The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches: Over 900 Great Stitches Detailed for Needlecrafters of Every Level

This is a great book for beginners and experts alike. Good instructions and diagrams for the beginners, and lots and lots of ideas and inspiration for the old hands. One of the best I have seen in a long time.

This review is more on the style and format of the book for knitters who might be interested in this information: While I love the Harmony Guides, it is currently out of my budget to get all 7 volumes. The 900 stitches in this Reader's Digest Ultimate Sourcebook are indeed from the Harmony Guides to Knitting Stitches series. I notice from the copyright page that this material is published by an arrangement with Collins & Brown, the same publishers for the original Harmony Guides. Reader's Digest appears to publish by arrangement with British companies, many wonderful titles and presenting a twist of the english sensibility, i.e. Montse Stanley's Knitter's Handbook (by RD) The Reader's Digest Sourcebook does not contain every single stitch from the Harmony volumes (numbering over 1000), but it is still a huge amount compiled into one manageable reference and at a much more affordable price. The color combinations look fine to me, the majority are traditional designs, nothing terribly dated except for one or two swatches in strange orange/gray combos. In order to fit 900+ stitches and photographs into the book, each page is divided into 3 columns, with one to two photographs per column followed by the stitch directions. Each photograph measures approximately 2" x 1.5" in detail. The type is either 9 or 10pt., which might be hard for some eyes. I use a craft light like the Ott-Lite to illuminate the page, and also use post-it notes to keep track. What I like is how it is arranged by weight patterns, and the number of multiples to start with at the very top of the section, and what skill level it requires in bold type. Another wonderful thing are the headers on every page, so that you know what section you are on at all times, (i.e. knitting...heavyweight patterns...slipstich color patterns). There are also crochet letterforms in an art nouveau design for filet crochet. The one thing lacking is a detailed section for aran stitches (only 3pp), if you are into that. However, many other cable and panel pattern pages are found in the book.

I checked this book out at the library and have learned many things. I am a beginner and it is nice to have such a large reference book at hand. The book divides patterns up by "weight" which is helpful. I'll be getting a copy as a gift.

I am a beginning knitter practicing on scarves to improve my stitches. This book gives an endless range of possibilities for me to try, and it will still be useful when I tackle a larger project.Some of the photographs could be a little clearer, but most are excellent. I have been able to teach myself some new stitches from the printed instructions and diagrams.

I am a beginner in this amazing world of crochet, so many of the recently published books like this one and Donna Kooler's "encyclopedia of crochet" are tremendously helpful in the visualizations of the stitches. I have only owned this book for a couple of weeks, but have already spent hours enjoying all of the photographs and descriptions. The inspiration to begin crocheting in my forties comes from my 98-year-old little grandmother who started crocheting 88 years ago. She has made many remarkably beautiful crochet projects in her lifetime. This book enables me to clearly understand how skilled she has become because she has accomplished all of these stitches, especially the various motifs and edgings and that is priceless for me to realize. Thanks to Reader's Digest for publishing this great book.