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Giveaway: You Can Knit That

by

you can knit that review
The winner is Karey.

I don’t know why I didn’t give this one away sooner, but You Can Knit That by Amy Herzog is a book I would want if I were starting out with sweater and garment knitting, and there are definitely patterns in it that I would still knit.

But this is designed to be a learning book, with lessons and patterns that build off each other, so it’s perfect for people who haven’t knit sweaters, vests and tops before.

Even better, it includes a whole bunch of sizes for each of the patterns, so it’s very likely you can knit straight from these patterns, no modifications required.

There’s also lots of great information that will help build your confidence before you even pick up your needles and as you knit to ensure that you’re making something you will be proud of, that you’ll be happy to wear and that fits.

If you’d like a chance to win this book, leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Sunday, March 5. I’d love to know if you have any experience knitting garments, and what your dream sweater that you wish you could knit would be. I’ve made a few of the dream designs in my head, including a circular yoke sweater out of Icelandic wool, a great sweater worked in self-striping Noro and a simple ribbed vest. But there are always more great sweaters to try, right?

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

Comments

  2. I’m completely intimidated by sweaters. Maybe this is the book that would help me get past that! Thanks for the great giveaway.

  3. My first and only sweater was knitted when I was in junior high school. Got it all finished, wore it ten minutes, then I ripped it out to make something else. That yarn sure got a workout!

  8. I’ve never knit a sweater and would love this. I’ll change fingerless gloves at the wrists so they aren’t baggy, but that’s about it.

  9. Sweaters and other items are so expensive to buy. I’m disabled so I have a lot of free time with not much to do except knit & crochet. Christmas & other special days would be wonderful if I could make something with love that I made with my own hands since I don’t have enough money to buy gifts or buy new ones even for myself on a disability income. Thank you for this great giveaway. 🙂

Have you read?

Book Review: The Knitter’s Sweater Fitting Bible

It’s one thing to follow a knitting pattern and get the fit that the designer wanted for that particular project. But it’s quite another thing to decide how you want your sweater to fit and making a project work for you. 

Designer Kim McBrien Evans aims to help knitters understand why sweater patterns don’t always work for them the way they expect and what to do about it in her book The Knitter’s Sweater Fitting Bible.

She describes the book as containing “everything I’ve learned about sweaters, bodies, and the art of fit.” It covers how to plan for a good fit through things like taking measurements and choosing the correct size to knit, understanding ease, reading schematics and fixing fit issues. 

Sweater style templates give knitters a place to start knitting better sweaters with made to measure patterns that work with any body, any yarn and any gauge. The book is designed to give knitters confidence to go their own way whether they’re modifying existing patterns, using one of the templates or designing their own custom sweater.

McBrien Evans argues that the best way to make a sweater that will fit well and stand up to lots of wearing is to work from the top down flat in pieces that are seamed when the knitting is done (the exception being circular yoke sweaters, which are worked in the round from the top down). She offers advice for making seaming easier like using selvedges and short rows.

She goes into a lot of detail on how and where to measure yourself and how to understand schematics in knitting patterns to help you choose the correct size for you and know where to adjust. The fixing fit chapter covers how to fit a sweater to your body from the shoulders down, with tips for things like balancing uneven shoulder height, accommodating a larger bust, using different shaping on the front and back of a sweater for better fit, fixing neckline depth and fixing sleeve and body lengths. 

The book includes photos and drawings of people of different sizes and with physical differences such as a smaller limb or having a mastectomy on one side, which is nice and helps you see how these concepts work on different bodies. 

The sweater templates offer options like a straight body, A-line and waist shaping body; set in sleeve caps and armholes, straight raglans and modular compound raglans, drop shoulders and circular yoke shaping; crew, scoop and V-neck options; a variety of sleeve templates, neckline finishes, and button hole options for cardigans. 

It’s easy for all this to feel overwhelming if you’re trying to read the book cover to cover, but it’s good to know that all of those options are there if you need them. There are also nine design profile sweaters that show you how all the pieces go together that you can knit through to help you understand some of the concepts. 

A fit kit in the back walks you through the math so you’ll feel comfortable with things like determining your rate of shaping, adding darts, shaping diagonals and calculating the lengths of curved edges, among other things. 

The good news is you’re not going to need all of these tools for every project. The better news is that now you know these are things you can do to make your sweaters fit better, and you’ll have McBrien Evans as your able guide every step of the way. 

While this might not be a book you want to spring on a new sweater knitter, it’s a guide that everyone who enjoys knitting garments should have on hand to reference ways to make sweaters they want to knit — from written patterns or designing for themselves — that much better. 

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 9 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $29.99.