Finish-Free Knits

January 1, 2013
What does no-sew knitting mean? At first casting on, some might equate it to top-down or side-to-side all-in-one needlework. With a more thorough look inside the book of former magazine-editor and design-contributor TenDyke, it involves all of the aboveand more. (Although you still do have to block your finished work.) Her 20 women's topsboleros, sweaters, vest-hoodie, shrug, and cardigansfeature lots of lace and cables, pick-up stitches, binding off when completed, shaping during construction, plus other techniques to avoid the drudgery of assembly. Her sidebars feature generous how-to's, such as how to join a casting and how to make box pleats; the patterns are replete with instructionsgraphs, written directions, color photographs (note the plural), tips, and the like. Ninety-nine percent of this collection is devoted to great design; one could only wish she'd indicated, with icons, the level of difficulty.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)