Customer Reviews

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KNITTING: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide, With an Inspirational Gallery of Finished Works

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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...

Definitely a good reference but there are errors in their charted stitch patterns and no online "errata" pages with corrections.

This book has a great number of stitches; I believe that there are 250. They are organized in a logical way: ribs, twists and lace. Although, I bought the book specifically for the stitches, I discovered that it contained very useful information that a knitting newbie could easily benefit from, including the importance of checking your gauge.

It was definitely worth every penny, particularly if you bore of using other people's patterns, and want to go beyond stockinette or garter stitches.

HOWEVER, there is one negative is that there is a critical piece of information missing. There is also no corrections/errata page found on the publisher's website. However, I did manage to track down the correction simply by using my sleuth-like nature and annoying every contact on the publisher's website LOL. I did manage to find the correction on someone's blog, I think it was webigail's. Anyway, I would have given the book 5-stars, but I had to put in too much work to find the correction.

I have heard that the error is going to be fixed with the next batch of books, which doesn't help those of us who already own it. Thank goodness someone did have the correction.

This book is an excellent source for any type knitter--beginner to experienced. The illustrations are very easy to follow when trying a particular stitch. I have used a variety of the stitches offered in my knitting projects. The stitches turn a "blah" looking item into something very attractive, but at the same time easy to knit. I would highly recommend this book as one to keep close to the knitting basket :)

This book is not an encyclopedia! It is not organized like one, and is not nearly comprehensive enough. It is definitely not THE reference book for a serious knitter.

It is, though, a very pretty book. The photos are in color & just lovely. It has nice discussions of some techniques. There are lots of lovely stitch patterns, & that is the main reason I bought the book. I like looking at it, & I like the text,& the comments next to the patterns. I also like the pictures of the finished projects, & I don't miss directions for them.

If you want step-by-step project directions, this may not be the book for you.

I have a list of knitter's resources as I constantly get the question "what's the best book for a beginning knitter" or "what's the best book for someone to improve their knitting."

This book fills the bill for any knitter. How handy to have a lavishly illustrated book, organized from A to Z, to list all those techniques you need to look up,from various kinds of decreases and increases to cords, duplicate stitch, making up, more. It's beautifully photographed.

Even though I'm an experienced knitter who has even knitted for a commercial designer in the past, I still have to look up certain increase techniques from time to time. I love the A-Z format. You don't have to depend on the vagaries of an index to quickly find what you need to know. The idea of including an inspirational gallery makes this book perennially useful, as you can read it for pleasure and to get design ideas and not just for reference. I used to list several books that, when added together, had all the elements this book has. Now I have a single source reference book I can recommend enthusiastically.

I had checked out this book from the library several times and decided I just couldn't go on without my own copy on the shelf! Full of inspiraton!

I was hoping to find what I did not already know, and did not. Did this make a bad choice, no.
I will look at the finished works one of these days and explore a couple of them for future christmas projects.