Customer Reviews

Knitting Techniques: Volume 1 (The Harmony Guides)

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`KNITTING TECHNIQUES, Volume I of the Harmony knitting guides contains much material that will take the knitter beyond the Dummies book. Although this guide includes limited information about "First Steps' it is not really designed for the beginning knitter. (Among the first steps included are `Casting off Knitwise' and `Casting off Purlwise.) Although the books in this series were originally developed for a British audience, that should not prove in the least troublesome. I could follow the basic parts and I am an aficionado of the Dummies book.

This Volume includes much useful information about `Shaping' your garment after you create it. Most useful to me at this juncture are the steps for increasing and decreasing. Although the book's suggestions do not look exactly like the steps my knitting instructor showed me, between the two of them I get the picture. (My instructor, I am discovering, she does things that are unique to her.) The scarf I am making currently involves knitting on the bias or diagonal knitting, and the steps shown in this book are not identical with those shown me by my instructor, although there is an interesting note about how to effect an angle, i.e. make it sharper or less sharp, which she did not show me. `Mitred corners, gores and gussets are discussed as well as two methods (knit and purl turning) for shaping cowls and shoulders. You can learn to graft or increase and decrease or both (my scarf has two pointy ends, and I can either make two pieces and join them or I can learn how to decrease at an angle).

One section covers circular knitting which can be done with 4-5 straight double pointed needles or a circular needle. Volume I also shows the knitter how to make a reversible stocking stitch or reversible checks using two colors, as well as specialty stitches such as Aran pattern panels which involve, cables and bobbles, and Fair Isle weaving. Most useful to me is the material in the section called `Slip Stitch Patterns" where you knit rows craftily to interweave various yarn colors.

Some of this stuff is almost beyond me at this point in my knitting education, but having an idea what the instructor is saying helps me to follow along when she gives individualized instructions to the various members of our mixed class of beginners, intermediates, and advanced knitters. Although I am not using everything immediately, the book is so useful I am collecting the series.

All the harmony guides, and this one in particular, contain a wealth of information and instruction. If you have never touched a knitting needle or a ball of yarn before, this book is the easiest way to learn to knit. It takes you step by step with lots of pictures and written instruction, then shows you a multitudes of different stitches to experiment with, including cabling and lace stitches. For intermediate knitters, there are sections on techniques for necklines, pockets, seaming and other aspects of garment construction. The one drawback is that the various projects in the book tend to be out-dated, fashion-wise. Like the name says, it really is a book on techniques. If you want current, funky or trendy ideas for projects, you should look for another book. Still, after knitting for about 5 years and considering myself an advanced knitter, this is the book I go to whenever I have a question about my knitting.

The Harmony guides are really a no nonsense approach to knitting, you will find everything that you really need to know and more. Includes great information, especially for shaping , that will really help you understand if you are a new or just starting knitter. I recommend purchasing all the guides, they are all a great reference source.

The pictures are enlarged, the views are easy to see and this book is packed with good information on common problems. Let's see if I can get the cables right, now??

A must-have for every knitter. The Harmony Guides show an abundance of stitches that inspire everyone to want to knit it all!

I find myself wanting to knit a lot of stuff with the stitches learned through this book. I recomed it to new users.

This book is fairly basic and somewhat shorter than I had expected but has some helpful detail on technique and illustrations that were key in figuring out some stitches I was struggling with. Overall it's not earth-shattering but a nice addition to my knitting library. There are better resources out there, but I'm not opposed to having several resources to refer to.

Bought this book before xmas. I couldn't fool my mom... but my peers are impressed with my first round of projects generated from what i learned in this book. I'm unconventional so I started with wristbands and a choker. I've already made them for friends. This is a great book for getting started even if you want to knit traditional garments.

This book didn't really add much to my repetoire of skills. You can find a lot of the information online, sometimes with animated demos. The Harmony Stitch Guides are a better value.