Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques: A Step-By-Step Visual Guide, with an Inspirational Gallery of Finished Techniques

This book has a great number of stitches; I believe that there are 250. They are organized in a logical way: ribs, twists and lace. Although, I bought the book specifically for the stitches, I discovered that it contained very useful information that a knitting newbie could easily benefit from, including the importance of checking your gauge. It was definitely worth every penny, particularly if you bore of using other people's patterns, and want to go beyond stockinette or garter stitches. HOWEVER, there is one negative is that there is a critical piece of information missing. There is also no corrections/errata page found on the publisher's website. However, I did manage to track down the correction simply by using my sleuth-like nature and annoying every contact on the publisher's website LOL. I did manage to find the correction on someone's blog, I think it was webigail's. Anyway, I would have given the book 5-stars, but I had to put in too much work to find the correction. I have heard that the error is going to be fixed with the next batch of books, which doesn't help those of us who already own it. Thank goodness someone did have the correction.

This book is terrific in a lot of ways. I love the organization. It's a great resource when you ask yourself "Isn't there another way to cast on?" The pictures are gorgeous, and the directions are reasonably clear.There are some frustrating aspects, though. The stitch library is good but could have more in it. Some of the pictures in the stitch library don't have instructions for the pattern. Actually, the book is full of beautiful sweaters -- and no patterns! I understand that the book is a basic reference, not a pattern book, but it would be nice if you could at least send away for the patterns.also, the book provides just a smattering of info about designers and how to design sweaters. it's almost to the point where I asked myself, why did they bother if they weren't going to tell me more?Overall, I'm pleased with the book and I do use it all the time. It would be a better book if some areas were deeper and other areas were just dropped out entirely.

I have a list of knitter's resources as I constantly get the question "what's the best book for a beginning knitter" or "what's the best book for someone to improve their knitting."This book fills the bill for any knitter. How handy to have a lavishly illustrated book, organized from A to Z, to list all those techniques you need to look up,from various kinds of decreases and increases to cords, duplicate stitch, making up, more. It's beautifully photographed. Even though I'm an experienced knitter who has even knitted for a commercial designer in the past, I still have to look up certain increase techniques from time to time. I love the A-Z format. You don't have to depend on the vagaries of an index to quickly find what you need to know. The idea of including an inspirational gallery makes this book perennially useful, as you can read it for pleasure and to get design ideas and not just for reference. I used to list several books that, when added together, had all the elements this book has. Now I have a single source reference book I can recommend enthusiastically.