A Modern Guide to Textured Crochet: A Collection of Wonderfully Tactile Stitches

by Lee Sartori

A colorful and contemporary collection of stitches, crochet techniques, and projects for creating rich and appealing texture in your work

Crocheters looking for more texture, depth, and contemporary design will delight in this colorful new guide. Aimed at the experienced beginner to intermediate level crocheters with some extra ideas aimed at more advanced makers, the book covers a variety of textured crochet techniques--from the straightforward to the more complex and unusual --along with beautiful projects designed to showcase them.

Get ready to explore the beautiful textures that can be achieved with crochet--Bobbles, Popcorns, Clusters, Puffs and more. Each chapter guides you through a new stitch or stitch progression with photos, detailed instructions and diagrams to ensure you can follow along easily. In addition to simple, on-trend projects perfect for gifting or use in your home or wardrobe, you'll find useful tips for saving time and troubleshooting, and additional ideas to explore.

Genres: Crochet, Nonfiction, Crafts

128 pages, Paperback

Published May 25, 2021

Reviews

[Jayasree B · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who crochets, but is yet to venture into textured crocheting, this book was a very instructive read. I learnt so much. The book is detailed and has enough to get one started. As with any hobby, it is all about taking that first step. This book really helps with that.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

A Modern Guide to Textured Crochet is a stitch pattern guide dedicated to textured crochet stitches by Lee Sartori. Due out 25th May 2021 from Penguin Random House on the Interweave imprint, it's 128 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

The author/designer is one of my favorites on ravelry and honestly got me interested in crochet again (I'm a fanatical knitter and embroiderer and crochet was always an also-ran for me personally). Although the advance materials sent for review are a very small portion of the book, I've been familiar with both the publisher and author designer for years.

The layout is light and bright with high contrast text and modern feeling colors. The chapters are arranged thematically: a tutorial introduces the basic stitches and concepts and is followed by the stitch patterns (there are 32 total) grouped seasonally: spring (tulip, lilac, butterfly stitches), summer (ice cream, lemon peel, summer shell stitch), fall (acorn, loose leaves, fall cable), and winter (embossed holly, winter cable, snowflake stitch). Each season also has a project tutorial included which incorporates some of the stitches from the relevant season. The photography in the sample pages is excellent, clear and full of color.

This is a must have for fans of the designer, as well as lovers of textural crochet which often gets passed by for more open crochet grounds. Seeing these stitches really got my imagination engaged. I could definitely see using the bobble stitch to make designs or letters to spell out the recipient's name on a blanket for example.

Four and a half stars (because the partial copy received for review was incomplete and didn't include any excerpts from the pattern tutorials - I strongly suspect the final product will be 5 stars).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A MODERN GUIDE TO TEXTURED CROCHET by Lee Sartori.
Book starts out with samples of finished swatches using different stitch sequences.
Table of contents is enclosed showing patterns but they are not displayed in this preview of the book.
About the author is included along with her photo all about how she wrote this book during the pandemic.
Getting started crocheting gives you information about everything you would need to start: yarns, thicknesses, textures, gauge and blocking, swatching, and tools of the trade.
Disappointed they did not have a sample of one of the patterns but the photographs are too high content for computers to be able to translate in a timely manner.
Amazon page of the book shows pictures of the projects made with the special stitches: totes, hats, and patterns for all four seasons.
Received this review copy from Penguin Random House Interweave via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

[Soraya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Modern Guide To Textured Crochet: A Collection Of Wonderfully Tactile Stitches
by Lee Sartori. is a guidebook of how to do crochetting as a hobby in a reader's spare time either for beginners or advanced individual.

