Here's an opportunity to take the mystery (and uncertainty) out of the prospect of creating an Aran sweater. Janet Szabo's masterful guidebook covers everything from history to construction options in a way that is so clear, yet so inviting of creativity that there just isn't anyway I can think of that you could go wrong following her sage advice.

After covering the basics of history, fiber, needles, and so forth, Janet moves into the realm of cables and honeycombs, diamonds and ribbing. It is here that she shines enormous light on the how-to's and whyfor's of Aran construction. Her examples are so well-chosen that she really does cover the enormous range of the design possibilities offered by the realm of Aran knitting. Her tips and thoughts about placement of various types of cabling are stellar, and her sample design sketches not only help clarify the design concepts, but also inspire beyond what is shown.

By the time you reach the sections on actually designing full sweaters and vests, you are empowered with a wealth of knowledge. Her design methods are pain-free and wonderful. I was able to sketch out three possible designs in about 10 minutes. Were I to knit them, I would, of course, review and refine a bit, but you get the point: her teaching is so extraordinary that the design phase of your Aran will simply flow out of your mind and onto your paper. Needless to say, once you've mastered Aran design, there is an enormous amount you can apply to all other sweater designs, too.

This is a must-have resource for any knitter who wants to enter the world of sweater design.

Fishermen's Sweaters is a delicious journey through the fishing communities of Scotland, England, Ireland, then across the Channel into Norway, the Faroe Isles, the Baltic Sea and back to Breton, France; and then Alice Starmore takes a leap across the Atlantic and creates new "traditional" sweaters for New World fishermen, as well. In each of these sweaters, in her amazing way, she has picked up elements of design that really speak to the places and people she contemplated. Then she transforms them into something very new that carries those traditions into the present, beauty and purpose intact. I just love see the ways Alice Starmore plays with designs, always keeping a wonderful, lively balance between the old and the new.

This collection is so inspiring that not only do I want to knit each and every one of the sweaters, but I am already playing with ways to create new designs, new directions. Fishermen's Sweaters is one of those design books that goes well beyond just offering patterns and directions for lovely sweaters - Starmore's world comes alive in it and you'll find you're able to travel a ways down the road with her, creating as you go.

Beth Brown-Reinsel has produced a beautiful tribute to a beloved classic sweater style, and in the process actually carried on and expanded upon the work of two of my favorite authors: Gladys Thompson, who brought us Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys and Arans (below) and Mary Wright, whose classic Cornish Guernseys and Knit Frocks is, alas, still languishing out-of-print. If you are at all interested in exploring the magnificent world of gansey knitting, Knitting Ganseys is a must-have.

Gansey sweaters were standard wear for 19th Century British fishermen. With their intricate knit-purl patterns, dropped shoulders and easy fit, these sweaters have remained an all-time favorite - still beautiful and a pleasure to wear even in our modern, urban world.

In Knitting Ganseys, Beth Brown-Reinsel teaches you how to design and construct your own ganseys. You'll discover special cast-ons, cables and increases, shoulder straps and gussets, and more. She even includes instructions for a miniature sample gansey, which will allow you to experience all the techniques in a matter of a few hours.

When you're read to knit a full-sized gansey, you can choose from six of the authors designs, or use her instructions for creating your own original design. There's plenty of information on sizing, graphing, and technique, as well as blank graph paper and a terrific worksheet (thorough beyond belief!).

Knitting Ganseys is a book to treasure and use and use and use - as classic as the sweaters it showcases.

Guernsey or Gansey, no matter what you call it, they are favorite sweaters to make and treasured sweaters to wear and pass along to the next generation. Meg Swansen invites us along on one of her "knitting vacations" along the gloriously beautiful Oregon Coast (near Coos Bay, I believe, judging from the scenery).

In addition to walking us through the basics of Guernsey construction, history and yarn, Meg takes us along many a side road, into realms of little known techniques, some clever, some simply brilliant. The result is a Guernsey to love and inspiration to carry you on to your next dozen!

Some of the things you'll learn are:

• Channel Island cast-on: a variation of long-tail cast-on that results in a charming picot edge along the bottom of the sweater
• Split lower garter stitch welt
• Indian Corn stitch (one of the most difficult to find documented! [though easy to accomplish])
• gussets - and the value of purl stitches
• texture patterns and some of their unique behavior
• garter-stitch weaving
• knitting-up around armholes
• decreasing to cuffs
• EZ's Sewn Cast Off

Discover the joys of knitting a yoke sweater. Meg's sweaters offer two style options: a textured sweater using Bavarian Traveling Stitches or a color-pattern sweater evocative of Icelandic designs. She also gives you instructions for either a 42" adult's sweater or a 27" child's version. Not to mention marvelous instruction for techniques as well as some delightful, chatty insights. This DVD is a treat, both to watch and to learn from.

Some of the techniques you'll discover:

• Two kinds of cast-on
• Phoney seams
• Hems
• Short Rows & Wrapping
• Knitting Back Backwards
• Mirror-image increases
• Travelling stitch
• Weaving
• Sewn Casting Off

If cables could talk, what would they say about themselves? And, what questions would you ask them? Where would the conversation go? And where would a cable go if you gave it free reign to express itself, to reveal the heart of its motion?

