First, the facts:

Title: Knitting Stitches Visual Encyclopedia: 350 Stitch Patterns, Edgings, and More

Author: Sharon Turner

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, 2011

Pages: 240

Type: Knitting stitches

Chapters:

1. Knit and Purl Patterns
2. Rib Patterns
3. Bobbles and Textured Stitches
4. Slipstitch Patterns
5. Twist-Stitch Patterns
6. Cable Patterns
7. Drop-stitch, Yarn Overs, Eyeles and Lace
8. Borders and Edgings
9. Creative Stitches and Combinations
10. Color Knitting

Title: Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia: 300 Stitch Patterns, Edgings, and More

Author: Robyn Chachula

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, 2011

Pages: 272

Type: Crochet stitches.

Chapters:

1. Simple Stitch Patterns
2. Textured Stitch Patterns
3. Lace Stitch Patterns
4. Unique Lace Stitch Patterns
5. Colorwork Stitch Patterns
6. Tunisian Stitch Patterns
7. Square and Hexagonal Granny Squares
8. Flower, Snowflake, and Joining Motifs
9. Edgings

The In-Depth Look:

It’s hard not to love a good stitch dictionary, and both of these seem to be good, solid specimens. Firstly because they ARE. Solid that is. Hardcover with lots of color photos and a good solid feel in your hand.

Both come with clear color photos of each stitch, along with both written instructions and a chart. I know a lot of people feel very strongly about having one or the other, and personally I think it never hurts to have both though I use charts most often. As an aside, I was almost surprised to see charts in a crochet book. The last time I crocheted anything of any complexity–a baby afghan for my now-18-year-old nephew–charted stitch patterns simply didn’t exist. I have no comprehension as to how easy or hard it is to follow one, though I’m almost tempted to pull out a crochet hook and give it a try.

Both books come with a basic glossary at the back explaining the stitches and their charted symbols, but these are very basic explanations. These books are not going to teach you HOW to follow instructions or what a Treble Crochet or C4B cable is. That is, they give a brief description, but you need to understand the basic techniques before you get here…but that only makes sense. Stitch dictionaries are about opening the possibilities to be creative, and usually you don’t get to that point until you have an idea how the basics work.

All in all, both of these stitch dictionaries are great. They’re nicely organized and all the stitches are spelled out in the Table of Contents, which makes it so much easier to find a specific stitch. The stitches are grouped by types of stitches, which makes browsing easy, and the hardcover binding does a decent job of staying open while you work.

Are they worth looking into? Absolutely.

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These review copies were kindly donated by John Wiley & Sons. Thank you!

First, the facts:

Title: Comfort Knitting & Crochet Afghans: More than 50 Beautiful, Affordable Designs Featuring Berroco’s Comfort Yarn

Author: Norah Gaughan, Margery Winter, and the Berroco Design Team

Published by: Stewart, Tabori & Chang 2010

Pages: 160

Type: Afghans.

Chapters:

1. Knit
2. Crochet

Pattern Size Range: Afghans, all sizes

The In-Depth Look:

This was a rare purchase for me. The knitting books I buy are usually for making sweaters, or socks, or lace. Something to wear.

But … have you seen this book? If you want something warm and cozy to keep you warm, this is definitely the place to look.

This book is a collection of over 50 patterns–a mix of crochet and knitting–for afghans. Some are made in one, big piece. Some are made up of squares or triangles or other geometric shapes. Some make great use of color work, some have cables or other texture. In other words, there’s lots of variety.

The patterns all call for the same yarn–Berroco’s Comfort yarn. I’ve never used the yarn myself but have heard good things about it. It’s a soft acrylic/nylon blend, fairly economical, and with lots of colors, but there’s no reason you couldn’t knit any of these afghans in another yarn. I bought this book primarily for the patterns, not because of the yarn, but still … if you’re going to center an afghan book around a specific yarn, that seems like a good one to pick.

The designers are top-notch, too. I mean … Norah Gaughan, for one, and Marjorie Winter, for another, are responsible for most of the designs. The others are credited to Cirilia Rose, Donna Yacino, and Brenda York. The list is in the back-matter, though, and not listed with the designs. I go back and forth between thinking that’s strange–shouldn’t the designers’ names be with their afghans so you can give them proper credit as you flip through the book–to thinking that it’s a good decision because you can focus on the actual afghan rather than the name of the person who created it.

Seriously, this is a great collection of afghans–lots of variety, lots of skill levels, lots of different techniques. There are at least a dozen I’d be happy to have myself, and the book is a delight to browse through. The photos are gorgeous and atmospheric and really make the afghans’ beauty stand out.

Yep, there’s a reason that this is the first afghan book I’ve bought in about 15-20 years.

I highly recommend going to check it out at Amazon. You won’t be sorry!

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First, the facts:

Title: Crochet Bouquet

Author: Suzann Thompson

Published by: Lark Books, 2008

Pages: 131

Type: Crochet.

Chapters:

1. Wild Flowers
2. Botanical Beauties
3. Stacked & Layered
4. Fanciful Foliage

Pattern Size Range: N/A

The In-Depth Look:

I know what you’re going to say. This is a knitting book site! Why am I reviewing a crochet book?

Now, before you overreact and start calling me a traitor, or something, let me explain.

Even though there is a friendly (I like to think its friendly) rivalry between knitting and crocheting, I think we can all agree that there’s a certain similarity, right? If nothing else, both crafts use yarn, and I think that brings us together far more than the hook-vs-needle debate pulls us apart. Also, many knitters do know at least the basics of crochet–enough to do a crocheted border to a bag, or a to make a button band. (And, please, let’s not get into the “But crochet’s not elastic enough for a button band” debate here.)

What is eminently clear, however, is that knitters like to embellish things. And while you can knit flowers to attach to a hat or a bag, you can also crochet them … and if you do, this is the book you’ll want to have nearby. After all, crocheting is sometimes faster than knitting, and there’s no denying that you can do things with one that you can’t do with the other, so why limit yourself?

The book is divided into sections by type of flower. Some are mostly stylistic in design (Circles within Circles), but some are remarkably realistic (like the Pansy, or the Sunflower). I love the playfulness of some of the layered ones, made from different elements in different yarns. The collection leaves and ferns are potentially very useful. The whole assortment is bright, cheery, and colorful, although I’m ashamed to tell you how many flowers I don’t recognize at all but think are beautiful. (I never claimed to be a gardener.)

The weakest part of the book, in my opinion, are the designs. Not all of them. The big, raffia Columbine on a straw hat, for example, is stunning and beautiful. And the idea of dressing up a gift bag with a coordinating, handmade flower is charming. Love those. Appliqued to a throw pillow, well, sure. But … crocheted flowers on a shower curtain? Glued to a note card? (Looks pretty enough, I suppose, but won’t that make writing on the cards kind of difficult? Not to mention hard to fit in an envelope?)

But, really, that’s not the point. The point is that this is a garden of pretty flowers just waiting to embellish YOUR handknits. Because even if knitting and crochet aren’t meant to be “mixed,” that doesn’t mean they can’t play nicely together.

As a plus, they are photographed nicely, the layout of the book is friendly to look at, and all the flowers are listed in the Table of Contents. It’s a friendly, happy kind of book, and you can get it at Amazon for $11.66.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by the author. Thank you!