Customer Reviews

Adventures in Knitting: More Than 100 Patterns, From Easy to Intricate

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This book is an absolute must-have for knitters. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner, or an experienced knitter, this book is for you. Patterns in it range from very easy to very intricate and challenging. I have used it as a reference for over 25 years, and it has never let me down. I have made afghans from it, and itmes ranging from stoles to scarves. I have given such items many times as gifts, and the people I have gifted have loved their items. This book is a perfect foundation to any knitters reference library of patterns and information. I highly recommend it!

I've used my mother's copy of this book for many years and finally decided to order my own. It is a treasure! It's the most comprehensive encyclopedia of stitch patterns I have ever seen and includes every level of skill. It also has patterns for garments and other articles too. I have used it to design many afghans which I knit as wedding/birthday/graduation gifts. Every knitter, both serious and occasional hobbyist, should have this book!

My mother had bought this book for my grandmother back in 1970 as a birthday present. After she died my mother kept the book in a dusty shed. She brought it to me in October and we were hooked for days! We tried every pattern we could and had such fun! It showed me that knitting really isn't that hard and helped me progress to the next level of skill. I learned new stitches that I've never heard of. I even took a pattern and designed a dishcloth which I knit up in nothing flat for my mother-in-law. It really has spurred me on to learn more and do more knitting! I can hardly wait to stop writing and pick up my needles!

I bought this book based on the reviews here at Amazon. Still, I was pleasantly surprised (hard to do since I own so many knitting books). The book is organized in this fashion: A stitch is introduced, then the author provides suggestions on the use of the stitch (for example, "useful for men's scarves, sweaters, caps..."), after a few stitches a pattern is presented using one of the stitches, then at the back of the book the pattern is cross-referenced with the other stitches which can be substituted for the stitch used in the pattern.

The book reminds me of the Elizabeth Zimmerman books in that the reader is encouraged to adapt the general patterns to suit themselves. However it does not advocate a percentage system, or have EZ's chatty style.

It (the book)is an excellent stitch directory (or dictionary) with some "old favorites", but quite a few stitches I've never seen any place else. The type of knitting involved in this book would be more in the line of textural, or cable-type knitting--no fair-isle, or intarsia. The patterns range from tablecloths to sweaters & stoles, and are generally of a simple construction, and as the author has written the patterns, would be knit with 2 needles (flat knitting)--no circular knitting. This is not to say the author's patterns & stitches could not be adapted to circular knitting; there just isn't any discussion or direction in this book on how to accomplish it. The entire book is written for yarns no more exotic than plain old worsted weight yarn which is refreshing given today's emphasis on "chunky" and "novelty" yarns.

Any knitter could benefit from this book. There is a great deal of teaching done in this book to benefit the new knitter and to take the intermediate knitter toward being an accomplished knitter. The accomplished knitter will enjoy the stitch directory, and the broad outlines for designing their own garments.

I found this book when I was 12 years old, and in the [ahem] years that have passed I have used it on a regular basis. Many of the stitch patterns are old classics, some were made specifically for this book. They truly range from easy to intricate.

Before there was Barbara Walker there was Barbara Aytes. Hers was the first knitting book I discovered in the local library of my small hometown when I learned to knit. From it I learned to substitute stitch patterns in an existing pattern & thus began my journey to knitting designer & teacher. Without her 2 books I would have gotten nothing from Barbara Walker's "Treasuries" when they came along because they laid the perfect foundation. A must-have for every serious knitter.