The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting

by Gail Diven, Cindy Kitchel

The perfect guide for novices wanting to discover the joys of knitting and crocheting! Written in a comfortable and light tone, this book teaches every aspect of these from choosing yarn and shaping your work, to adding color and finishing projects professionally. Includes more than 150 instructive illustrations and five attractive and useable beginning projects.

Genres: Knitting, Reference, Nonfiction, Crafts, Crochet

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Elaine Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this at Half-Price Books several years ago and promptly stuck it in the back of a closet. Found it again two weekends ago and figured it was time to give knitting a try. This book, however, was not as helpful as I had hoped it would be. I managed to figure out single cast-on, but could not make enough sense of the instructions to get a basic knit stitch started.* There are a couple of interesting patterns at the back of the book that I might try out, but otherwise I was pretty disappointed with this.

I had much better luck with Red Heart's free ebook Knitting Made Easy (learned knit stitch) and The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting: Learn to Knit with More Than 30 Cool Easy Patterns (learned binding off). I'm still working on my first actual project - a basic scarf in knit stitch.

* I've always been somewhat spatially challenged -- and I'm left-handed. FWIW, after reading the lefty instructions, I decided to just learn knitting right-handed. I already use scissors and mouse right-handed, and the thought of spending the rest of my life trying to figure out instructions backwards was NOT APPEALING.

[Victoria Boyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to learn to knit and I did reading this book. I learned all of the basics, casting on, knit stitches, purl stitches, & binding off. This book doesn't not go beyond the basics though. I didn't read the crochet half of the book.

[Suzie Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started, I only knew how to crochet a foundation chain. With in days I had made a simple afghan, and knew how to make a granny square. I struggled with the knitting section, but once I got it, I realized knitting was not my thing, though I still like to do so from time to time.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource book for all (basic) knitting and crochet stitches and projects. Easy to follow format with clear instructions and pictures. Shows left handed techniques as well.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the way I finally learned to knit. I repeatedly use it as a reference whenever I have a question.