Knitting For Dummies

by Pam Allen, Trisha Malcolm, Tracy L. Barr

Knitting is a relatively simple process requiring a minimal set of tools - two needles and a ball of yarn. Its basic structure of interlocking loops couldn't be less complicated. Yet the possibilities for design and pattern innovation seem endless. Now is a great time to learn to knit. Never before have you had so many lovely and imaginative yarns from which to choose and so many stylish and sophisticated patterns to work with.Sure, grandmothers knit, but so do movie stars, football players, doctors, and lawyers. They know what our grandmothers do: Knitting does more than just provide you with warm and cozy things to wear. Knitting alsoStirs your creativityGives you an ongoing sense of purposeTeaches patienceSoothes the soul from the stresses of everyday life

Practice and perfect your knitting skills with "Knitting For Dummies." This friendly, hands-on guide will lead you through the following topics and more: Mastering the four elemental moves of knittingDeciphering knitting patternsFixing common knitting mistakesGetting started with simple projectsExpanding your horizons with stripes and detailsRelaxing stiff shoulders and fingers

Every chapter explaining a specific knitting technique includes a Knitting Notebook of sample patterns to show you some of the different ways it can be used and a section of Practice Projects that gives step-by-step instructions for simple and attractive knitted accessories nearly al of which are features on the pages of the color insert. Most projects end with a list of project variations - ways to expand on your understanding of how to craft and design projects on your own.

Genres: Knitting, Crafts, Nonfiction, Reference, How To, Sewing, Art

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to snag the ebook on sale at amazon for .99. I've flipped through a hardcopy version of the book a number of times and always thought it was a little too expensive. Learning to knit from a book sounds odd and for beginners, it will most definitely feel so, at least at first. This book is a wonderful resource for beginners and those who are ready to learn the basics of larger and more intermediate projects. I had not picked up my needles for a few years before I bought this book and found it to be extremely helpful.

The only reason I am rating 4 stars instead of 5 stars is I believe the majority of beginners will still need a second resource, such as an online how-to video. I'm sure there are plenty available. It is possible to learn to knit from this book with zero prior knowledge. Being aware of your preferred learning style will help in determining how effective this book will be. I am first and foremost a visual learn, which probably works best for this book. If you lean towards the auditory style, then I recommend this book in addition to videos or in-person assistance and examples.

[Ginny Messina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll probably update my review when I eventually finish this book, but I expect that to be some months from now. Pam Allen's guide is packed with information and instruction that will take me a long time to learn. So far, I am using it to brush up on my very rudimentary knitting skills and am finding the book to be excellent. The instructions are clear, there are lots of great hints on solving problems and avoiding mistakes, and the illustrations are wonderful.

I've been using it along with the videos on www.knittinghelp.com and this makes for a very helpful combination. In some instances, I found the instructions on the website to be stated more clearly and in other cases, the book has explained things that were missing in the videos. (My experience with learning any new skill is that it helps to have at least a couple of different teaching perspectives.)

My biggest complaint about the book is that I think the author forgot to include the instructions on "starting a knitting notebook." I was very excited to see this heading in Chapter 2 because nothing makes me happier than organizing my work into a notebook. But, the only mention of this great project is a comment about how I can save my sample swatches in a knitting notebook for later reference. Well, okay—but how do you put swatches in a notebook? Do you sew them to pages? Staple them? What kind of information should I include with the swatches? Maybe the author expected that I'd be able to figure this all out on my own—but this is the guide for dummies, after all!

Picky little complaints aside, I highly recommend this book for novice knitters and for those who have some basic skills and want to learn more.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have i ever... learned anything from a book.

Until now. This book takes the fine art of weaving one piece of string into hats and scarves and sweaters, and makes it infinitely easy. It takes you from "This is a knit stitch. This is a purl stitch," to "This is how you make a cable-knit sweater," all in a few deceptively easy steps.

The best twenty bucks i've ever spent.

[Shobha Tummala · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did learn how to knit from this book, but it is so hard to learn from a book. I had been part of a class sometime after that and it was so much easier. If you want to learn how to knit, my recommendation is to go take a class!

