Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting Illustrated, 2ndEdition
All books in the category Crochet
by: Barbara Breiter, Gail Diven
Topics include: insert your hook, double point needles, next double crochet, triple crochet, complete double crochets, stranded yarn, front post double crochet, last double crochet, basic crochet stitches, double crochet decrease, stitch off the left needle, foundation chain, duplicate stitch, double crochet stitches, first double crochet, bind off stitches, suggested gauge, twisted stitches, half double crochet, decreasing stitches, knit every row, filet crochet, turning chains, drop the yarn, gauge counter
Book Description:
Book Description Now with hundreds of illustrations! Updated and completely revised, this guide has been a bestseller ever since its first publication. Plus, it's the only book to include knitting and crocheting, with both comprehensive instructions and exciting patterns. From the Back Cover You're no idiot, of course. You can sew a button, tie a knot and even thread a needle in under 30 seconds. But when it comes to knitting and crocheting, you feel as prickly as a pin cushion. Don't unravel just yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting shows you how to create beautiful crafts worthy of becoming heirlooms. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get: --This text refers to the Paperback edition. About the Author Gail Diven is a freelance needle arts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, and fabric designs. She is the former knitting editor for Vogue Butterick Co. Barbara Breiter is the knitting guide at about.com and the owner of Knit a Bit, the only website offering downloadable patterns for sale. She also crochets and does needlepoint.
Will teach the basics but buy another book along with it -- I taught myself to knit entirely from books and this is one book that I used to get started. The sections are yarn selection, guage and the history of knitting are rather good and definately inspired me. The projects are about the best I have ever seen in a beginners book. There are only three but they are enough to teach basic knit/purl patterns, increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round and stripes. Rather than the usual garter stitch scarf (rather boring) we are taught a checkerboard pattern that is simple but looks challenging. This was my first ever project (I knit it on two skeins of Lopi) and no one could believe I was brand new! As to the technique debates, I HIGHLY reccomend that anyone endeavoring to learn from a book should buy TWO or more books on the subject. These need not be expensive, just get a second opinion. The reason is simple: everyone is wired differently and a diagram that may make perfect sense to everyone else may confuse some. Getting another book with different pictures is the best way to prevent this. For example, I could not get the long-tailed cast on. I tried several books and finally, a book on hats had the perfect instructions for me. I have not tried much crochet, only enough to complete my knitting project when needed, but I am sure that it is just as good.
Useful book, but could be more detailed -- I bought this book because I wanted to learn how to knit, and I did succeed in learning the basics from it. I really like that the book covers both the Continental and English styles of knitting, and found the illustrations to be helpful and clear. It covers a wide range of subjects, so whether you want to know how to make the basic knit stitch or how to block your finished work, the information you need is probably included. However, I think this book would be greatly improved if it contained more detailed information. For example, I'm not sure it's possible to cover Intarsia knitting adequately in 3/4 of a page. While I did understand the idea after reading about it in this book, some additional illustrations would have been helpful, along with additional tips and tricks. There's also an entire chapter on fixing common knitting mistakes, which never mentions that it's possible to correct a stitch that was incorrectly knitted when it should have been purled, or vice versa, without ripping out rows back to the error. In summary, while I did find this book helpful in learning how to knit, I suspect there are probably other books available that would provide more details to the novice knitter, thus reducing the amount of trial and error in the learning process. Great text, so-so illustrations.-- The first tiime I picked up this book and tried to teach myself to knit I decided I would NEVER learn. I put the book aside for a few years and gave up the thought of knitting. Then I bought "Knit Wit" and gave it another try. The full color illustrations in that volume actually taught me to cast on, knit, purl and bind-off. Althoug "Knit Wit" has very fine illustrations, the text is a bit skimpy. After practising all I learned from KW I dug this book out of my stash of craft books and re-read it. Bingo! Everything made perfect sense. What had seemed like greek the first time I read it was clear as crystal. This is an excellent resource for begginer knitters, but it should NOT be the only one unless you have dsomeone who can show you the stitches step by step.
