The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting Illustrated (Complete Idiot's Guide to)

Rating:
Summary: A must-have!
Review: I wasn't sure if the "Complete Idiot's Guide" would be that useful. But it was. There were some things in there that I never understood until I read this book. I'm a beginning knitter (I can cast on, bind off, knit and purl, but that's it). This book really helped me understand the different ways to increase and decrease. And the tips and side comments were really interesting. It's a book I would definitely recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Great text, so-so illustrations.
Review: The first tiime I picked up this book and tried to teach myself to knit I decided I would NEVER learn. I put the book aside for a few years and gave up the thought of knitting. Then I bought "Knit Wit" and gave it another try. The full color illustrations in that volume actually taught me to cast on, knit, purl and bind-off. Althoug "Knit Wit" has very fine illustrations, the text is a bit skimpy. After practising all I learned from KW I dug this book out of my stash of craft books and re-read it. Bingo! Everything made perfect sense. What had seemed like greek the first time I read it was clear as crystal. This is an excellent resource for begginer knitters, but it should NOT be the only one unless you have dsomeone who can show you the stitches step by step.