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is handy for a guide for learning to knit, but I had to use it along with a few really good You Tube channels as some of the directions were confusing and made no sense to me. I already did know how to do some very basic knitting, which helped. There were some errors in the practice pieces which I did, and the directions for the practice pieces didn't always match what they showed on the dummies website which leads me to think there were a few more errors in the ones that I didn't do. It would be a handy book for an occasional knitter to keep around for reference on specific stitches, but over all disappointing for "Dummies"

[TKay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for the beginner who knows absolutely nothing. I'm an expert crocheter, and my grandmother taught me the basics of knitting when I was a kid; I hadn't done it for years and read this book for review. I skipped over a lot of it because I really didn't need to know about yarn, etc. Also, the black-and-white pictures were grainy and hard to see. However, it does have a lot of useful information so I'd recommend it to someone starting from scratch.

[Kalkwerk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch, mit dem ich - ergänzt von YouTube-Videos und einer kompetenten Freundin - stricken gelernt habe. Erklärt verständlich alle Grundtechniken von der Maschenaufnahme bis zum Strickschriftlesen. Besonders hilfreich sind für mich bis heute die vielen einfachen und bebilderten Rechts-Links-Muster, die man auch als Anfänger ohne Probleme sofort vom Papier abstricken kann. Einen Punkt ziehe ich ab, weil man auch mit diesem Buch nicht ganz ohne fremde Hilfe zur Strickliesel wird.

[Sue K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my "go to" books for finding information that I need. I keep it by my knitting bassket so that I can refer to it easily when I need to. The nstructions are easy to follow and relatively easy to find when you need a quick answer to "what does that abbreviation mean?" or "how do you do that stitch?"
I have always been a fan of the "Dummies" books and this one does not disappoint.

[Ginny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot say enough good things about this book!!!!! It has really helped me ease into knitting. The illustrations are very helpful, the patterns are great, what more can I say! I have made several scarves and plan on venturing out into something a little more challenging, like a hat.

[Melany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between using this book and a couple of video tutorials on the net I've basically been able to teach myself to knit. The instructions are easy to follow, and the book does a good job with explaining different techniques so that if one doesn't work for you, you can try something different.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my go-to reference book for knitting help. I use it all the time. It also has a helpful little library of stitch patterns I've made into scarves, cloths, etc.

[Tiffany Collar · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite resource book for knitting. I still go back to this book when I need a refresher for how to do something. I highly recommend having it in your library at any knitting level.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book that is well laid out giving the basics of knitting and then progressing to more advanced techniques over almost 400 pages.

It is laid out in 6 Parts across 21 chapters. It discusses the basics of choosing materials, needles and casting on, basic stitches. When it comes to materials and needles this book is more catered towards a US audience, although there are several ways of converting to a Uk market via the internet or visiting your local wool shop where advice can be got.

More advanced techniques are also shown with details on Fairisle, intarsia, stripes, buttonholes, edging, patterns and necklines. There are also some patterns for simple projects. At the end of the book, there is a really handy index.

This book is well laid out, there is not that many diagrams or illustrations which did surprise me. But there are links to the Dummies website where there are loads od demonstration videos. I like the little symbols that are dotted throughout the book, there are 5 different symbols that highlight a tip, a warning to be careful, where to check a video, knitting information and also one for alerting you to something for the project in hand.

While this is a well laid out and very informative book I think it is still quite a challenge unless you use it in conjunction with the online videos. It is also aimed at the US market. I am a knitter and can get by unless I get to more complex patterns and I did find that the book and videos did help.

Overall a good book that I think is quite good, it is informative, easy to work through and is good for the beginner or more advanced knitter. I would happily recommend it as I have found it useful.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keep your old version and add the latest.

Knitting as with any subject or skill is subject to change or enhancement over time. The writers of Dummies books also find ways to improve over time.
The third edition has more authors and newer projects.

For people that do not have earlier versions, this is a great starting off-book. Even if you just eat to know about knitting but do not have the time it is good to recognize the different methods and know a few terms.

Most of the diagrams and plates are in monochrome; that can sometimes be an advantage. there is a URL for online videos to help people visualize this with color and motion.

If you are familiar with the Dummies series of books then you know that there are all kinds of helpful hints and back-and-forth references.

