Reddit reviews The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques
We found 3 Reddit comments about The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
How to knit two, purl two for ribbing.How to do borders, bands and finishes.How to do buttonholes.How to knit bind offs.
The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman (US Amazon link) really helped me figure out seams. All the pictures are clear, and the text isn't too wordy.
Elsewise, locking stitch markers are your friend! Amy Herzog has a good tutorial on sleeve cap seaming using locking stitch markers. I use the same concept on every seam I sew, and it really helps keep things from bunching up.
Knitty's super fantastic Techniques with Theresa column has a sleeve cap seaming tutorial and a general seaming tutorial, both with very clear pictures.
Vogue Knitting also has a very extensive seaming tutorial, but with illustrations rather than pictures, if that is more useful to you.
I find the biggest thing is to be patient and go slowly. It's a pain, because you just want your FO to be finished already, but slow, careful, neat seaming really adds polish to an FO.
(As an aside, I've heard that seams add extra structure to garments so they fit better, but does anyone have examples to show that? I've made both seamed and seamless sweaters and don't really notice a difference...)
Different books have different uses.
The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques is an invaluable little reference for making your knitting look handmade rather than homemade. It comes in a spiral-bound version, which is very nice to have.
For sweater design & customizing, you can't beat Sweater Design in Plain English. Again, it's all about the difference between homemade and handmade. Righetti also wrote Knitting in Plain English, which is a more general book and just as invaluable.
My favourite stitch dictionaries are the Walker Treasuries - I use Volume 1 most often.
I've always known my primary goal as a knitter would be to make sweaters, and I'm absolutely obsessive about how my seams look. This book, The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques was a lifesaver when I was first starting out. I make sweaters all the time now, and I still find myself occasionally referring back to it. Books always seem to gloss over seaming, and yet good seams are so essential to having a good finished product, and this book shows you the techniques in great detail.