is a MUST have for the avid knitter, It not only shows multiple techniques, but also includes some fabulous patterns, An excellent resource So, I consider myself to be a pretty crafty person no, no not sneaky, but in the creative sense.
I've mastered many an art, but knitting is the one craft that continues to elude me, And it just makes me more determined, So when I saw The Knitting Book by Frederica Patmore and Vikki Haffenden, I knew I had found the book I needed.
I think know some of my past failures have been based on ignorance, It's all well and good to be told that you need an acyclic yarn for this buy this size of needle, but I want to know why and what alternatives I have.
The Knitting Book has it all! In glorious, glossy colour with lots and lots of detail,
It starts off with basics I had no idea there were so many types of yarn available beyond the basic wool bamboo, soy protein, ribbon, cottons and more.
Even using wire, plastic and fabric!And a description of needles and where and why they should be used.
And embellishments ribbons, beads and buttons,
And on to the basic techniques almostpages on different casting on methods, Very clear and concise instructions with detailed photographs that make it look really easy, Tons and tons okay really only! of various techniques are covered in the same careful detailing from the simple knit and purl to Fair Isle, circular, felting, how to read patterns and so many more.
Also included are glossaries detailing stitch patterns with instructions and pictures as well as how to finish your project, sew it together, embellish and care for it.
And projects! Lots of choices from a simple scarf, to more involved hats, mittens, socks, tea cosies, bags, baby gifts etc.
And much as I might imagine that I could whip up a quick dozen pairs of mittens for gifts for Christmas, it's not going to happen.
But I am thinking I could whip up a few cute little egg cozies to get my feet wet.
Stay tuned to this space for progress photos!
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Dorling Kindersley publishes the best reference books, They're substantial, chock full of detailed information, But I am a visual learner, so it is the clear, colour, detailed photographs I appreciate the most.
If you've got a crafter on your Christmas list, I'd definitely recommend The Knitting Book,
This is a great resource for any knitter esp, the dabblers like me it's got loads of stitch patterns, tons of caston techniques that I haven't even heard of, and patterns that are actually doable, interesting, with nice colours and yarns, and aren't from thes.
. .
And I love the paper and print quality, . . beautiful thick paper with awesome colour photos, : I think it would even make a nice addition to the coffee table books, . . :D This book is utterly brilliant, I picked it up because I was looking for a good collection of stitch patterns, The stitch pattern library in this book is brilliant starting with knit/purl patterns and then taking on increase/decreases, cable, colour work, beading.
. . the list goes on! I really feel my knitting skills have improved aboutsince I started using it.
The book is broken up into general info about knitting yarns, equipment, techniques, patterns and stitch pattern library.
Unlike a lot of knitting books I've read the techniques section is clear and helpful, Large photos and arrow guides that actually make sense!
The patterns are really lovely, so far I've made four things from it and have marked another couple to try out.
I'd recommend this to any beginner who wants to improve and try out new techniques,
Being an intermediate knitter, there's not a lot in this book I haven't seen before, but it's all nicely presented.
I bought it really for a couple knittingstitch patterns I hadn't seen before, I'll admit that if I knew any beginners, I'd recommend this book though it wouldn't be the best one for me.
I like lots of information in a smaller package, This book is a great addition to a knitter's library, no matter what their skill level may be.
Stitch dictionary including fair isle patterns, projects/patterns, and instructions on technique including casting on, binding off, increases and decreases are included.
If you can only own one knitting reference book, make it this one, For a newbie knitter, this book is equal parts delightful and intimidating, The photography is lovely. The explanations seem to be written in Klingon at times, which is, no doubt, a sign of my own lack of knowledge.
It provides inspiration and much needed reference material, This is the second knitting reference book I have tried and much the better of the two,
Great stitch dictionary. There are stitches for both beginner and those who are more advanced, and they are all well explained.
I like that the swatch gallery has large, clear photos and the stich patterns are found at the back.
I'm using a stich pattern from the book for a baby blanket, So many errors
If you are new to knitting this is not the book for you there are so many errors for the stitch patterns you will just end up looking up the patterns and techniques elsewhere.
Not worth the money. O There's a knitting group at my local library, I've stopped in many times to see what they're making and each and every time I leave I think "I want to learn how to knit.
" And I've convinced myself I will knit hats for each and every family member for next Christmas!
But, I need some direction and instruction.
And I've found it in The Knitting Book New Edition by Vikki Haffenden and Frederica Patmore,
The Knitting Book is a fabulous resource for anyone beginner through to those who already have skills.
Everything is covered from start to finish, Materials, including types and weights of yarn, All accompanied with large, full colour photographs that really allow the user to see the detail, Tools includes the same excellent photos detailing needles and other equipment, The Swatch Gallery containsdifferent styles and full instructions for these are found in another chapter at the end of the book.
But how to knit Well, the Key Techniques chapter has very explicit and detailed instructions from casting on, so many ways to knit with patterns, colours, styles, embellishments and more, right through to casting off.
Overstepby step techniques! Again, all with colour photographs showing how to proceed very clearly, This is what I love about DK books the clear instructions, clean layout, easy to see and process detailed information and most of all the colour photos.
The Knitting Book also includes a number of project ideas for beginners through to seasoned knitters.
And yes there's two hat patterns! And a really easy baby blanket that would be a good starter project for me.