What got my attention about the book as fellow crochetter/ embroider myself is the how detailed the author is in applying what tools the readers has to have to start a hobby. I also love the colour picked as the book cover. The colour that is/was applied on the book cover is pastel coloured so the reader can relax their eyes when reading the guidelines of the book.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many people deny themselves this wonderful craft because they are sure it is too difficult for them. Not so. This book may not be for first time crochet addicts but it definitely will add some new confidence to your skills. Even an experienced crocheter like me can learn new stitches and patterns when they are written in a clear, concise manner. Lee Sartori writes as if shes in the room with you, teaching step by step while showing us the secret to those beautiful creations we all wish we could make!

[Chuu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Lee Sartori, Penguin Randomhouse, and Andrea Cordova for providing me a copy of this book for an honest review.

I’ve been crocheting on and off for 15 years, ever since it was taught in a home economics class in school. Most of my crochet projects have been completed with flat stitches— hats, coasters, and cozies made with single, double, half double, and treble crochet stitches, with occasional use of “puff stitch” and “crunch stitch” for some texture.

This book greatly helps in expanding my stitch repertoire to include stitches such as the popcorn stitch, cluster stitch (using multiples of more basic stitches), and more unusual stitches for decorative purposes like the strawberry stitch and acorn stitch.

Chapters are divided into seasonal themes (spring, summer, fall, and winter). Each chapter introduces several textured stitches, which can be practiced using a unique project (one project per chapter, which includes the introductory chapter, for a total of five unique projects). Personally, I’m about to start making the Aurora Frosted Beanie in the Winter chapter; it features the 2x2 rib stitch and frosted bobble stitch.

Instructions for each new stitch are clearly given, with enough photos for reference. Projects are also well-written and include several sizes (the hat I’m about to make has instructions for small, medium, large, and extra large).

The book itself is soft bound and large enough to prop up on a bookstand while working on a project (just clip together the pages with a binder clip) or flat on a table. The font is large enough for me to read comfortably as well.

I’ll be keeping this book as a reference for textured crochet for many years and projects to come. 5 stars.

#AModernGuidetoTexturedCrochet #NetGalley

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this review and more on my blog, uncovered-books.

I received a free copy of A Modern Guide To Textured Crochet: A Collection Of Wonderfully Tactile Stitches from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am new to crochet, like most people I have taken it up due to lockdowns and not wanting to go crazy. While I have managed to get started with the basic stitches, I feel proficient enough now to give some more complex stitches a try.

Split into and introduction and 5 different sections, A Modern Guide To Textured Crochet aims to introduce different stitch pattern to you in a very easy to understand and broken down way.

The first section ‘An Introduction To Textured Crochet’, introduces the more standard and well-known textured stitches. Including the bobble stitch, the puff stitch and the shell stitch; you are guided into how these are made, and a project that utilises some of the stitches introduced to you in this section.

The second section is ‘Spring’. Every stitch in this section is inspired by spring, including stitch such as the embossed stitch, the crab stitch and the spring cable. Again with this section, you have a project that includes the stitches that you were introduced too.

The third section is ‘Summer’. With stitches like the lemon peel stitch and the diamond waffle stitch being taught in this section, you can definitely get the summery feel from these stitch and the accompanying project.

The fourth section is ‘Fall’, have you noticed the pattern here yet? The stitches taught in this section include the basket weave stitch, the jasmine stitch and the acorn stitch. The Fall project is extremely suitable to the season, and the stitch pattern makes for a beautiful piece.

The fifth and final section is ‘Winter’. This section has to be my favourite section of the book by far. With stitches such as the rib stitch and the winter cable, this section is what most people would typically associate with homemade crochet items.

All of the stitches comes with a stitch chart and key for you to be able to easily make these in the future. The stitch charts are explained as to how to read them (as other patterns in the future do use these so it is handy to know how to read them). I cannot wait to sit down and give all of these a try, I am already thinking of things that Could make with these!

This would be a great place to expand your crocheting skills, but you should have a solid foundation of basic crochet stitches before picking this up.

