Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Socks: The Ultimate Beyond-The-Basics Guide to Knitting Socks

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I ordered the book directly from Amazon and it was delivered in 2 days. Can't ask for more than that.
I have only been knitting socks over the past year and there is still plenty I don't understand about it. This book has tons of info and every type of sock pattern for man, woman or child that you can imagine. Exactly what I wanted.

Kathleen Taylor has written the only book for knitting socks that you'll ever need! She shows you every type and style of sock and methods to produce them. The only thing I would wish for is info on knitting two socks at a time on circuler needles. But this book is unbelieveable. If you only had money for one sock book, get this one!! You're not limited to the dreaded dpn's; they are included but also using circular needles and straight needles are included. Too many books give only directions for dpn's and heels with flaps and gussetts, but her book includes those along with the short row heel and the circular needles and toe up, just up my alley. Also has info on dyeing yarn for your socks. The book starts out with making tube socks and moves on up the difficulty ladder into beaded, stranded, colorwork, lace. The neat thing is, if you don't like the style of heel or toe, you can choose another, because they are all explained IN DETAIL in a separate chapter in the book. Also, each sock is sized from infant to mens. I can't wait to get back to it!
Thanks! Marsha

Knitting is not only a recreational activity, it is also a practical and functional one producing items for wear that are as useful as they are attractive. This is especially the case with socks. That's why Kathleen Taylor's "The Big Book Of Socks: The Ultimate Beyond-the-Basics Guide to Knitting Socks" is such a treasure for both novice and experienced needlecrafters! Featuring seventy-five illustrated and thoroughly 'user friendly' patterns, anyone can make socks to be proud of! "The Big Book Of Socks" covers all aspects from sock styles and yarn selection, to needles, gauges, swatching, and even sock repair. Among the various sock styles are included Tweed Tube Socks; Basic Child Flap and Gusset Socks; Easy Basket Weave Heel Socks; Nordic-Style Adult Socks; Alpaca Striped Kneedsocks, Easy Lace Socks; Holiday Garland Socks; Beaded Anklets; Knees and Toes Toe Socks. From stripes and cables, to argyle and lace, each pattern provides clear instructions from beginning to end. Enhanced throughout with a wealth of practical tips and shortcut suggestions, "The Big Book Of Socks" is enthusiastically recommended for personal and community library needlecraft instructional and reference collections.

Am I nit-picking? (No pun intended.) Yes, probably. If you like this book, it will be great for you, and I do think it's a useful one if you can only have one or two books on sock knitting. However, if you have a dozen books on the subject...

In recent years, the knitting world has seen so many great sock books published, from Cat Bordi to Interweave Knit's "Best of" Sock book. There have also been some wonderful technical books for those who want the freedom to construct/design their own socks or adapt any pattern to their design/sizing preferences, such as Chrissy Gardiner's "Toe's Up!"

By that (tough) comparison, I find "The Big Book of Socks" to be rather dated. The designs themselves are somewhat basic. Not everyone is up to the intricacies of a Eunny Jang or Cookie A. sock pattern, replete with intricate cables or whatnot, but you can get so many basic sock patterns online for free through [...], [...], etc. The Big Book of socks is mostly variations off the basics, with one pattern showing one kind of heel or toe, the next another. There's a bit of lace, a few stranded patterns, but nothing really grabbed me. (I also was not crazy about the author's color palette - obviously a matter of taste, but...pumpkin, kelly green and blue on cream for a fairisle sock? A holiday sock seemed "muddy" as photographed, due to a green a red that were of too similar value and intensity.)

(Embarrassingly, I can't seem to compose a good "wrap up" here. It's really not a bad book, just suffers from having been published in 2009 instead of 1999...)

I have not yet made any of these socks, but i am impressed with the depth of the explanations, attention to detail, flushed out index and excellent variety of patterns. I have several other sock books in my library, but this one will definetly be a goto reference for years to come. yay.

This is a great sock book giving you patterns that are easy to begin with if your a beginning knitter to more advanced socks. It starts out with tube socks that have no heel or gusset shaping and ending with socks that have the toes knitted in, and many other styles of socks in-between to practice your sock knitting skills.
The only thing that this book does not offer is illustrations on knitting stitches. There is not one illustration for reference on any knitting stitches. There is plenty of color photos of the socks but no stitch illustrations. So if you are a beginner you will need to have a knitting resource book along side this one. Which for me is not a problem. Every knitter should have a stitch resource book anyways in their knitting bag. I am currently making a tube sock and the pattern is easy to understand and my socks are coming along nicely, and I am a beginning knitter.
I have examined many sock books and this one is one of my favorites.

This is the third book on sock knitting instructions I've purchased and I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy to read the patterns are. Additionally, for the first time, I finally found patterns I had been looking for and had pretty much given up hope of ever finding: tube & toe socks! Tube socks come in handy for children or when you are not quite certain of, or don't know someone's size. Since there is no heel invilved, the tube sock will fit a size 8 or 10 equally comfortably. For that reason, hand knit tube socks, make ideal gifts and want to give a gift of socks and well... Toe socks are perennial favorites of many! This book is fantastic and I highly recommend it. Whether you just began to knit or have been knitting for years, you'll find exciting new ways to knit socks in this book!

I really like this book. I especially like the fact that there are very few errors (there are two that I know of that are clearly noted on the author's website). Compared to some other books and patterns that seemingly abound with errors that, amazingly, remain uncorrected in subsequent printings, this book is refreshingly accurate.

As a relatively new sock knitter, I appreciate the format going from the simplest to the more complicated. And I also like the option of the wedge or star toe and how the appendices for both heels and toes are referable for any sock with varying stitch counts. I am finding that I can substitute sport weight or DK weight yarns and turn a youth sized pattern into a women's medium with just a few tweaks. That being said, I would have liked to have seen patterns that weren't just worsted weight, and then just fingering. It would have been nice to have some patterns for sport weight yarns, and also a couple of the children's socks are super cute and in the right yarn would be fine for a casual or fun woman's sock . . I am going to attempt to modify those to my size. But overall, these are just personal wishes -- the book itself is really very good and can't include EVERYthing everyone and anyone might want.

Definitely has a place in my shelf of knitting books,and is one I am already referring to again and again.

This book has lots of great patterns, but the sizing seems to be on the small side. The shoe size listed has much smaller length than normal.

Like somebody else stated in a previous review, I say that this is going to be the only sock book you will ever need. I very much like the fact that it has both patterns for the first-time sock knitter (like me), as well as challenging patterns for the 'sock veterans,' as well as a chapter of "Just for Fun" socks (my favorite chapter). The author is very good at explaining the anatomy of sock sections that may be unknown to knew sock knitters such as myself, and she has a witty writing style that is fun to read. I also like the fact that the socks in the book are varied and interesting, in a wide range of styles, and that many of the patterns can be made in any size, from child size to men's sizes. I might also add that the colorwork socks are absolutely gorgeous and will have people staring at your feet in envy. Also, there are plenty of patterns that require worsted weight yarn, which is great for people like me who are impatient with the time it takes to knit a sock with sock-weight yarn. I can't wait to attack the patterns in this book, just as soon as I finish knitting my other sock.