The Essential Book of Crochet Techniques

This was just the Book I was looking for. It has everything that I need and will be of great help in the future with my Crochet. I recommend this for anyone wanting to learn or to update their Crochet Skills.

Honestly, I haven't used it too much because this book is about the things that you can do with crochet, mostly for making things to wear. I have used it as a reference to stuff I am not familiar with. It's not a stitch reference (I can give you another book with tons of stitches in it)but a reference to increasing and decreasing, seams, button holes, pockets and other such embellishments. I will probably use it more when I gat past the afghans.

i have been on the hunt for the crochet equivilant of Vogue's Ultimate Knitting Book, because i like to crochet and knit equally... what i found is that the equivilant is not out there just yet. this book is excellent though - it's jam packed with, well, just what the title says, the ESSENTIALS! I WISH SO MUCH THAT I HAD THIS BOOK WHEN I FIRST STARTED CROCHETING!!! it's got a hidden spiral binding inside which is great when you are trying to work a technique while following the book's instructions. it has crystal clear illustrations, which to me is critical in understanding the structure and techniques of crochet. i can't say enough about the illustrations - in addition to showing everything so clearly, there are arrows and notes that guide you through each movement. one thing i always find tricky is finding the first and last place to do my stitches in. this book has great illustrations that really explain and show where to correctly begin and end. it has great photographs also - with something extra! the swatches are shown in color yarn, and the technique is shown in a contrasting white yarn. for example, the swatches shown for decreasing are in purple yarn and the two stitches that are decreased into one stitch are in white yarn. in the chapter on seaming, the photographed swatches are made of turquois yarn and the seams are done in white yarn. using the different color yarn for the technique in the photographs is such an excellent feature of this book because it allows you to really see the technique. the chapters of this book are as follows: crochet standards, crochet basics, gauge, decreases, increases, seams, bands, buttonholes and button loops, zippers, pockets, working in the round, filet crochet, intarsia, afghan stitch (tunisian simple stitch), blocking and storage, and there is an index. this book would be fantastic for someone who has never crocheted and wants to learn. it would also be great for a beginner as a great reference to really understanding crochet. i have been crocheting for about 3 years and i am happy that i got this book - i was looking for a great book with extremely clear illustrations, photographs, all of the basic techniques, and finishing techniques. i found what i was looking for and more in this book. now if only those vogue editors would do "The Ultimate Crochet Book"...