Reviews

I've been hearing about this book for some time on Ravelry, an online forum for knitters, crocheters, and other fiber fans. When someone asks "What general knitting book should I buy?" 8 times out of 10, the reply includes Vogue Knitting. I've been knitting for over 20 yrs. and don't feel the need for a how-to book, but I finally succumbed to the "peer" pressure. First, let me say that this is in no way a how-to book for beginners, although it does start right at the beginning--with how to make a knit stitch and a purl stitch--the techniques extend well into the advanced level, so unless you're Elizabeth Zimmerman, you will find plenty in this book that you didn't already know. Second, the illustrations are wonderful. Techniques are shown via detailed drawings and photos. The photos of stitches are well lit and close up, so you can see them easily. Except for a few new cast-on and bind-off techniques (invented after this book was published), the basics of knitting are all here: an explanation of fibers and knitting tools, casting on, binding off, English and Continental knitting styles (would have liked to see Portuguese included), increases, decreases, joining yarns, gauge, knitting charts and symbols, knitting in the round, fixing mistakes, and finishing techniques. The more advanced techniques include Fair Isle knitting, intarsia, striping, mosaic knitting, and embellishments such as embroidery and knitting with beads. The stitch dictionary alone is about 40 pages long. Each stitch is illustrated with a color photo and is nice and close up so you can really see what's going on. Similar stitches are grouped together, e.g., ribs, embossed stitches, cables, lace. The design section of the book covers sweaters only, but it does cover just about any type of sweater you could think of, including different necklines, sleeves, and so on. I would have liked sections on designing other garments, too, but I can understand their reasoning: sweaters would be the most difficult to design (you don't necessarily need a book to teach you how to design a triangular shawl), and the techniques could be applied to other designs. Still, a short section on hats, mittens, and socks would've been nice, especially given the sudden popularity of sock knitting. The index is 8 pages and reasonably detailed, far more than I'm used to seeing in knitting books. The subtitle of the book is The Ultimate Knitting Book, which is not really an exaggeration. At the very least, it's a very fine knitting reference book.

This book is excellent and I love the fact it is color. One would never think of Vogue having simple directions, but this book does. It is practical and trendy.

This book is wonderful. I am new to knitting and make quite a few mistakes. A friend of mine is a very experienced knitter and has this same book. She shared it with me, and informed me that this is a great book to have on hand, because it is so helpful. She was right, it has helped me so much already in just the short time I have had the book.(It is very easy to understand.)

When my wife said she wanted something for her birthday that would "keep her in stitches", I thought she was talking about a joke book. That's how much I know about knitting. After she cleared things up, I began my search on Amazon and came up with this one. Turned out to be a wise choice, since she has affirmed that it is the definitive reference source for knitters of all levels, complete with remarkable illustrations. These are her comments, not mine. As usual, my selection was at least, partially predicated on the many positive reviews from previous Amazon buyers. Without whom, she might have ended up with a copy of "Captain Blly's Whiz Bang".

I was a new knitter and wanted an overall reference book for stitches, techniques, yarns, pattern abbreviations, etc. This book is all that and more. I looked at many books and checked out various reviews before deciding on which book to buy. Many sources recommended this book as the one to get and now I know why - it was an excellent choice. This book has given me the confidence to try more challenging projects that I would not have even considered doing before. The text is clear and concise and the illustrations are excellent. Happy knitting!

Reviews

I decided to check this out of the library before purchasing and I'm really glad I did. Found several errors, including a major one on my favorite pattern, the bobbles and vines. Found the descriptions at times difficult to follow. Would have been easier to follow a chart. My interest was in the lace patterns and this for me was disappointing. Did not really focus on the other chapters but perhaps for some those would be useful. I do love the yarns they chose.

...then this is a book for you. The editors went through and found all the inventive stitches from 20 years of Vogue Knitting. These aren't the entire projects that were previous published, just the stitches that went into them. They'll inspire you to try new things in socks, scarves, etc. What you need to go with this book are some of the universal pattern books that are available to give you an idea of how to use them in projects.

I love the look of this book---the pages look so clean and clear, and I like the big pictures of each stitch knitted up, so I can get a pretty good idea of what it will look like done. There is a big variety of stitches, and it's fun to leaf through and decide which one to try next. However, I have a few complaints! I wish there were more fairly basic stitches that would be nice to have all in one place, and less odd stitches you will probably never actually use, like one that puckers up the knitting and one that looks like a new knitters mistake (condo stitch, I believe it is!) I think this might be because the patterns were all once in the Vogue knitting magazine, as a monthly column, and you probably have to put more exotic patterns in a magazine than you would in a book collection. Also, I always tend at first to think it's just me making mistakes, but at least 2 stitch patterns I tried were just plain not right---the rows didn't add up to the number of stitches called for, and I would end up with too many or not enough stitches at the end of a row to do what is called for, even when I counted over and over to make sure I had the number of stitches I was supposed to have. The book is also divided up oddly---I have tried and tried to figure out why one section is called "Travelling" and I just can't---are they good stitches to use when on a trip? They seem about like other lace designs to me. However, I do just love having this book around! It's such a nice big clear looking book, and it's inspiring to look at!

A lot of patterns for the price -- in-depth descriptions of something like 450 different patterns! Great addition to my knitting book library, I was not disappointed. The book also includes true-to-size, high resolution photographs of each pattern done up in a swatch; if you already own the Vogue Book of Knitting, then you already know the Vogue books do really well with their photos. These also really help when learning.

I was very pleased with this book. It has beautiful patterns, lovely layout and easy instructions. I loved the yarns used and the logical flow of the patterns. I only wish an alphabetical index of where to find certain patterns was included in the front or back of the book. I also loved two of the sweaters featured and would like to get my hands on the pattern for them. Does anyone know where they could be purchased/obtained? All in all, a satisfactory purchase.