Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Knitting (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer)

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have literally used this book every day since I bought it. What especially appeals to me are the photographs. Having up-close picures of actual knitters' hands make the direction more clear than in any book I have ever used before. Anybody could really follow the simple directions. Even though I call myself an intermediate knitter, I have discovered some very basic things I was doing wrong, and using the clear text and photos, I have corrected myself. I sincerely recommend this book over all others I have ever used.

Chock-full of great, detailed photos, this book shows everything you need to know to learn to knit in the first place or to brush up on particular skills. Even with nearly 20 years of knitting under my belt, I still learned some great tricks from this book. (Ever had trouble with stair-stepping when knitting a striped hat in the round? This book shows how to fix that problem.)

The projects are beautiful, and none of them are terribly difficult. I've already made the Tweedy Pointed Hat and the Cozy Mittens. I've also used some of the finishing techniques shown, such as how to make a twisted cord and how to crochet an edging.

When you're done with this book, check out Monkeysuits, the author's book of beautiful knitting patterns for kids.

I have tried several times to get the hang of knitting, but for some reason have never been able to put it all together. This book was instrumental to my finally figuring things out. Plus, unlike so many other knitting books out there, it actually had patterns a person might actually be interesting in wearing. The book isn't just for beginners like moi, however. A close friend of mine, who is a very experienced knitter, has also enjoyed using this book.

I had given up on ever learning to knit until I found this book. I had many hours of frustration and tears under my belt because I could never see clearly and for sufficient time to get the picture in my head of what to do next. This book has very clear color photos with sufficient explanation that even someone who is awkward using their fingers like me can finally learn to knit. I'm definitely a "visual" learner in all areas of my life. Finally a craft book for me!

My own personal opinion is that the continental style seems quicker once you learn it than the English style, so if you are just starting out go with continental. You will move your hands less to make stitches with the former method hence more stitches per minute. Just be aware that most knitters in the US seem to have learned the English method, so may have fewer people who can help you initially.

In the past few years, I have had neither the time nor the patience to seek out a knitting instructor, for what other college student in Texas wants to learn how to knit? But I wanted to learn the basic stitches just so I could knit myself a scarf for my trip home to New York. I bought this book on a whim, and have been delighted with my purchase!

The writing is straightforward and insightful - the author Sharon Turner is clearly incredibly intelligent. And the accompanying pictures make it the perfect book for any beginner. I have fallen in love with knitting, and also feel confident enough with my technical ability to take on more ambitious projects. I am so impressed that this book really did teach me how to knit - I was hoping just to learn some basic stitches so I could make a scarf, but now I feel comfortable experimenting with more interesting garments.

I have since purchased Sharon Turner's other book "Monkeysuits" and knit some more complicated patterns. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be knitting up a storm, but this book has truly been amazing!

This book is excellent for someone who either already has limited experience knitting or who has a friend or teacher who can answer really basic (as in "stupid") questions. If you don't fit into either of these categories, there is no way you will "teach yourself visually knitting" just with this book.

There are too many gaps. For example, there is the assumption that you instinctively know which is the "right" side and which is the "wrong" side, among other basic bits of knowledge. This may or may not be important, but when the instructions say do this on the right side and that on the wrong side, you'd like to know before proceeding. Being told that the "wrong" side is the side you don't see when you're wearing it is not helpful because, right now, you're not wearing it. Being shown what the right side looks (or should look) like and what the wrong side looks like, would be. (When you are really beginning, the anatomy of a stitch is not exactly obvious. You're just following a sequence of instructions and not sure why or how it all fits in at the end).

I also didn't find the "mistakes" section as clear as I would have liked: what is a "dropped" stitch? How did it happen? What can I do to prevent it? At a critical point such as a mistake (where you're close to panicking that you've just blown the whole project!) a few more photographs in the sequence of steps would have made an already tense situation a little less tense.

Assuming that you are truly gifted and that you make it to the end of your project and now you now want to get the knitting off the needle and around your neck, you have to either make sense of the description (which is clear but intimidating) or get a magnifying glass to see exactly where the needles go in relation to the yarn in the small and distant illustration. (A macro lens for closeups would have been a nice touch throughout the book, but particularly here).

Having said this from a real beginners point of view, the book appears to be an excellent resource for somewhat more confident knitters or knitters who want to expand beyond the basics. It has a section that shows swatches created using many types of stitches that, I'm sure, will come in handy someday. There is a lot of good information that I couldn't find elsewhere (such as get ready to start a new ball of yarn when you're getting close to having 4 times the length of yarn as the width of your project.)

I gave it only 3 stars, not because it's a bad book--it's not--but because the content is not consistent with the implied level of the title and I find that misleading. This is not a book that gives you a great sense of security when you're starting out.

If you haven't ever picked up a knitting needle, I would suggest Nici McNally's DVD The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting (also available at Amazon). That one IS for complete beginners, you see what you have to do and what it should look like when you do it (close up and slowly), and it tells you what mistakes you're likely to make when you're starting and how to prevent or correct them. It doesn't cover too much ground but it does cover what you need to know NOW.

I have been wanting to learn how to knit for over a year, and since I learned how to crochet from a book, I've been trying to learn knitting that way. I've tried a few other books, but none of them went through the process step by step as well as this one.

Each technique is broken down into manageable steps, and each step has its own color photograph. The writing is simple and direct, and since there are hundreds of photographs accompanying the text, it's really easy to follow along. There is a whole chapter devoted just to the knit and purl stitches. I will be able to use this book for years, since it also teaches more advanced techniques like cables and color knitting. I have used the chapter on how to fix mistakes, and learned a lot about what the stitches should actually look like, and how they're formed.

There are also a lot of sample stitch patterns with color photographs of the knitted swatches, so it's a great reference. I'm having fun just knitting squares trying the different knit and purl patterns. Sometimes the projects in learn-to-knit books are just hideous, but the ones in this book are wonderful. I have already knit the two beautiful scarves, and I'm almost finished with a cute bag with bobbles all over it.

I highly recommend this book, even if you're not a visual learner. The only problem that I can foresee is that knitting is addictive!!

I'm always a little wary of buying books sight-unseen, but since I was able to see the table of contents on amazon, and it looked like a very thorough knitting how-to book, I took the risk. I am very pleased with my purchase. The book provides lessons on every aspect of knitting, from making the first slip knot to sewing all kinds of seams. The illustrations (photos) are clear and colorful, the writing is simple and direct, and there's a very nice selection of different stitch patterns throughout the book. The chapter about correcting mistakes is particularly helpful. The other books I have don't go into that stuff too much, and it's something new knitters really need help with. I had no idea that I could fix a dropped stitch several rows later. This is a book that I will refer to all the time when I'm knitting.

I bought this book and the idiots guide (ok dummies) to knitting and this book by far is more useful than the other. The color pictures are great to show you what you should be doing, as opposed to the other that mostly used drawings. I had a hard time visulizing what it was supposed to look like from the drawings. I have been knitting for a little over a year and constantly use this book for refrence. I would give this to anyone who never thought they could...but were always interested in learning how to knit.

I had little or no patience for learning to knit. I have been a wood-worker all my life; but in an effort to bring my wife into deer hunting I agreed to try knitting with her. I knew as much about a knit-purl stitch as my wife knew about dressing a buck. Well, after a few lessons in this guy-friendly book, I knew enough to put down my glue gun and pick up the needles and not let go! So far I have competed a hunting scarf and I am working on another one for one of my buddies. I am proud to say my wife had the same luck this year bagging a deer-- a 7 point whitetail! And yes, she does know the difference between buck and bird shot!

A bullseye of a book.