Knitting Loves Crochet: 22 Stylish Designs to Hook Up Your Knitting with a Touch of Crochet

This book is great. The instructions are well wtitten and easy to follow. I am almost finished with the child's 'Cherries and Berries' sweater, it is too cute. My granddaughter is going to love it. Thanks Candi Jensen!!!

Candi Jensen's projects are designed to highlight the pairing of knitting and crocheting: arts usually kept apart in their own books. From embellishments from the world of crochet to finished sweaters and clothing to knitted products with crochet bands and embellishments incorporated into the design, KNITTING LOVES CROCHET pairs up the best of both worlds.

This book is full of shamelessly feminine sweaters for girlie girls--young ones. They're beautiful designs and the crocheted edgings and embellishments are perfect. After nearly a year of knitting hiatus, my teenage daughter looked through this book and started knitting and crocheting again. She gave loads of fingerless gloves to her friends for Christmas because they were so easy and quick and gave nearly instant gratification. This book has also given me the opportunity to knit a garment and pass it off to my daughter to finish with the crochet edging or flowers. We just started on the Tweed and Flowers Cardigan. She is pleased with that and I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Candi Jensen! For that reason, this book is getting four starts from me. I would have rated it lower otherwise. I've never been a Granny Square fan, and the return of that motif isn't all too exciting for me. There are quite a few projects with Granny Squares, especially in the section on knitting for your home. (It's probably a personal quirk, but they remind me too much of the drawstring lunch buckets my Grandmother made for us out of crochet cotton and bleach bottles when we were in school.) As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to Granny Squares. Also, the inclusion of a couple of projects for the family dog isn't of particular interest to me, but there are only two projects in the entire book like that. The other thing that bothered me about this book is that there are several patterns for pillows. I guess I've never considered pillows a pattern unto themselves, since I use gauge swatches and pattern stitch swatches to make pillows. For me, it's just not worth the space in a book to knit or crochet a square and then turn it into a pillow. The child's white sweater with red cherries stole the show. Not only is the little cardigan charming, but the little girl who is modeling it is gorgeous. She made me laugh when I saw her picture. I'll surely make that sweater for several other little girls and laugh when I see them in it as well. Overall, I wish the author had stuck with the sweaters and accessories and let the rest go. Happily, the sweater chapter is the largest and most extensive of the entire book. If the author had simply included a section on crocheted embellishments and given suggestions on how to embellish or alter a pattern and left the rest out, it would have been much better, in my opinion. As it is, about half of this book is appealing to me as a knitter. The sweater section is by far the best part of the book and I'll look forward to more from this author when she majors on her strength in designing romantic and feminine sweaters and garments for young women. However, my daughter's return to knitting and crochet is worth the purchase price and then some!

i bought this book because i love to knit just as much as i love to crochet. my favorite projects have always incorporated both techniques. i was very excited when i saw this title and got it right away. the designs are very pretty and feminine. i have never felted before and there is a gorgeous knit felted bag with crochet flower embellishments. it says it is a good first felting project so i am excited to do it. i was also excited to see the great illustrations in this book - most importantly the ones showing how to pick up crochet stitches to knit, and how to pick up knit stitches to crochet! these illustrations are invaluable to someone like me who enjoys combining the techniques. there are also great illustrations showing how to sew a piece of knitting to a piece of crochet, and vice-versa. there are simple, clear instructions alongside of these great illustrations as well. the book is broken up into three sections: accessories (purses, hats, gloves, scarves, & dog sweater), sweaters, and home accents (pillows, place mats, napkin rings, afghans, & a very cute christmas stocking). the sweaters are all very feminine and have a beautiful, delicate quality. each sweater is very special - i believe this is where this book truly shines. every sweater in the book is just as special as the one on it's cover (which is gorgeous). my other favorites have to be the "Lacy Beaded Fingerless Gloves", the "Over the Shoulder Opera Purse", and the "Flower Garden Felted Bag". i am so happy that i have a book with some techniques to refer to when i am doing my mixed projects. i am very happy with this book and excited that someone put a book out that shows the beauty and harmony that melding knitting and crochet creates! i would love to see a book of just techniques for doing knitting and crocheting together come out (hint, hint!)!

I agree with the other reviewers that the book is worth buying and excellent to give you new ideas for using crochet with knitting. However, be warned that the sizing is fairly small. All of the womens patterns are either size 36 inch or 40 inch FINISHED measurements except for one pattern which is 40.5 inches.