The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs: 500 Classic & Original Patterns (Hardcover)

~ Linda Schapper (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A classic of stitchwork, The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs has now been updated with all-new diagrams and full-color photography, and showcases 500 designs—from traditional favorites to originals found nowhere else. There are soft and lacy patterns; some that mimic knitting, weaving, or patchwork; and others that use large openwork and popcorn stitches. And every stitch design features a photo, reader-friendly instructions, and a diagram showing each stitch and its placement—so it’s easy to understand the entire design at a glance. The guide also includes a pictorial index, which displays the complete pattern, and directions for all basic crochet stitches. Both beginners and experienced crocheters alike will turn to this invaluable reference for years to come.A Main Selection of the Crafter's Choice Book Club.

About the Author

Linda Schapper's artistic vision is expressed in a wide range of media, from patchwork quilts and crochet, to painting and liturgical textiles, all of which are characterized by a folk-art style. She has traveled and taught extensively around the world in more than 30 countries, speaks four languages, and has had some 100 exhibits of her patchwork quilts. She has written eight books, four of them on crochet. She now divides her time between painting, and writing about her liturgical work.

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Product Details Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Lark Books; Revised edition (July 1, 2007) Language: English ISBN-10: 1579909159 ISBN-13: 978-1579909154 Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,586 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in this category: (What's this?) #44 in  Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Crocheting

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	55% buy the item featured on this page: The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs: 500 Classic & Original Patterns 4.4 out of 5 stars (32) $19.77
	15% buy The Crochet Stitch Bible 4.9 out of 5 stars (52) $19.79
	12% buy Beyond-the-Square Crochet Motifs: 144 circles, hexagons, triangles, squares, and other unexpected shapes 4.6 out of 5 stars (39) $12.32
	9% buy 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match 4.4 out of 5 stars (73) $16.47

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Customer Reviews

32 Reviews 5 star:  (19) 4 star:  (9) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 49 of 49 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Helpful!, June 6, 2007 By  AutumnHarvest (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews    Even though I have several other books with many stitch designs, I picked this one up. I was delightfully surprized to find a beautifully done book. The description of each stitch is clear and easy to follow, and is presented in three different ways: a lovely color photograph using yarn I would love to go out and buy right away; written instructions for each stitch; and the symbol chart. Often many stitch books-nice as they may be-do not use they symbols, and, to my mind, once you learn how to read the symbol chart, crocheting goes so much faster and so much easier. Having all three descriptions(photo, written, symbol) for each stitch really adds to the versitility of this book. Also, the page you want stays open and lies flat so you can follow along without having to stop and put your work down to find your place, and it has 500 stiches, separated into categories from single crochet designs to more complex ones. What more could any crochet lover want? I know this book will become one I use over and over and will keep for many years. I highly reccomend it. 17 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Crochet Resource!, August 13, 2007 By  Jaclyn Austin (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This book was the answer to my prayer when it comes to a visual resource of crochet stitches. I am working on designing a wedding shawl for myself and wanted a book that had I could get some inspiration from. The book not only has 500 designs, but each are clearly described with directions and a symbol diagram. I have already created swatches of several patterns and the directions make sense and so far are mistake free! I am really happy that I found this book. I have looked at several others and they just don't seem to have the clear color pictures, symbol charts and unusual stitch designs that this one has. 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A very good stitch book, with one flaw., September 6, 2008 By  Thaylie (United States) - See all my reviews This book features many stitch patterns and their variations. It doesn't delve too deeply into post stitches or textured stitches, although there are enough I think for most readers of this book. However, it does thoroughly cover everything else. It's a very large & thick book and has been proving itself a very good reference. I find it helpful to see the variations on a basic pattern, as I most often like those better and it's interesting to see how changing just one stitch in a pattern can alter the whole look. I'm grateful the editors decided to use one color yarn for all the swatches & a similar color layout for all the pages. I find even the color of yarn can change the appearance of a swatch, so having all the swatches in the same yarn/color provides the brain an easy comparison with all the patterns. Recently there seems to be this push to make the stitch reference books colorful and happy, with this abject fear that if any two pages are uniform in appearance, we're all going to get soooo bored we'll fall asleep reading it. That's great for kids or if you need to be inspired by pretty things, but I'm choosing a pattern for a design and I want my stitch reference to be my workhorse in that endeavor & not a distraction. And I'm really happy there are written instructions AND charts. My only problem (and reason for giving 4 stars, not 5) is the yarn used to stitch up the samples. It's a fuzzy kind of yarn. In the pictures you can make out the stitch textures a bit, but the fuzz factor obscures those details and almost makes the photo look out of focus. I can only assume that a person not familiar with photography decided on the yarn and thought it looked pretty or gave the swatches a softer appearance. It just plain doesn't work & was a really dumb move on the editor's part. If you're looking to see what a pattern would look like in a mercerized cotton, you might be frustrated. Basically, you have to view these patterns with a softer eye in order to get over the fuzz factor. For the shear number of stitches and variations, I would definitely recommend this book. For most people, this book will serve very well, both as a reference for designing and for clarification of certain stitch patterns in purchased designs.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any one who crochets... This is an amazing book! It gives you both written and graphic directions so you can understand more clearly what you are doing. Read more Published 3 months ago by E. Nathan 5.0 out of 5 stars classic crochet This is a very nice addition to my shelf. It came quickly and in good condition at an affordable cost. Published 3 months ago by Evelyn L. Clark 5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource! This book is incredible! I need a resource so that I can change and/or design crocheted wearables. This book provides me with an incredible amount of stitches to choose from... Read more Published 6 months ago by Susan Lung 4.0 out of 5 stars Big Book of Crochet Stitches! This is a nice handy, thick-and-chunky book of crochet stitches. The inside jacket says the book was first published twenty years ago, and unfortunately, the photos... Read more Published 9 months ago by BJG 5.0 out of 5 stars Best book available! Anyone can crochet with this easy to follow book. I am a novice crochet, but this book makes me look like an expert. The illustrations make the instructions fool proof. Read more Published 10 months ago by mk 4.0 out of 5 stars Some good things, some not so good I collect stitch pattern books and was delighted to stumble across this title and to add to my collection. Read more Published 10 months ago by Urbanspinner 5.0 out of 5 stars I certainly recommend it This book is great for those who wish to know more about crochet designs. It provides a diagram and a photo for each design. Read more Published 12 months ago by Rania El Khayat 4.0 out of 5 stars great book I first got this book from the public library. I liked it so much I wanted to keep it longer. So, my husband bought it for me to keep it forever. Its a good book, I like it. Read more Published 13 months ago by Vero 4.0 out of 5 stars Great Crochet Book I recieved this book in a timely manner and it arrived in perfect condition. It has more information in it than I thought there would be, I believe I will be using this book for... Read more Published 13 months ago by K. Saul 5.0 out of 5 stars Top Notch! This is a wonderful stitch pattern compendium. Hundreds of patterns, with a photographic table of contents, and instructions in both written and charted formats. Read more Published 15 months ago by Ila L. Treat Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books; Revised edition (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579909159
• ISBN-13: 978-1579909154
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,586 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #44 in

  Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Crocheting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Helpful!, June 6, 2007

By	AutumnHarvest (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Even though I have several other books with many stitch designs, I picked this one up. I was delightfully surprized to find a beautifully done book. The description of each stitch is clear and easy to follow, and is presented in three different ways: a lovely color photograph using yarn I would love to go out and buy right away; written instructions for each stitch; and the symbol chart.

Often many stitch books-nice as they may be-do not use they symbols, and, to my mind, once you learn how to read the symbol chart, crocheting goes so much faster and so much easier. Having all three descriptions(photo, written, symbol) for each stitch really adds to the versitility of this book.

Also, the page you want stays open and lies flat so you can follow along without having to stop and put your work down to find your place, and it has 500 stiches, separated into categories from single crochet designs to more complex ones. What more could any crochet lover want?

I know this book will become one I use over and over and will keep for many years. I highly reccomend it.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Crochet Resource!, August 13, 2007

By	Jaclyn Austin (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was the answer to my prayer when it comes to a visual resource of crochet stitches. I am working on designing a wedding shawl for myself and wanted a book that had I could get some inspiration from. The book not only has 500 designs, but each are clearly described with directions and a symbol diagram.

I have already created swatches of several patterns and the directions make sense and so far are mistake free! I am really happy that I found this book. I have looked at several others and they just don't seem to have the clear color pictures, symbol charts and unusual stitch designs that this one has.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good stitch book, with one flaw., September 6, 2008

By	Thaylie (United States) - See all my reviews

This book features many stitch patterns and their variations. It doesn't delve too deeply into post stitches or textured stitches, although there are enough I think for most readers of this book. However, it does thoroughly cover everything else. It's a very large & thick book and has been proving itself a very good reference. I find it helpful to see the variations on a basic pattern, as I most often like those better and it's interesting to see how changing just one stitch in a pattern can alter the whole look.

I'm grateful the editors decided to use one color yarn for all the swatches & a similar color layout for all the pages. I find even the color of yarn can change the appearance of a swatch, so having all the swatches in the same yarn/color provides the brain an easy comparison with all the patterns. Recently there seems to be this push to make the stitch reference books colorful and happy, with this abject fear that if any two pages are uniform in appearance, we're all going to get soooo bored we'll fall asleep reading it. That's great for kids or if you need to be inspired by pretty things, but I'm choosing a pattern for a design and I want my stitch reference to be my workhorse in that endeavor & not a distraction. And I'm really happy there are written instructions AND charts.

My only problem (and reason for giving 4 stars, not 5) is the yarn used to stitch up the samples. It's a fuzzy kind of yarn. In the pictures you can make out the stitch textures a bit, but the fuzz factor obscures those details and almost makes the photo look out of focus. I can only assume that a person not familiar with photography decided on the yarn and thought it looked pretty or gave the swatches a softer appearance. It just plain doesn't work & was a really dumb move on the editor's part. If you're looking to see what a pattern would look like in a mercerized cotton, you might be frustrated. Basically, you have to view these patterns with a softer eye in order to get over the fuzz factor.

For the shear number of stitches and variations, I would definitely recommend this book. For most people, this book will serve very well, both as a reference for designing and for clarification of certain stitch patterns in purchased designs.