Son of Stitch 'n Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men

I bought this for Jared Flood's pattern in here, because the pdf is not available (Smokin' by Jared Flood is the best thing in here, in my opinion), and no libraries around me had it. Thank god I got this for only $8: if I make 2+ things in this book I'll have gotten my money's worth. My boyfriend liked 3 or 4 things in here out of 45, so it's not a complete waste. Otherwise, these patterns are pretty awful. The book says most of the patterns are designed by men or by women working with men; I want to know which men approved these patterns, and if they were just trying to spare the designer's feelings! So many of these items are so cheesy, dated, and just not...stylish (and the book is only from 2007). The author spends the whole intro talking about how men like muted colors, simple cuts, etc. and then fills the book with weirdly colored and patterned sweaters and scarves. The author herself designed a bright yellow sweater! And then there's all the stupid skull/crossbones motifs! I thought the patters were supposed to be for MEN, not 14 year old boys. There's only a few patterns actually designed by men, and the rest are designed by women who make patterns exactly contrary to the advice on knitting for men. Finally, the sweater dubbed "Mr. Stripey," what the hell is that sweater?! It's like someone puked up primary colored crayons. So much ugly in one book. My advice is if you like a pattern in this book, find someone who has it and just take a picture of the pattern or scan it or whatever. Unless you want to distance yourself from a guy in your life, then go ahead, buy this book, make him a bunch of stuff in it and he'll get the point that you don't like him very much.

and I am really glad I did. I ended up liking most of these patterns and loving a few of them. The skull stuff is awesome. I am a 41 year old female and will make them for myself. The Celtic Aran is not wonderful in the colors they did but would be amazing in a black and grey. I will be making this for my 47-yr-old husband.Some stuff is odd, fun or juvenile but there is a lot more in this book than these things. In fact, the reason I decided to buy this book was because I had just purchased another knitting book of men's stuff. The other book mostly consisted of drop sleeve sweaters. This one is tons better.One thing - I think all knitting books should be spiral-bound hardbacks. You naturally lay them open to copy patterns or work from them and they just start falling apart. This one is not a spiral-bound hardback unfortunately.

This book was a misnomer for me to for me until I took the time to go through it. Originally I thought this book would be more engineered for men to use. Its not its for the ladies who are making projects for the men in their life. No matter the series are good easy to follow and enjoyable to read. I chose my first sweater project from it called the racing sweater. I changed the colors to suit me. I had to restart the project four times. This is because I am a beginner. After speaking with my mom who has been knitting for many years who said reassuredly that it was common for us newbies. Men get busy I love it very relaxing and a great way to meet people who knit. Which, by the way happen to be by in large...women.Thanks.

Great

I am SO pleased with this book. While some of the projects are downright silly (the dead teddy bear springs to mind!) that is in keeping with the spirit of the Stitch 'n' Bitch empire and there's nothing wrong with goofy knitting. The majority, however, are spot on in terms of what the men in my family would actually wear. My teenage son, in particular, glanced over my shoulder and said "will you knit me that" on almost every other project. The section on choosing colors for men's sweaters, although very common sense, is advice I wish I had been given years (and many sweaters) ago. Live and learn.Although I would probably go back to more traditional pattern options when knitting for my husband, those aren't the kind of sweaters my sons are willing to wear. If you like the Stitch n Bitch style, and have "hip" guys to knit for, this book is a must.

I was excited to find a book that would have patterns for a young modern male. I only crochet but I knew there would be some knit in the book. I would have thought that there would be at lease 20 of the 45 patterns in crochet. But there is only 4. Out of 45 patterns I think there could have been more then 4. If I knew there was that few crochet patterns I would not have purchased the book. granted the 4 patterns are nice patterns but I was hoping for more. You will get a pattern for a cap, vest sweater and scarf.For the knitter that is looking for some trendy knitting pattern this is probably the book for you. For the person who crochet's only I would skip this book and spend my money else where.

I love the Stitch N' Bitch books. They never fail to have a good amount of information for a knitter of nearly any skill level.But I do have a complaint - errata is definitely needed. For example, the "Smokin'" pattern tells you to place 8 stitches on a holder, but only on one side. By the time I was nearly finished all of a sudden I was supposed to be beginning a band on the other side but I had no stitches set aside because the book never mentioned it.The saddle shoulder for this pattern also proved a bit difficult.

I absolutely love most of the patterns in this book. The other ones are just too funky or ugly for me to consider making. It's well over half of the patterns that are great though. It's not easy to find some good patterns for the modern man and this book is good for that. Maybe some of the ugly ones would look better with a different color palette.My favorite projects are the Uncle Argyle Scarves, Celtic Beanie, Half-Pipe Hat, Beer Gloves, Biker Boy (sweater), Speed Racer (sweater), Treads (socks), Tubey (socks).

I little disappointed that, out of everything in the book, my husband and three sons came up with only one sweater that any of them said they would wear (the hoodie on the front cover). My sons liked the 'deady bear' and the beer bottle cushions, but they're teenagers, so I suppose they were to be expected. I bought this specifically for the 'half-pipe' cap as my husband likes peaked beanies. I've knitted this up for him and a customer of his who admired it, but I had to make the body considerably longer than the pattern states in both cases. I also had to enclose the peak inside an envelope made of t-shirt fabric and stitch it down individually before stitching the woollen parts of the peak together - otherwise, the ends of the plastic brim worked their way through the stitches and poked him in the forehead! Personally, I love some of the designs, but I think it could be the colour combinations that the author has used that has put my menfolk off...they, like a lot of men I know, have trouble imagining something in a colour that they like, if they have only seen it in one they don't - they also can't seem to visualise something 'tweaked' to make it more their style. For example: I thought the 'biker boy' jacket would be right up my husband's street, but he flicked straight past it. When I asked him why, he said he didn't like the skull on the shoulder! Maybe we just see things differently, but it's a big gamble to take when you're making something 'bloke sized'!

Unfortunately there are only 4 crochet patterns in here out of the 45 total - i.e. less than 10%. This is quite ironic given that the author introduces one crochet pattern by expressing "years of frustration with not finding suitable, wearable and fashionable crocheted garments for men". Some of the patterns are nice but overall the book is one of knit patterns with just a few for crochet.

There are more knit projects than crochet (which is what I was actually after). That said, the couple of crochet jumper patterns that are in here are *fantastic* - and there are several really nice knitted jumper patterns too, so all in all it's win-win.

This is a very well written and helpful book, but... it aint for beginners like me. If you are a novice, dont buy it until you know what you are doing and can look at a "knitting chart" and know what it all means..

Excellent book, simple for first time learners and exciting for long time stitchers!