[Jamie Bee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not Given Enough to Review

I wish I could actually review this book. For whatever reason, at a site where readers can download books to review, the publisher decided to only share 9 pages of a book that is well over 100. The 9 pages included front matter like the table of contents and author information. The 9 pages include just a few pages of the introductory material about yarn… no textured crochet patterns or projects. Frankly, a publisher would do better to not submit a book to a book reviewer site at all if this is all they're going to include. To provide such a minuscule sample is a disservice to the reader, the author, and the book. As a crafter and crocheter, I certainly need to see all of a book like this—so I can give a few patterns a test run—to be able to review it properly. Their excuse for only providing nine pages of the book is that it is graphics-heavy and therefore makes for a large-sized PDF. At this particular book review site, I've downloaded books up to nearly 500 MB! The 9-page sample was only 3.6! they certainly could have provided more. Also, several websites out there can shrink PDF file size while retaining most of the quality. I've used them myself, and they can reduce a file by 85% to 92% with little quality loss. I truly would have loved to have seen the complete book because the idea of textured crochet certainly interests me. I wish there was a choice for 0 stars… as there was literally nothing to review in the sample provided.

I received a free 9-page sample, but that did not affect the honesty of my review.

[jime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I only received a small excerpt of the full book but, as someone who picked up crochet during lockdown and gets overwhelmed way too quickly when trying anything that isn't one of the basic stitches, it sure looks promising.

The pictures shown are very clear and the text is easy to follow, which I assume is still the case when explaining how to work the stitches. Just from looking at the table of contents I can see that this has a wide variety of stitches to extend any crocheter's repertoire, and it even has some projects to do!

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out in my local bookstore to see if I can get a full copy and maybe crochet something more interesting with more varied stitches!

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library, hopeful that it would give me more directions to go with crochet and while I was initially excited with some of the stitches that were featured, I was ultimately disappointed. I think crochet is often the ugly step-sister of the needle arts because it often produces lumpy thick work with unattractive stitches. The granny squares and its legion of afghans, which I love, are considered tacky. There's some of that here with the Tanya Ice-Cream Tote (with mint green background) using the Ice-Cream Cone Stitch (also with mint green background). I also can't get over the model's glitter nail polish... I'm sure many will find this book appealing, hence the two stars, but I am not a fan.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve seen a sample of this book and it has really whet my appetite to have a look at the whole book!

I love crochet and own many stitch directories and pattern books. I borrow copies from the library and e-library, read crochet blogs, write a crochet blog and am generally ‘very keen’.

I can see from the sample page that the photographs are good quality, I like the clear easy to read layout of the pages and there is a nice full contents page. This looks like a really appealing guide to a whole variety of crochet stitches.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to look at a small sample of the book. When I have had access to a full copy I will update my review...

[Marguerite Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this review, I only had an except of nine pages.I can say what I did see of this book peaked my appetite to see more. The contents alone showed me stitches I have never heard of. These are some of them-Lilac Stitch, Spring Cable, Jasmine Stitch and a Winter cable. Of course there are more stitches that are included within each season. including projects that can be completed.
I loved how Lee Sartori tells about the type of yarn we should use to make the textures pop. She refers to the thickness, texture and even the color of the yarn we should use.
I know this is one book I want for my crochet library.

[Tina Milledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only received a short sample of this book but it certainly looked from the Contents that it will be comprehensive. The layout and photos that I was able to see was clear. I cannot comment on the clarity of the patterns and stitch explanations though as my review copy did not provide access to these. It seems a shame to deduct stars as I’m sure it’ll be a successful publication. On the basis of what I was given, I will give it 5 stars as the content was great and I was looking forward to reading the whole book.

[DianeLikesToRead]

I was lucky enough to receive a sample of “A Modern Guide to Textured Crochet” by Lee Sartorial. I consider myself to be an average to above average crocheter. I think this book had some interesting and new stitches. There was a great deal of explanation, such as the tools and yarn, that a novice crocheter would find useful. The patterns were creative and modern.
I think this will be a good resource for a person who wants to expand their crochet knowledge. The pictures are colorful and the patterns are easy to follow.
I was given a free sample of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Sara Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a partial copy of A Modern Guide to Textured Crochet by Lee Sartori.

