Classic Elite Knits

Classic Elite Knits: 100 Gorgeous Designs for Every Occasion from the studios of Classic Elite Yarns

edited by Classic Elite

Softcover, 208 pages

List price $24.95, available at Amazon for $17.99

Classic Elite, as their name implies, is known for yarns and designs with a traditional sensibility that extends across several seasons, and this book demonstrates that. As a complilation of designs that they’ve published in the past 5 years, you can see that their designs are enduring (and yes, classic).

The book has a lot to offer readers, with 100 total designs:

39 women’s designs
15 men’s designs
23 children’s designs
15 accessories
1 mother-daughter poncho

Yes, I know that doesn’t add up to 100.  I think they’ve counted parent-child designs as 2 separate designs.

Women’s Designs

Most of the designs have simple lines and classic details — cables, buttoned cardis, turtlenecks, and simple shells, but occasionally they surprise you with something like the asymetrical silhouette of the awry cardigan.

Men’s Designs

I’ve selected three cooler weather sweaters, but there are several warm weather ones as well — a couple shells, a few cardis and a few pullovers with cable or cable and lace detailing.

Male knitters and those who knit for men should seriously consider adding this book to their library.  Mens’ knits is one place where this book really shines.  In my experience, most men are looking for simple, wearable knits, and the designs in this book fit that bill.

If you wanted to make the Alpaca Cable Turtleneck a little more breathable, you might consider Classic Elite Four Seasons (70% Cotton, 30% wool) as a substitute.  The gauges match, and as a cotton blended with wool you’ll get the coolness of the cotton with the stability of the wool — a necessity with all those ribs and cables.If you’re like me, you’ve found that men tend to favor sweaters that aren’t as insulating.  The Cable Rib V-neck on the left is made from Classic Silk (50% cotton, 30% silk, 20% nylon) and the Triangle Pattern V-neck is made out of Classic Elite Provence (100% mercerized Egyptian cotton).

Children’s Designs

The designs for kids are a little more playful with sailboats, flowers, and starfish motifs, as well as the classics shown in the women’s and men’s designs.

Sizing

There’s a good range of sizes here. Most of the women’s designs start at 32-36″ and go up to 48-54″.  A couple stop in the high 30s or low 40s.  Most of the men’s start in the low 40s and end in the mid-50s.  Three men’s designs start in the upper 30s.

General Impressions – The Good

Schematics – All garments have a schematic and include armhole depth, neckline depth, and measurements of details such as plackets and vents.

Pictures – Most of the pictures have an unobstructed view of the front — no out-of-focus artsy shots to keep you guessing.  Some patterns include additional shots of the back or of other design details.

As a compilation it’s likely that there will be less errors than in a book of new patterns. You’ll also have at your disposal opinions and pics from knitters who made these garments when the original pamphlets came out.  {view this book on Ravelry}

General Impressions – The Criticisms

There’s lots to love about this book, but I’ll also share a couple of criticisms.

As a compilation of previously published Classic Elite desgins, some of the designs use yarns that are no longer available. The editors attempted to address this in their General Pattern Instructions section, but there’s one yarn whose suggested substitutions I find lacking — the Skye Tweed.  None of the suggested substitutes are a tweed, and three of the four subs are discontinued themselves! It’s possible that given print production deadlines they weren’t able to suggest an available substitute. However, given that a tweed yarn has such an impact on a design, they would have done readers a service by reknitting the tweed garments in a currently available non-tweed yarn.

For more direction on successful substitution, read our article Ready, Set, Sub!

There are also several designs that never quite seemed “Classic Elite” to me — for example, eyelash yarn used as a trim, and motif colorwork in women’s wear. There are still a lot of designs in here I’d make and wear though, and I don’t think I’ve ever found a book in which I would makeevery design they included.

The other editorial decision that I find surprising is that the designers are not listed with each pattern.  Instead, they’re found at the back of the book, ordered by page number.  While it doesn’t effect usability as a knitter, I’m surprised that they chose to relegate the designers to the back of the book.  As a reviewer it did however make for a bit of fun as I played “guess the designer” and flipped back and forth to see how many I could guess myself.

Is this book for you?

If you’re looking for a solid, classic addition to your library this is a good choice.

If you knit for men, with 15 designs to choose from this is an excellent choice.

And if you’re new to the Classic Elite line, at less than the cost of two of their pattern pamphlets, the book is a steal.