There are sweaters, throws, runners, an arm knitted rug and more, A wonderful resource! What an absolutely beautiful book, very easy to understand for beginners, what made me buy this book is the "Yarn" chapter where they show different types of yarn rolled in equal size balls and knitted in a stockinette stitches
Then the yarn labels in large prints I wish they'd do the same to wool garments
If you love pictures and you learn by pictures like me, this is the perfect book for you.
My Favorites
Jelly Fish Scarf
Jelly Fish Hat
Harlequin Scarf
Cabled Armwarmers
Baby Cardigan
Cabled Hottie
Rhybarb Tea cozy
Love this book! Showed continental knit AND purl with illustrations.
Lots of stitch patterns, beadwork patterns and lacework patterns in the back, along with patterns for knitted items.
Great reference. Il y avait longtemps que je désirais me remettre au tricot, Javais mis le tout de côté par manque de temps, mais surtout à cause de mes crises darthrite aux mains qui me causaient un mal atroce.
Mais ça me manquait et jai donc décidé de my remettre grâce à ce livre, Il ma attiré dès le départ, Il semblait complet et jétais bien curieuse de découvrir ce quil renfermait,
Ce fût une belle découverte! Je ne regrette pas du tout davoir demandé ce livre dans le cadre de mon partenariat avec Québec Loisirs.
Cet ouvrage est plus que complet, Il est très bien illustré et nous y retrouvons de linformation sur une panoplie de trucs et conseils en lien avec la laine et le tricot.
Nous pouvons donc apprendre sur les différents types de laines ainsi que leurs utilités.
On y retrouve également de linformation sur les différents points de tricots possibles et je peux vous garantir, quil y en a vraiment beaucoup.
Sérieusement, il est vraiment complet et très bien expliqué en plus, Lauteur nous propose également quelques créations à réaliser où nous y retrouvons à la toute fin le patron pour chacun deux.
Bref, un ouvrage de qualité remplis de belles illustrations colorées, vivantes et forts instructives, Un guide de référence en la matière pour les amoureux du tricot, Que ce soit pour un débutant ou un pro du tricot, vous saurez trouver bonheur dans ce dernier.
very useful and instructive, lovely pictures I really should not have bought this book and I seriously consider returning it.
I read some reviews on Amazon about how confusing and full of errors it is but in the end I decided to get it, I guess mostly for two reasons.
First aesthetics. I have to admit it's dropdead gorgeous, Beautifully set, illustrated and printed and I do have a soft spot for beautiful books which sometimes gets in the way of reason.
. . Second the negative reviews I mentioned are actually hugely outnumbered by great ones, also here on GoodReads, so I thought come on, it can't be that bad then! It looks like a true encyclopaedia of knitting and claims to cater to absolute beginners as well as those with experience so I thought that even if there are some ambiguities, it will be a good overall reference book and any major mistakes will be cleared up by the publisher in corrigenda which I remember reading about somewhere as a publisher's response to one particularly negative review.
Well, there are apparently no corrigenda, at least no that I can find anywhere online and the book truly is confusing.
In fact, much more so than I expected even from the worst reviews, I do realise that showing movement in print can be challenging but owning sitelinkClassical Ballet Technique I also know that it is absolutely doable to show even very intricate movement in a clear way.
The first chapters about tools and materials are very good, I am a complete beginner and I learnt a lot from them, The stitch pattern gallery is beautifully presented and the complementary instructions shown at the end of the book are ok at least the ones I checked.
For those reasons I am still considering keeping the book and I'm giving it two instead of one I did learn something from it, after all.
It is the middle of it with wich I have a problem,
The beginning was easy enough casting on was explained very clearly and so I was in high spirits as I went on to learn the stitches.
But that's where the problems started, As beautiful as the illustrations are, they're not always useful, There doesn't seem to be any rule as to whether the picture illustrates the state before, during or after the explanation in the box sometimes it's one way, sometimes another and sometimes, to me at least, the picture showed something entirely different from the written explanation.
Maybe it's my lack of imagination or, on the contrary, a too creative one but in the end I had to learn
almost everything from youtube, including the basic knit and purl stitches.
Some instructions are so confusing I would claim that they are downright wrong e, g. left and right paired edge increases I read about them, thought I sort of understood but wasn't sure, then I looked it up on youtube, it turned out that I had been mistaken, and then already knowing the technique I reread the instructions and I can kind of sort of maybe see what they meant but I still find them confusing.
I also do not appreciate offhand explanations like "The purl version of this stitch is worked using the same principle".
I am a complete beginner every move I make feels awkward and arbitrary, I do not have the intuition yet about what constitutes the principle here and how exactly to turn things around.
Then there are projects which look fun and beautiful but the instructions are even more confusing than with the techniques and the stitches don't always add up.
This part, in fact, seems to be getting the worst reviews so I'm not even going to elaborate but I am very disappointed by the fact that over three years after the publication of such a gorgeous book the publisher did not find it important enough to issue simple corrigenda.
Overall I do not recommend this book, at least not to absolute beginners, Maybe people who already have some knowledge of knitting and/or have more intuition for it and can figure out the meaning of the explanations but if it's the first time you're holding needles in your hands good luck trying to make sense of it with this book alone!.
Access Instantly The Knitting Book: Yarns, Techniques, Stitches, Patterns Constructed By Frederica Patmore Accessible Through Digital Copy
Frederica Patmore