Reviews:
A must-have! -- I wasn't sure if the "Complete Idiot's Guide" would be that useful. But it was. There were some things in there that I never understood until I read this book. I'm a beginning knitter (I can cast on, bind off, knit and purl, but that's it). This book really helped me understand the different ways to increase and decrease. And the tips and side comments were really interesting. It's a book I would definitely recommend. Great for learning to knit/crochet! A real bargain! -- I am a new knitter and a fairly inexperienced crocheter. I was looking for a book to help me learn both skills, and this one delivered. It is quite a bargain for those looking for books that cover both knitting and crocheting. I love that it has specific tips and problem-solvers spread throughout the text. It helped me learn what I was doing wrong. It shows illustrations of all new techniques being described and photos of what different stitch patterns should look like which is really helpful for a beginner. It has a glossary and an abbreviations list. It includes a resource list for websites, magazines and yarn companies. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn to knit and/or crochet. I think that if you have this book and a pattern book for beginners you'll be able to create some great items! Good book -- I thought it was quite indepth, and I have recommended it to many other new crocheters. I had 25 years of crochet experience under my belt when I bought the book, so I can understand how some newbies from the other reviews may not find it detailed enough, such as turning the work. Turning the work, to me, is self explanitory. when you get to the end of a road, there is no other option but to turn. I think the autors were thinking the same, that turning your work is so obvious and self explanitory that they didn't need to expound. I think the mediocre reviews come from very inexperienced crafters who don't understand that its not difficult. i have found in my teaching crochet, that new crafters go into this thinking that it must be difficult in order to create beautiful designs. They end up creating problems and road blocks for them selfs because they expect it to be difficult. i have had students that approach crochet with this mindset, and in the end, they end up getting frustrated very early and very easy. I thought the book was very good, and I will continue to recommend it to new crafters that I teach.
Not worth buying -- I purchased this book when I decided to learn how to knit. I already knew some basics in crochet so I thought it would be nice to have a reference for both.I was sadly mistaken and now regret spending money on this guide. I suppose I should have known better. Crocheting and knitting are such multi-faceted and versatile crafts that there is no way one book under 300 pages can address BOTH adequately. I found the book frustrating because it would spend many pages talking about things that were quite easy. (like yarn and the different types.) But when it actually comes to the stitches, I thought it did a poor job. Especially explaining the Purl stitch. With the description and the illustration, it was hard to actually see what they are trying to do. I breifly glanced at the crochet section but realized that even with my rather sparse knowledge of crochet, I knew almost everything that the book had to offer. (Which was not much.) If you do want to geta good guide for knitting, I suggest the Dummies Guide to Knitting. If you want a good guide to crocheting, I suggest Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia for crochet. They cost more, but are well worth it. If you are still set on getting this guide, I suggest you get it from the library first or at least browse through the pages at your local book store before you take the plunge. In a down-to-earth style which leave no detail out -- Collaboratively written by Barbara Breiter and Gail Diven, and now an updated and expanded second edition, The Complete Idiot's Guide To Knitting And Crocheting Illustrated is a simply superb introduction specifically designed for the novice seeking to create and complete practical and beautiful knitting and crocheting projects. Black and white diagrams explicitly portray step-by-step instructions, which are written in a completely "user friendly", down-to-earth style which leave no detail out. Tips on what to avoid, easy ways to check one's gauge and keep the pattern in line, and so much more pack this first-rate, highly recommended needlecraft guide to knitting and crocheting. A book I can always fall back on.. -- I am a self-taught knitter, and I must say, that when I am in a bind, I can always find help from this book. I also like that it has both knitting and crocheting. The tips inside are also very helpful. If you are just learning to knit, I must say this is a great reference for you!
