So far I have Stitch ‘n’ Bitch and Knitting Without Tears. I was wondering what the rest of y’all have on your shelves that you find useful. Both the books I have now are great as references but I’m not wild about their selection of patterns, so any pattern collections you like would also be welcome recommendations.
Hm, I mean to post this in Cafe Society. Oops.
I. A big fan of Suss Design Essentials and Fitted Knits. I’ve made multiple patterns out of both (beware though - Suss has TONS of errata).
I’ve got Knitting for Dummies, which I like as a reference.
If you look online, you’ll find patterns. Try the websites for the yarn manufacturers; they, of course, want you to use their yarns, but there is no reason not to use other yarn of similar thickness. That yarn is more or less standardized is helpful.
I haven’t really found any books that I consider “must haves”, most of them have the same basic information, really. And these days, it’s very easy to find instructions online, either as static pics or as videos. Stitch’N’Bitch has more attitude than actual help, from what I recall. I really don’t CARE about the biographies of various knitters, though of course YMMV. All I want is the technical information.
Yeah, I also get most of my stuff online, but every so often I’ll find something I like on Ravelry and it’s part of a book so I can’t download it. And sometimes I’ll see things in stores that I’d like to try knitting myself, but I don’t yet have the experience necessary to just look at a pattern and figure out how to make it. I’d like to expand a bit, and there seem to be a lot of interesting knitting books out there.
I have been knitting for over 30 years and designing my own patterns for the past 20. I agree there is plenty of info on the internet; but sometimes it is great to have it all in one place.
I have a few recommendations.
Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book
Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton - this book has many patterns but more important the author shares the design process.
And for when you decide you want to design your own sweaters:
A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker - there are also 2nd, 3rd and 4th Treasury collections.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
My most-used resource (other than the internet or my knitting group) is The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques.
What I love are different stitches – here are my two favorite books for that:
Knit and Purlby Erica Knight: Best for big swaths of knitting, like scarves and afghans.
*Field Guide to Knitting* by Jackie Pawlowski: A lot more cables, lace, ribbing, edges. Also much more portable.
Ditto to Vogue Knitting, The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques, and Knitting Without Tears (though be wary of EZ, some of her patterns are really hard to actually execute).
I have two of Barbara Walkers’ books and find them pretty boring, to tell the truth.
My favorite references for stitch patterns are Charlene Schurch’s two sock knitting books. She picked out some really lovely ones; they’re my go-to.
Also, Last Minute Knitted Gifts.