250 Creative Knitting Stitches - Volume 4 (Harmony Guides)

Rating:
Summary: Fun to read, useful but...
Review: I regret that this book and the others in the Harmony series don't use standardized chart symbols that I am more familiar with. The color photography is great, however.

I think I'd prefer just to own the Barbara Walker series on knitting stitches, but for creative stimulation, the Harmony series is wonderful. The sheer number of stitches that can be made just boggles the imagination. If you love to create your own knitting patterns, this book would definitely be valuable.

Rating:
Summary: Fun to read, useful but...
Review: I regret that this book and the others in the Harmony series don't use standardized chart symbols that I am more familiar with. The color photography is great, however.

I think I'd prefer just to own the Barbara Walker series on knitting stitches, but for creative stimulation, the Harmony series is wonderful. The sheer number of stitches that can be made just boggles the imagination. If you love to create your own knitting patterns, this book would definitely be valuable.

Rating:
Summary: A helpful resource for adventurous, experienced knitters
Review: This is the third of the Harmony stitch guides (not including the Aran guide which is rather distinct). Note that the title is slightly different -- including the word "creative." Indeed, this is probably the most intriguing, but least likely to be knitted, collection of the three books. The collection has four basic parts:

1. Knit/purl patterns -- simple you think. However, the average row repeat in this group is about 16 rows and several patterns go over 30 rows and over a dozen stitches. Pretty to look at, hard to memorize.

2. 20 pages of slip stitch/multicolor stitches, primarily mosaic stitches. These aren't as hard as they look, but tend to create a heavy fabric.

3. 16 pages of Cross Stitch/Twist Stitch patterns. Again, not as hard as they look -- cable effect without cable needles in most cases.

4. 34 pages of complicated cables. These are the eye candy of the book -- lots of fun to look at, though more complex than the average knitter is likely to use regularly.

So, aside from the substance, why buy this book. As with volumes 2 and 3, the color photography is wonderful if you're looking for ideas. As for picking this volume over the others, the biggest distinction is that this is the only one of the three books that uses charts (all three have written instructions). For those of us who are partial to knitting in the round, this is terrific. The charts are not written in the standard "magazine" symbol system and that takes a bit of adjustment.

As with my review of the other Harmony books, I urge others to check out the Barbara Walker treasuries. The photography is only in black and white but on the whole I find them easier to use when the needles are in my hands.

Rating:
Summary: A helpful resource for adventurous, experienced knitters
Review: This is the third of the Harmony stitch guides (not including the Aran guide which is rather distinct). Note that the title is slightly different -- including the word "creative." Indeed, this is probably the most intriguing, but least likely to be knitted, collection of the three books. The collection has four basic parts:

1. Knit/purl patterns -- simple you think. However, the average row repeat in this group is about 16 rows and several patterns go over 30 rows and over a dozen stitches. Pretty to look at, hard to memorize.

2. 20 pages of slip stitch/multicolor stitches, primarily mosaic stitches. These aren't as hard as they look, but tend to create a heavy fabric.

3. 16 pages of Cross Stitch/Twist Stitch patterns. Again, not as hard as they look -- cable effect without cable needles in most cases.

4. 34 pages of complicated cables. These are the eye candy of the book -- lots of fun to look at, though more complex than the average knitter is likely to use regularly.

So, aside from the substance, why buy this book. As with volumes 2 and 3, the color photography is wonderful if you're looking for ideas. As for picking this volume over the others, the biggest distinction is that this is the only one of the three books that uses charts (all three have written instructions). For those of us who are partial to knitting in the round, this is terrific. The charts are not written in the standard "magazine" symbol system and that takes a bit of adjustment.

As with my review of the other Harmony books, I urge others to check out the Barbara Walker treasuries. The photography is only in black and white but on the whole I find them easier to use when the needles are in my hands.