Knitting Stitch Bible

omg.. this book have a lot samples, and very easy to understand, and it have a picture for every single pattern.

This is a delightful little book. It is especially nice in actual use because, while it has a hard bound cover, it has a spiral binding inside which opens the volume out flat for viewing. I also appreciated the photo index of stitches in the front. It permits the user to compare several similar patterns at once. The index arranges selections in sections listed as "knit and purl," "ribbing," "cable," "bobbles," "lace," "fair isle," and "intarsia." The system of presenting the pattern instructions was a little confusing at first. I am more accustomed to the old system of "knit 2, purl 2" etc. The book presents the pattern in graphic form. You see the pattern as it would appear from the front, but the knit and purl designations change their character every row. Essentially while a dot may represent a purl in one row, it may represent a knit in the row above it. This confused me for a while. After using the system for a pattern, though, I started to make sense of it. The methods of illustrating vairous techniques--knit three in the same stitch, for instance--required a frequent referral to the key until I could remember it, but this is no different from the pattern key that is often included in many common sweater patterns. The illustrations featuring the sample knitting are lovely--I should knit that evenly!--and delightful just to look at on their own. The fair isle and intarsia patterns were especially lovely. My favorites were the "Interlocking Swirls" on p. 207, the "Inca Stitch" on p. 201, and the "Snowflake" on p. 203. A nice little book

I was very impressed with the collection of stitch patterns in this book. As a advanced beginner knitter, I found much of them inspiring, particularly those displayed in the cable section.I only wish it had diagrams or better explanations for a few of the chart symbols in the back. I had to reference a completely different book to understand how to do some of the stitches in patterns.

This is not so much an instructional book as it is a design aid. I am kind of a novice but I can read knitting patterns and I like designing my own projects sometimes instead of just copying everything out of knitting books. If you are looking for a how-to-knit book this isn't it, but this is a great pictoral reference of many different stitches that can help a knitter design their own projects or test out newly acquired knitting skills in different patterns. I enjoyed the setup of the patterns, although it is unorthodox, and I thought the setup of the book itself was great. I cant wait to learn all of these interesting stitches, particularly the cool Victorian looking lace patterns!

Loving stitch pattern books, I bought this one sight unseen and while not thrilled, I am satisfied. The book is in color, always nice with stitch patterns books, and is well-organized and easy to use. It was nice to see sections on Fair Isle, Intarsia and Sequins & beads. Each section has it's own color "tabs," and there are thumb-nail photos of swatches of all the patterns at the beginning of the book, making it easy to browse. While I miss the discussion of the fabric the pattern produces (as in Barbara Walker's "Treasury" books), finding the type of yarn used in the photo swatches printed beneath them was a consolation. Note that all of the directions are charts (I know that is problem for some people, I've found that it just takes getting used to and has the benefit of giving you some idea of where you are going on the more complicated ones). So why don't I use it more? Probably just a matter of taste and undeveloped skill. I haven't found a pattern in it yet that inspired me to use it. Still, it's a welcome addition to my collection.