From what I saw, between descriptions, explanations and photos (for the introduction,) I think this will be a lovely book. I totally understand publishers not sending out the entire book, but it would be nice to be able to review a pattern or two just to see how well those are written. So this review does not include pattern reviews.

I received an eARC from Penguin Random House through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

[Raine McLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only received the first few pages of the digital ARC unfortunately, so I can't actually say anything about the total content or patterns, but based on what I was able to see, it's well-written and competent. She's clear and provides a lot of comparisons between yarns and hooks, talking about the pros and cons of each option. It looks like an excellent introduction for anyone who's interested in learning the art of crochet.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew this book would be a sample but i was shocked its only 9 pages and had only a few photos with no finished projects. The pictures are of test swatches which look very nice so one would assume the book will be great. But since I can’t comment on any of the actual instructional content I can’t say for sure. Would have liked to see enough to judge the quality of instructions. The presentation in the first few pages is very nice.

[Caroline Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only received an excerpt, but the book seems like it has some exciting new crochet techniques to add to my skillset. So far, it gives good context of crochet and would be a great book for both experienced crochetiers and beginners. The images are clear and bright, making it easy to follow along.

I can't speak for the book as a whole, but I'll be looking forward to its release!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since it is only a few pages, it is hard to give a complete review. However, since I know the work of this author (I do not know her personally), I know the book will likely be well written, thorough, and appropriate for all levels of crochet. From what I saw, the pictures are vibrant and the text clear. I love the description of the chapters and think this bodes well for the content.

[Ilene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book contains a chart; comprehensive directions; color photo and description of each stitch. There are some cute patterns for cowls, tote, shawl, hat and pillow. The common and a few unique stitches are found in this book. As an avid crocheter, whom loves texture, I can see this book being one of my favorite go to books.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a very small sample of the book to review. The table of contents show the division of the book into the four seasons with about 7-8 different stitches and a project.

There is instruction on what type of yarn works best for textured stitches.

There were no actual stitches shown so I cannot really comment on that except to say there seem to a lot of stitches that will be in the book.

[Randi | altid.laesende · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I could only see 9 pages of the book and therefore it is hard to review it. I love to crochet, and I was looking forward to seeing which textures and patterns were included in this book. However, it is hard to judge only by an index. The book looks lovely though, and I would probably pick it up at the library and flick through it.

[Elle Brockett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first learned how to crochet YEARS ago, and was taught by my grandmother.

I don't recall much other than the treble stitch, and so when I saw this available on NetGalley, I decided I absolutely needed it for my collection.

Wonderfully illustrated and detailed, this has certainly elevated my crochet game, and I was able to share my new knowledge with my grandmother.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was only a small amount of the book but what I read made me want to crochet! The author goes in depth on which needles and type of yarn you would need to do a project. I would like to read more of this book when it comes out.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was given a brief preview of this book to come. the first few pages are a great resource for experienced "hookers" and for beginners alike. She breaks down tools, colors and yarns. I would be interested in this book on publication day as i am always looking to add to my craft books.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book of crochet blocks! The instructions are easy to follow and are in both written and chart form which is really useful. I can hardly wait to dip in this book and start trying some of the blocks!

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Long a crocheter, I found this book valuable for its explanations of many stitches that were unknown to me. Offering great ideas for projects, this is a book for any textile artist to own!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Very good and informative crochet book. The author did a good job explaining the stitches and the patterns look very simple. The pictures were nice and clear.

[Linda K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good selection of stitches.

Good selection of stitches, well explained and photographed. Nothing new, perhaps, but nice having theses stitches in one place in one easy format is a good little addition to a crocheter’s library.

[Qukatheg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely book to read but these projects are not for beginners. I find it very hard to understand any of the explanations or pictures and can't figure out how to reproduce any of these complex stitches.

(I have been crocheting since childhood but only know the basics.)