Do not expect this to be your only knitting guide -- I tried to teach myself to knit using only this book- don't try it, it doesn't work. I ended up buying some cheap, simple books with big pictures to show me how to follow the instructions in the "Complete" guide. The previous reviewer who said that the authors sometimes omit crucial information is absolutely right-simply telling you to "turn your work" doesn't make much sense if you're a brand new knitter and you can barely cast on. This doesn't mean that this is a bad book by any means, but it definately does NOT live up to the purpose of Complete Idiots Guide series- you must have some previous experience or outside help to learn to knit. An OK resource, but look elsewhere for better help -- I bought this book about two months ago because I wanted to learn how to knit and crochet. But, I haven't found this book to be the all in one resource that I had hoped. The pictures are too small to really help me understand what is going on, the descriptions are sometimes to vague. For example, after you complete a row in knitting you are supposed to turn your work. The book tells me to turn my work but never tells me what turning means. I had to get another book to help me out. I still can't do a purl stitch correctly despite several hours of practice. I think the section on crochet is a little better but I still had several issues. The drawings were too small and the directions didn't go into enough detail. I've spent the past two evenings trying to follow the granny square example that is in the book. All I've managed to do is make an ugly round knot. For instructions that have almost 20 items, there are only three pictures which just show completed sections but don't actually show what the square should look like while in progress. Also, the section about working around the post just has a small desciption with no pictures to explain to me what the heck I'm supposed to do! There are two projects in the crochet section. The first is an afghan blanket. But, this project requires you to use two skills (weaving in ends and changing yarn) that aren't explained until later in the book. The other project is a placemat which I have no interest in making. I bought a crochet manual from Michaels for six bucks that answered a lot of the questions this book gave me and went into a lot more detail. This is an OK resource but I'd say get at least one or two others as well. All you need to learn how to crochet -- I love this book and refer to it often. I used it exclusively to learn how to crochet. People can't believe that I learned from a book, as this is usually a skill passed on from person to person. I read the basic information on yarns and supplies, then skipped the knitting section and went straight to the crochet. It is very easy and even entertaining to read! The illustrations and explanations are very detailed and clear. I crochet left-handed and had no trouble thanks to the extra instructions for lefties. Since learning my new skill I've been crocheting every spare moment and have made a baby blanket, hat and booties, a adult's shawl, and even a teddy bear. I look forward to turning back to the front section to learn to knit soon. This book plus lots of free patterns available on the internet are all you need to knit and crochet your day away.
Not worth your money. -- Way too little information for such thick book! (but good info on sewing knitted piece though.. even though it's only on 2-3 pages of the book.) Don't start here if you have never knitted -- I bought this book along with Knitting for Dummies, and they both have the same problems: NO PICTURES on how to actually knit. OK, there are four pictures. Not much better than none, if you ask me. If you have never seen anyone knit, how do you know what it looks like? The illustrations skip steps, they are small and they are dark. You can barely tell which needle is on top, much less what the yarn is doing. This might not have been the death knell for this book if the written instructions had been clearer -- by they weren't. I *read for a living past the college level*, and I couldn't follow the instructions as given without the visual cues. I have a good college education and I am an experienced crafter. I still find it hard to believe, but I cannot learn this craft with this book OR Knitting for Dummies. (It has basically the same flaws, only some are worse.) If you need visual aids to learn a new craft, DO NOT buy this book! Buy a video, talk to a knitter, call your local craft store to see if there are classes or knitting groups that can help you. I just can't believe that the author so completely failed to convey the single most important aspect of this craft in a visual sense. Truly unbelievable. Incomplete Reference -- I bought this book early in my knitting career and find it to be occasionally helpful. It's good with some knitting basics, but the two patterns I tried really weren't that cool. I completed them and they look okay, but I'd never want to wear them. To expand my yarn obsession (I guess) I used the book to learn to crochet. Some of the diagrams were helpful, but in the end this book didn't help me get the hang of it at all. There are some interesting tip boxes, and some good background, but overall I bet there's a better "basics" book out there. The Complete Idiot's Guide To Knitting And Crocheting -- The title of this books gives no false pretenses about its contents. It is exactly that~ a complete idiot's guide to knitting and crocheting. I first purchased this book because I had mastered the arts of knitting and purling~ but could do little else! This book gives clear, detailed descriptions that help beginners both learn and succeed. Again, this is just a guide and does not contain many patterns. So, if new patterns are what you're serching for, or if you are practiced at these crafts, I would suggest you search elsewhere. But, if you are looking to improve and expand upon your basic knitting/crocheting skills~ look no further; this book is an excellent reference!