Inspired Cable Knits is packed with answers to just this sort of questions - in fact, it is the only knitting book in my experience where the word "inspired" within the title is not hyperbole. It's as though Fiona Ellis were a yarn whisperer (you know, like a horse whisperer, only she listens to yarn and knit designs). She has listened closely to all manner of cable designs - sometimes they want to melt into the rich textures of nature, losing some of their even rhythms in favor of a more intriguing, deeper pattern; sometimes, they have their beginnings in prosaic conventions that simply leap into surprising, delicious outcomes; and other times, they move right off the fabric, change their being completely and reveal their purpose as a completely new direction.

I could go on, but I'm sure you already get it - this is a book that illuminates, inspires and delights. To look through it is to find page after page of designs you'll want to knit and love to wear. And in each one a secret is expressed in beauty. This book is a joy.

You can see some of the designs and read a really interesting review of Inspired Cable Knits in The Yarn Harlot's March 24, 2006 entry. Enjoy!

Françoise Tellier-Loumagne has taught textile and knit design in France for more than thirty years and is someone I wish I could study under. She has a wonderful sense of the language of knitted texture and an exquisite eye for color and form. There isn't a photo in this book that you can't learn volumes from - and there are hundreds of full-color photos throughout The Art of Knitting.

This is an extraordinary, creative overview of every imaginable fabric type achievable by hand knitting, domestic machine knitting and industrial knitting. Every type of stitch she describes is accompanied by enlarged photos of the textiles, detailed diagrams, and written instructions.

In my opinion, though, even all that isn't the best part of this sumptuous designer text. The best part, the part that moves my heart, sets my mind into motion, and inspires my hands to try new things is that all the knitted examples are placed on or next to or embedded into places and things in nature that they echo. A purl face fabric is revealed on the shore among river rocks - tuck stitches are juxtapose alongside the windswept sands they resemble - a tire track in wet sands illuminates a stunning collection of racking. In other words, Tellier-Loumagne invites the world into our knitting and knitting back again into the world. I have gazed at these pictures and discovered things forgotten or never known about both knitting and the world; especially, I have discovered a creative impulse in myself that is nourished and encouraged everywhere I look. I have discovered how to see.

That's the best thing about this wonderful book for sure.

This is one of the first "specialty" knitting books I purchased when I began my own knitting adventures about 30 years ago. I still have it, still use it, still love it.

I love these sweaters whose patterns are named from the sea. Then there are the stories of the different styles of sweater, changing from village to village and from family to family. Some of the stories Thompson relates of how she came by the patterns still make me smile - following fishermen around while taking notes about the sweaters they were wearing! And the photos of the fishermen! My!

Thompson's instructions for the knitting patterns are crystal clear. The garment instructions are also clear, but an original editor decided that knitting in the round (the way these sweaters have traditionally been made) was too much for American knitters, and broke the instructions for the full garments into flat pieces to be worked back and forth, then stitched together. If you prefer circular knitting, as I do by far, it is really not at all difficult to make whole what has been separated and proceed as though that editor had never touched this book. See Knitting in the Old Way for "translation" instructions from flat to circular construction.

This is a book that will travel with you and your knitting for years and years to come.

After languishing for far too many years in the misty realms of out of print books, this classic reference and guide is once again back in print. The original title of this comprehensive manual devoted to one of the world's favorite forms of textured knitting was The Complete Book of Traditional Aran Knitting. Though I personally prefer the new title, I have to acknowledge that the old title may well convey the breadth and depth of this work better, for Shelagh Hollingworth misses nary a beat when addressing her subject and us.

Inside you will find a short history of the Aran Islands, and a concise overview of the history of Aran knitting and its patterns. Then, the author introduces the yarn, the tools and the techniques used in creating and Aran sweater.* There is also an excellent (really excellent) chapter on Designing an Aran Sweater complete with diagrams and a beautifully clear explanation of who to marry the stitch patterns you love with the construction necessary for a sweater.

And, with that introduction under your belt, away you may go to discover 76 Aran stitch patterns followed by 20 complete patterns for everything traditional fisherman's sweaters to family sweaters, cardigans, coats, hats, mittens, even cushion covers (which double as great stitch samplers!). All of which is presented so clearly and simply that you can just jump right in and start knitting in full confidence of a wonderful result.

This is a must-have book for anyone who loves this tradition and textured knitting in general. There is a such wealth of information here that a knitting library without it would be very deprived indeed.
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*I will say that Hollingsworth's detailed instructions, complete with photographs, for creating seemingly complex cables, while excellent in its overview, is from our perspective 20 years later, a bit old school in that it uses a cable needle for even very narrow cables. If you haven't already discovered it, Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen have a brilliant section on knitting cables without cable needles in A Knitting Glossary. This technique is so much easier than using cable needles that I strongly urge you to make it your own.

In my opinion, is one of the most resourceful and interesting techniques to appear in any knitting tradition. The art of using two two strands of yarn simultaneously is not unusual and can be found in every knitting tradition where people had access to dyestuffs. What is done here, though, takes the process a step further by twining the yarns as they are knit. The result? A fabric that is wonderfully warm, sturdy though soft, with design characteristics that embody both color pattern knitting and textured knitting at one and the same time.

If you haven't already tried it, the technique does take a bit of getting used to -- the yarns are carried over one finger of the right hand and then the finger is moved to present alternate strands in a way that twines them as you knit. It's well worth the effort of learning something new as the results are both gorgeous and practical -- and it isn't all that difficult once you get the rhythm of it. Try it, you'll love it!