The five knitters who came together to create Wearwithall wanted to offer a knitwear collection with enough variety to make their book the one you come back to again and again.

With only 13 patterns, the designers have been completely successful. The breadth of the patterns gives you plenty to knit. But, each pattern can also lead to several more projects simply by making a few small changes.

When I think about how much I’ve enjoyed Elizabeth Zimmermann’s books, with their relatively few inspirational patterns, I understand why Wearwithall appealed to me the moment I began turning the pages.

How about a plain pair of socks knit with worsted weight yarn in a tighter gauge than usual. But, the surprise is the side ribbing panels that help them stretch and fit well. I love the contrasting cuffs and toes – very alpine lodge looking.

The mittens are excellent examples of multi-design projects. The original pattern is cuff to finger-tip, two-color designs. It that is more commitment than you want, take the colorwork down to just the cuffs. Or, only work a rolled edge cuff in a contrast color. Or work a couple of stripes into the cuff. The point is that the mitten pattern is well-designed waiting for your own creativity.

How about a slouchy hat for a woman that can be worked at a tighter gauge for tight fitting guy’s hat?

The multi-color stole is absolutely fascinating. Knit with 9 colors of fingering weight yarns. This would make an ideal travel blanket or stole. Another multi-yarn project is “The Blanket”. I’ve put it in quotes because there are actually a lot of blankets to be develped from the simple, four triangle baby blanket. The blanket changes from baby blanket to afghan by adding more squares of four triangles. Since each triangle is knit seperately, either option makes for good traveling projects.

I’ve always had trouble breaking up stripes in a creative way whenever I knit a sweater. But, the Toddler’s Cardigan has a three-color repeat that looks completely random. A pattern that could easily be adapted to an adult cardigan.

The Woman’s Cardigan is knit with three different yarns. What a difference between each one! You can choose between a ribbed buttonband or a mitered band edging. The Man’s Sweater absolutely channels Mr. Rogers – complete with zippered front.

Wherewithall falls into my highly selective “Desert Island” category. A book that could keep me happily knitting until the rescue ship arrives.