t leave a lot of options if your shoulders and upper arms don’t match the body shape the standards are based on. This book does a nice job of giving you the tools to make those changes if you’re a plus-sized knitter.