Crochet with Style by Melissa Leapman is one of my favourite books on my craft shelf.
From the mid 90s out of sheer frustration with store bought plus sized sweaters of unimaginable ugliness (they always have little flowers in bad fake embroidery or farm animals on them), I was determined to find some decent sweaters to crochet. I had tried making a few of my own but was not happy with the results and all the crocheted sweater patterns from the library were things with square shoulders in double crochet or the inevitable 1970's granny square monstrosities.
I was miffed because I just could not accept that only knitters could make nice things, that only knitting could make things you would be pleased to wear in public. Crochet with Style was the first book I found when I was on my search for really nice crocheted wearables. OK, make that really great wearables.
The first sweater I crocheted is from this book, its the aran worn by the girl with the green pants here (view the back of the cover, centre photo). If you click on the small sweater photos below the book cover, you will see many more of the great sweaters from this book. I've also made the second one pictured, a nice little cotton thing with apple green, orange, and red rows worked among the white body. There are 4 other sweaters from the book that I made and there are still several in it that are on the to do list. If you go back to the back cover photo, see the purple sweater? I have yarn in the stash that is going to be turned into one of those. See the purple? That lavender summer sweater is going to be dark purple fall wear, though I might turn it into a cardigan (shouldn't be hard). 
And there is a nice dressy cream coloured sweater made in a lighter weight yarn with a texture that must be seen to be believed, that has had my name on it from the moment i saw it. And the blue tunic with the little white v's among the photos from the book at Amazon, well that is on my list too.
This book, published in 2000 is full of sweaters and shapes that will not go out of style, things with timeless appeal, some classical and elegant, and some warm and reminding the wearer of home. The book is filled with stylish tops, tunics and sweaters using a diverse range of yarns, to cover all the seasons.
If you are looking for a book with a broad range of sweaters, and only sweaters, do consider this one. It may be from 2000, but good is good. It ranks a treble on my bookshelf.
1 comment:
My first sweater ever, knit or crochet, was a monstrosity. It was an oversized pullover made of Bubble Gum Pink Simply Soft when I was 12. It was single crochet with bobbles along the edges. It was a good execution of a bad idea. I never wore it, except to take a picture of myself wearing it.
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