Debbie Stoller - Son of Stitch n Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men

45 Projects to Knit & Crochet for MEN

Debbie Stoller

Fashion Photography by Anna Wolf Illustrations by Adrienne Yan

WORKMAN PUBLISHING NEW YORK

For Michael,

whos been there for me through all the stitching, and all the bitching.

Copyright 2007 by Debbie Stoller
Photography copyright 2007 Anna Wolf
Additional photography by Tod Seelie and Jenna Bascom
Illustrations copyright 2007 Adrienne Yan

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

eISBN: 9780761174998

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Design by Janet Vicario with Munira Al-Khalili

Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
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So many people helped to make this book come into being, and I want to thank them in the order in which they became involved.

First, I wish to thank my talented editor, Ruth Sullivan, for being behind this project from the get-go, and express my gratitude to Peter Workman, for agreeing that the book should be written. Once again, I am so very indebted to my wonderful agent, Flip Brophy, for getting the deal done.

I owe an immense thanks to my own personal Jill of All Trades, Jennifer Wertkin, who helped me organize the overwhelming number of submissions received, did an amazing job of coordinating between the designers and the yarn companies, made herself available for last-minute deadline knitting sessions, and just basically served as my right-hand gal in all things Stitch n Bitch. I am truly grateful. I am also thankful to the Y-chromosome peer review committee of Vinnie DAngelo (who also served as impromptu mannequin for in-progress and completed projects), Peter Stoller, and Michael Uman, for helping with the project selection process.

As always, the designers who came up with such clever and beautiful ideas for this book deserve the largest thanks. They were all willing to work and at times re-work their projects until they were completely perfect, and this book owes so much to their tireless and creative efforts. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to feature their work in this book.

Most of the projects in this book were knit by the designers themselves, but for some it was necessary to call in helping hands, so I wish to thank my knitting and crocheting brigade: Marney Anderson, Eileene Coscolluela, Sue DiMora, Ellen Hauser, Whitney Hess, Buffi Jashanmal, and Jennifer Wertkin.

I always enjoy being a part of the photo shoots for my books; its when I finally get to see everything come together, with the help of a large and talented group of people. For this book, it was Art Director Janet Vicario who did an immense amount of work overseeing the entire shoot, and I am deeply grateful for her creative eye and wonderful understanding of how these projects should best be shown. Photographer Anna Wolf made the boys look cute and natural in their knit and crochet wear, stylist JenniLee did an amazing job of getting the look just right, hair stylist and makeup artist Rita Madison got everyone looking perfect, and Photo Director Leora Kahn and her assistants, Jenna Bascom and Sofia Tome, helped to wrangle the adorable models. Speaking of whom, this book wouldnt be nearly as fun to look at if it werent for the handsome, hunky hotties who adorn its pages, so a special thanks to the models who appear here: Dar, Khi, Tet, Todd, and Luis.

I just love working with Eve Ng, and Im so glad she was available to be the Technical Editor on this book. She did such a wonderful and thorough job of going through the knitty-gritty of each pattern. And I truly appreciate Edie Eckmans work as an eagle-eyed second Technical Editor. I want to thank Adrienne Yan for the cute illustrations that support the text. Copy editor Judit Bodnar is not just a wordsmith but also a knitter and Im so grateful for her careful attention to detail, and tireless Production Editor Irene Demchyshyn co-ordinated the entire project and made sure the book got out on time. Im also grateful to design assistant Munira Al-Khalili for working on the many charts and schematics that appear in the book and to the typesetting/pre-press whiz Jarrod Dyer for his technical and visual assistance. They were mentioned before, but the two people who worked the hardest on getting the words and the layouts together for the book you see here are my incredible editor Ruth Sullivan and the wonderfully talented Janet VicarioI cant thank them enough for their hard work on this project.

Ive dedicated this book to my long-time partner, Michael Uman. Hes been my biggest cheerleader for many years, and I am more grateful for his solid support and generous love than any pair of hand-knit socks could ever express.

PART I
KNITTING FOR MEN

PART II

SCARVES, HATS, MITTENS

SWEATERS AND VESTS

SOCKS AND ACCESSORIES

Question any group of stitchers on their experiences knitting or crocheting for men and youre likely to hear a variety of horror storiesabout projects that took months to make but were never worn, about the sense of futility and rejection felt by the knitter in question, about how men just dont appreciate handmade items, or about the man who refused to wear a hat that was made with heathered yarn because Heather is a girls name. You might also hear tell of the dreaded sweater curse, the one that holds that if you knit your boyfriend a sweater, it pretty much guarantees the end of the relationship.

Whether its made for a (possibly soon-to-be-ex) boyfriend, or a husband, father, son, or nephew, projects made for men appear to be rejected at a higher rate than those made for women. And yet, for much of knittings history, the majority of knit goods, whether produced by mens or womens hands, were made forand definitely worn bymen. Caps, mittens, socks, and sweatersall have their origins as menswear, and sweaters in particular are a relatively recent addition to womens wardrobes, while they have been a mainstay of mens for centuries (see ).

So what gives? Why are todays men so difficult to knit for? Why wont they wear what we knit for them? And most important, how can we get them to start wearing the things we make? The answer is simple: If you want a man to wear what youve made, make him something that he likes. Because no matter how much he likes (even loves) you, that feeling will not transfer to a project that you slaved over if he thinks that it is too big, too small, too itchy, not his color, not his style, too feminine, too conservative, too nerdy, too wild, too youthful, too baggy, not baggy enough, or whatever else he