Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not exactly an encyclopedia, April 16, 2004
This review is from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KNITTING: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide, With an Inspirational Gallery of Finished Works (Hardcover)
Either I don't know what an encyclopedia is, or the pages of my copy of the book are mixed up. The subjects are not alphabetical, but are nonetheless logically organized. The strengths of this book are:
1. Its stich collection (I especially like that the patterns are all named).
2. Its clear diagrams demonstrating techniques.
3. Its multiple techniques and styles of knitting (especially casting on, casting off, increasing and decreasing). The weaknesses of this book are: 1. Most topics are only touched upon, not described in length.
2. It is almost entirely about flat knitting (with knitting in the round only mentioned on one page!)
3. Its lack of any projects to demonstrate why you might want to use a technique. I suppose someday I might find a reason to use bias or chevron knitting, and I will be able to do it using this book, but the authors gave no reason why I would want to. I wouldn't say this is extremely comprehensive, but a lot of subjects are touched on, and the photos are beautiful and inspiring. I got it when I first took up knitting, and while it was not very useful in teaching me knitting, it is a handy reference and a nice source of inspiration.
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great resource, but sometimes frustrating, March 23, 2001
This review is from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KNITTING: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide, With an Inspirational Gallery of Finished Works (Hardcover)
This book is terrific in a lot of ways. I love the organization. It's a great resource when you ask yourself "Isn't there another way to cast on?" The pictures are gorgeous, and the directions are reasonably clear. There are some frustrating aspects, though. The stitch library is good but could have more in it. Some of the pictures in the stitch library don't have instructions for the pattern. Actually, the book is full of beautiful sweaters -- and no patterns! I understand that the book is a basic reference, not a pattern book, but it would be nice if you could at least send away for the patterns. also, the book provides just a smattering of info about designers and how to design sweaters. it's almost to the point where I asked myself, why did they bother if they weren't going to tell me more? Overall, I'm pleased with the book and I do use it all the time. It would be a better book if some areas were deeper and other areas were just dropped out entirely.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, April 13, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KNITTING: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide, With an Inspirational Gallery of Finished Works (Hardcover)
I was going to give the book 2 stars, but decided to give it 3 since there are some patterns that are quite pretty and that I haven't seen anywhere else. The photography is well done, but I thought that it was more inspirational than instructional. The word "encyclopedia" in the title extremely misleading. This book is by no means encyclopedic in scope! ...Some patterns are given in chart form and some instructions are written out -- why not be consistent? Also, I had to flip around to find the chart legends (they didn't say where it was in the stitch section of the book). Oh well, if glossy pages, colorful photos and glitzy models (wearing sweaters for which no instructions are given!) inspire you, I guess this would be a nice but nonessential addition to your library. I'm keeping the book because of the 3 or 4 stitches I think are cute...
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