Super Stitches Knitting: Knitting Essentials Plus a Dictionary of more than 300 Stitch Patterns [Paperback]

Karen Hemingway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2007

A complete guide to more than 300 knitting stitches, shown in diagrams and photos


"Very super stitches...nothing more to say!" Stevie Wonder said it all for us. Although we do have a
few more words we’d like to get in here. Don’t be superstitious, because you can believe in Super
Stitches Knitting, the complete pocket guide to knitting stitches and a great how-to-knit guide.
Author Karen Hemingway presents full how-tos for all the essentials of knitting, including choosing
needles and yarn, casting on, binding off, increasing and decreasing, creating texture, working with
multiple colors, fixing mistakes, and finishing. Then Super Stitches Knitting turns to the stitch patterns—more than 300 of them, all fully explained in how-tos and full-color photos. Instructions and diagrams for each stitch, including knit and purl, vertical motifs, ribbing, borders, dimensional elements, cables, eyelet, lace, color knitting, and more, are shown on lefthand pages, and a photograph of the knitted result is on the right-hand page. This essential book, packed with super stitches, makes knocking on wood, throwing salt, and avoiding black cats completely unnecessary for knitters at every level from beginning to advanced.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen Hemingway is a writer and editor
who has worked on and contributed
to
several how-to books on knitting,
embroidery, and quilting. She loves
knitted and stitched textiles and is
passionate about preserving a heritage
of stitches, patterns, and techniques for future generations. She lives in England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Potter Craft (October 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823099571
• ISBN-13: 978-0823099573
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many options, easily expalined, February 24, 2008

By 

Roady Jane (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Super Stitches Knitting: Knitting Essentials Plus a Dictionary of more than 300 Stitch Patterns (Paperback)

I'm sort of a novice knitter. I don't do anything terribly complex -- mostly scarves. But I wanted a way to learn new stitches without being forced to make something else. For instance, maybe I'd like a stitch pattern on a sweater, but just wanted to make a scarf. This book makes it easy. There are so many different stitch patterns and it just tells you how to make the pattern. You choose how to apply it to whatever you want to make. I love that. It will tell you, for instance, that the pattern comes in sets of 10 stitches, and then you multiply that to make the width you want.

I never knew there were this many stitches you can do in knitting and I look forward to trying them. There are some that are probably to complicated for me at this stage, but that means more advanced users can also benefit from this book.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars invaluable to new and seasoned knitters alike, January 31, 2008

By 

KBLicious (Tampa Bay, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Super Stitches Knitting: Knitting Essentials Plus a Dictionary of more than 300 Stitch Patterns (Paperback)

This book has many great qualities. To me, one of the best is the sturdiness of the book's construction. It is indeed a paperback, but the covers are thick, as are the glossy pages featuring the excellent photographs. This book is small enough to carry around, but it is not tiny and will hold up in one's knitting bag.

The photographs are of a very high quality, giving great detail to the stitches, although in all fairness, I must mention there are a few (not many at all) that are done in darker yarns that I wish weren't. One of the really cool things about the pictures is that the swatches are photographed still seated on needles (that I presume to be Brittany Birch, as a side) instead of close-ups of little squares. I think this is a great feature since you can really see and make out where the stitches are falling in the swatches and also how the patterns progress.

Also of great value is the ample content directed at teaching skills. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who doesn't know how to knit at all; however, the illustrations and information is incredibly helpful and I think the author made astute selections in what to include in these sections.

The only one thing I wish this book contained, and I don't really think any stitch dictionary I have seen does contain this so it is not a comparison, is a "shrink factor" on the patterns or special little notes. For instance on the ribs or cables, something like "this shrinks X percent from a typical stockinette" or "plan on using more yarn for this pattern because of the cabling," etc. This would be very helpful for those designing their own items, although it doesn't really take that long to whip up a swatch and figure it out yourself.

Most stitch dictionaries of similar content will run at least $30, so this really is an amazing value for such a high-quality book also. There are PLENTY of stitches to choose from in all categories, including ribbing, really awesome edgings, aran, lace, even fair isle.

All in all, A+!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Photography!, December 12, 2007

By 

KnitTuck (SD, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Super Stitches Knitting: Knitting Essentials Plus a Dictionary of more than 300 Stitch Patterns (Paperback)

I really enjoyed the photography in the book. Wonderful for cultivating new ideas for projects. However, the stitch patterns are somewhat brief in description, and it would have been nice to have more color variations in the colorworks section. Overall, worth the money.