Book Review: Great Knit Sweaters for Guys Big & Small

I have never knit a sweater for my husband. When we first got together — almost 20 years ago! — he didn’t really ever wear sweaters, and while he does now, he tends toward lightweight, fine-gauge garments that would be difficult to replicate in hand-knitting.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to knit him sweaters. As a knitter, they’re one of the best expressions of love we have. But it’s a lot of work to knit for an adult male and then have them not wear whatever we made because they don’t like it for some reason.

Andrea Sanchez started designing because she wanted to knit the perfect little sweater for her son and couldn’t find the kind of pattern she wanted. She also knits for her husband and brother, and has collected a dozen sweater patterns, all sized from a child’s size 2 to adult XXL, in her book Great Knit Sweaters for Guys Big & Small.

As you might expect in a book for guys, the patterns are mostly pretty straightforward, with simple textured stitch patterns, cables or other design elements that make them a little more special. There are two patterns with colorwork — one a color-blocked baseball-style shirt and the other a circular-yoked sweater — and there are pullovers, cardigans, a vest and a henley.

It’s nice to be able to see what the sweaters look like on both little guys and adults (her family members and a friend are the models) and worked in different colors.

And, of course, you can knit these projects for yourself or any little girl in your life if you don’t have guys you want to knit for.

I like the simple Weekend Pullover, a mostly Stockinette raglan with panels of Garter Stitch on the sides and at the top back; Ridgewood, another raglan with a textured Garter Rib on the body; the Towpath Henley, with a pretty waffle weave stitch that I’d like to knit for everyone in my family; and the Cascade Locks Jacket, a perfect little grandpa sweater. You can check out all the projects on Ravelry.

This book is a great choice if you have both little guys and men you like to knit for. These patterns look like fun to knit and to wear, and they aren’t too fussy for the particular guys out there but will still be fun to knit.

Book specifications: 80 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Stackpole Books, published January 2016. Suggested retail $16.95.

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

Next Pattern:

Now that all the Joann stores have closed, a mysterious message has appeared on the company’s website:

For generations, Joann has been honored to be part of your creativity: your quilts, costumes, school projects, and handmade moments of love. It has been our joy to serve markers and dreamers across the country.
We’re stitching up something new behind the scenes and we can’t wait to share what’s next.
Stay tuned for exciting news about the future of Joann.

To quickly recap, Joann filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time in less than a year. In February, in the hope of making the company more attractive to potential buyers, it petitioned the court for permission to close about 500 of its 800 stores. The company was put up for auction, with Gordon Brothers set to buy the company, sell its assets and close all the stores if no other buyer materialized.

In the end the winning bidder was GA Group, but the result was the same: all stores were to be closed by the end of May if not sooner.

Once store closure sales started the company quickly stopped selling on its website, and now all that remains is this jpeg image hinting at new ventures.

I’m sure there will be a tone of speculation in the coming days and weeks (or as long as it takes for them to announce the meaning of the message) as to what sorts of plans Joann could be cooking up.

My theory based on nothing but my gut is that they will transition to an online only storefront, probably with much reduced inventory, sort of like Herrschners (which had previously announced that it will be carrying Big Twist yarn, the beloved private label yarn brand sold at Joann). I also think they will use whatever retail sales they do to support CreativeBug, the digital learning platform that Joann purchased in 2017. That could mean producing kits for projects that already have classes, or developing classes based on products they want to sell, or both.

As of this writing the CreativeBug website seems to still be functional and there’s a full slate of new classes planned for June. I’ve got my eye on both the Joann website and the Joann restructuring website and will let you know as soon as I see changes.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your speculation as to what the next chapter might be for Joann.

Next Pattern:

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