Knitwear Design Workshop by Shirley Paden

More than just a workshop, this is a workbook! 400 pages!

Shirley starts with talking you through how to plan your design. Already have an idea in mind? Do your layouts, plan the different shapes your design can take. What kind of collar do you want? What kind of sleeves? Armhole shapings? Cardigan or pullover? A certain kind of neckband or collar? How do you want your design to lay? Or is it a skirt or dress? With book, you’ll learn all the tricks of the trade for designing with step-by-step instructions for using measurements, calculations, and schematics.

Augh! I give up! No, no, no! With this book, it’s easy. Shirley walks the walk and talks the talk right along with you and breaks it down step by step. Overwhelming you say? Nope, not with this workshop/workbook by your side. It’s easy to figure out exactly how to get that image from your brain, down onto paper with Shirley’s methods.

Then, once it’s on paper, the fun of choosing your yarns begins, and gauges, and how to knit your repeats, shaping… Again, it’s easy with this book.

After your original design is done, you still have to block it. But Shirley hasn’t left in that canoe without a paddle either. She’s got a whole chapter devoted to finishing techniques. From blocking, to shoulder seams, to necklines, armhole seams, side and sleeve seams, button holes and even zippers, this book shows you how. And then, just when you thought you couldn’t possibly fit any more information into a book, there’s an appendix section with abbreviations, a design process checklist, measurement charts, shaping formula variations and more.

If you’re a knitwear designer wanna-be, this is a MUST-HAVE book. Very much worth the money spent. And you can get it directly from Interweave Press, by clicking on this link!

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

Looking for pullover and sweater patterns? Check these books out.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to instructional books about knitting. Either focus in one particular technique or kind of knitting (stranded knitting, say, or brioche) or try to cover a little bit of everything in a reference book that knitters will use throughout their careers.

The Knitting Book by Frederica Patmore and Dr. Vikki Haffenden aims to be the second kind. The subtitle is: a step-by-step guide to creating imaginative projects for the home and to wear. I’m not sure it does that, exactly, but it does include a quick look at a lot of different techniques and stitch patterns you might use in your projects.

A “guide to creating imaginative projects” sounds to me like it’s about design, but this book is not. There’s 1/3 of a page about altering patterns that only talks about how to add length to a sleeve and adjust where the increases go.

There’s nothing about measuring your body (the section on choosing a size in a pattern only suggests measuring a garment you already own), general garment construction, ease or stitch pattern multiples. The section on gauge (which is the last third of the page with choosing a garment size and altering patterns, discussed above) just says to knit a swatch, block and measure it to compare to a pattern, with no discussion on how you might use your swatch to design your own project or alter a pattern to meet your gauge.

If you ignore the subtitle, what you will find is a lot of information about different kinds of knitting and various techniques you might want to try on your projects. There are 20 cast ons and 15 bind off options, for instance, all discussed before you learn how to knit or purl. (Another quibble I have with this book is the order in which things are presented, but that’s relatively minor.)

You’ll find quick hits on increases and decreases, twists and cables, lace, colorwork, textured effects like fisherman’s rib and brioche, loops, mosaic knitting, double knitting, decorative stitches, shadow knitting, bias knitting, mitered squares, entrelac and more. There are tips for selvedge stitches, knitting with beads, adding buttonholes, picking up stitches and more.

A few patterns at the back give knitters a taste of some of the techniques included, but they’re not rated by skill level and the first one is a bias knit gradient scarf worked in six different colors of mohair, which isn’t a thing I’d wish on any beginner.

And I guess that’s maybe what my issue with the book is. I don’t know if it’s meant for beginners and it doesn’t seem to, either. I feel like this book would be overwhelming to new knitters and doesn’t really give you a place to start or all the information you might need to do projects well.

The variety of techniques included is fun, and there are also stitch patterns in the back you can use on your own projects, but again it doesn’t really provide any guidance for how to design your own projects so I don’t know how helpful all of that is.

I want to like books like this because having one reference that helps you with a lot of different things is great, I’m just not sure this is the one. If you can find it at your library or local book store and flip through it before buying, I think that would be a great idea to see if it’s a book that would be helpful for you.

And if you have this book and love it please let me know! I’m sure it’s good for someone I’m just not sure who.

About the book: 336 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by DK. Suggested retail price $40.

Have you read?