[Lize · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het boek is onderverdeeld in 5 grote delen: breibeginselen, steken bewerken, geef kleur aan je breiwerk, zelfkleding maken en het deel van de tientallen. Elk deel is dan nog eens onderverdeeld in verschillende kleinere hoofdstukken. Persoonlijk vind ik het wel handig dat er een inhoud in vogelvlucht is en een uitgebreide inhoudsopgave.

In de inleiding wordt nog wat extra uitleg gegeven over hoe het boek is opgebouwd en wat de pictogrammen betekenen.

Alle uitleg wordt goed verduidelijk door tips, weetjes en vooral ook duidelijke afbeeldingen waardoor je het boek makkelijk stap voor stap kan volgen. Alles is goed te begrijpen en in gewone mensentaal uitgelegd.

[Lisbeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read this before and enjoyed it more. For some reason this new edition didn't seem to have as many helpful photos and diagrams. Irregardless, this is a decent collection of helpful knitting instructions.

[Juliahoney Kamenker · Rating 3 out of 5]

somethings very understandable some notso much digital version no color pics

[Gale Penton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful resource

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I borrowed from the library as a primary and high school student, and used it to learn to knit.

[Juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful as a beginner. I took a local knitting class and wanted to learn more. This book helped me expand on my knowledge

[Beth F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unless you have immediate access to an experienced knitter to help you through your growing pains, this book is a must-have for new/beginner knitters and an excellent reference for intermediate and more experienced knitters. It has easy-to-understand diagrams and explanations that actually make sense. It also makes an excellent reference (although the diagrams for the kitchener stitch are confusing to me—check out the how-to on www.knitty.com, I use that one every time I need to kitchener something because I can never remember how to do it from one project to the next!)

[Terra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! It is so easy to use. I already knew how to knit before I got this book, so I don't know how effective it is for true beginners. As a refresher resource it's perfect. And it's taught me quite a few things I didn't already know. I can't give it 5 stars because I occasionally have to use internet videos to supplement the figures that I sometimes have a hard time deciphering.

[Fauza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bukunya lumayan bagus buat yang mau belajar knitting. Di awal-awal dijelaskan tentang sedikit history knitting, macam-macam yarn and needlenya. Cuma kalau buat yang beneran baru belajar knitting mungkin membaca saja tidak cukup, tapi alangkah lebih baik kalau ditambah dengan belajar dari video di youtube misalnya. Soalnya teknik-teknik knittingnya kurang begitu jelas kalau cuma dilihat dari gambar.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in hopes I would learn to knit.

I think I'm the type that needs to SEE a stitch done, and hence a teacher. Also, my natural inclination is not either of the two "standard" methods (English and Continental) covered in this book.

It's not totally useless, but I don't use it very often.

[Jenny Houle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My really long review just vanished...go figure.

My favorite part of the book is that there is a chapter on how to eleviate common knitting stress pains, throughout the hands, shoulders and neck. However, it's a great reference book for even experienced knitters who, late at night, look at a term in a pattern and go "I should know how to do this, but...."

[Sarahanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I wasn't at the right level of dummy for this book. Half the info was too basic. The rest confused me. A lot.

I've used other books in the series to good result but this one missed the mark. Could be the nature of knitting? Could be user error? Could be a mismatch between the authors' brains and mine.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a complete novice, I found this book very informative regarding different types of yarn, stitches and accessories. There were also pictures to show you how to do different stitches, however I still found that i was youtubing the videos as diagrams not that great in the book. I also liked that there were different patterns to follow to start you off.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two different editions of this work and they differ slightly. The second edition has more web resources and shares a few patterns but has a few more in total. It also seems to be better organise and flow for the learner in a better way.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this as a gift. A decent, but not necessarily, comprehensive resource. I am surprised at how often I use it -- often, it's easier to open it up and lay it out in front of me, than to fire up the laptop :-)

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful resource for knitting wannabes and those who are more experienced. I keep it on my shelf to refer to when stuck on a new technique or to review something I'm a bit rusty with. Would give 5 stars if, instead of paperback, was spiral bound so it would lay flat while in use!