Tag Archives: Stitch Dictionaries

First, the facts:

Title: The Big Book of Knit Stitches: Cables, Lace, Ribs, Textures and a Whole Lot More

Author: The Editors of Martingale

Published by: Martingale Press, 2016

Pages: 192

Type: Knit Stitches

Chapters:

Introduction
Cables, Crosses & Twists
Lace & Openwork
Knit and Purl Textures
Ribs & Ribbing
Bobbles, Knots, Slip Stitches and More

The In-Depth Look:

I love a good stitch dictionary, though they’re often hard to review because, well, they’re basically dictionaries–useful resources, to be sure, but not generally chock full of imagination and creativity.

What dictionaries (stitch and otherwise) do provide, though, are the tools you need to feed your creativity. You can’t build a house without lumber or bricks, and so you can’t knit anything without needles, yarn, and some kind of a stitch pattern.

This particular stitch dictionary has 360 patterns, all nicely photographed, ranging from basic garter and stockinette stitches (yes, they’re in there) to assorted cables, lace, bobbles, and textures.

The only glaring omission I see is that none of them have charts–just written, line-by-line instructions, which seems like an oversight. Not everybody loves them, but for some of us, working from charts is definitely the easiest way to knit on patterns with any complexity at all.

But still … 360 stitches with nice photographs to make browsing a pleasure. They’re not the most complicated stitches I’ve seen, but there certainly are a generous number of them.

You can get your copy at Amazon or at your favorite bookstore.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Martingale. Thank you!

First, the facts:

Title: Knitting in Circles: 100 Circular Patterns for Sweaters, Bags, Hats, Afghans, and More

Author: Nicky Epstein

Published by: Potter Craft, 2012

Pages: 224

Type: Stitch patterns, as well as full-fledged patterns for things to make

Chapters:

Introduction
Notes on Texture and Gauge
Designing with Circles
Project Gallery
Round 1: Basic Circle Shaping
Round 2: Texture & Techniques
Round 3: Lace & Points
Round 4: Colorwork
Round 5: Eclectic

The In-Depth Look:

It’s almost hard to know what to say about another collection of stitches and techniques from Nicky Epstein. I have seven of them on my bookcase, I think. (Eight? I’ve lost count.) It’s easy to see why, too, because they’re wonderful–bringing our attention to a specific theme (squares, edges, flowers, circles, etc) and then doing as many possible things within that framework as possible.

She says in the introduction here that, “Over the years, I’ve used a variety of circle shapes in my designs and thought it was finally time to share their many unique and beautiful uses with knitters of all skill levels. In this book, I’ll teach you different ways to shape, create, and embellish knitted circles, using traditional methods as well as some I’ve come up with on my own.”

She says she’s created 100 circles as well as 20 full, original designs for this collection–all made of circles–big ones, lots of little ones sewn together, or several joined in clever ways.

It’s easy to forget … knitting so obviously lends itself to rectangles and squares … but circles are versatile. You might think “hat” and “pillow” and then stop, with a glancing thought at a circle skirt or wrap/shawl/poncho of some kind. But really, you can do all sorts of things with circles. Sweaters. Afghans. Bags. Almost anything.

The book starts with basic shapes–ways to knit a circle. Start in the center and increase in a spoke pattern? A spiral? How about knit across in garter stitch rows? Or shaped around a center point with short rows? Then you can add texture … stitch patterns like cables or lace. (It’s hard to flip through some of these without thinking of the perfect tam-o’shanter cap.) Of course, color is always nice, so next we can try stranded color, or intarsia blocks–anything to add a splash. And then, as a full-fledged swing at having fun, there’s the “eclectic” section filled with … well, everything.

Finally, we get the patterns for the 20 original designs–sweaters, wraps, afghans, bags. A nice variety, all using circles. Some I think are more successful than others. (Some look rather like they’re using circles because they can rather than because they should.) But they’re all fun, all creative, and many of them are lovely.

Really, the book is a pleasure to flip through, and with so many different circles to choose from, there are tons of inspiration here.

But, then, it’s Nicky Epstein. At this point, I expect nothing less.

You can get your copy at Amazon.com.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!

Other posts for this author:

• Knitting Block by Block
• Knitting On the Edge/Over the Edge/Beyond the Edge