Complete Idiot Guide To Knitting And Crocheting: Amazon.ca: Gail Diven: Books

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"The knowledge you will gain from reading and using this book will bring you great satisfaction." — Nancy J. Thomas, editorial director of Lion Brand Yarn Company; co-author of Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book; and former editor of Knitter’s Magazine, Vogue Knitting, and Family Circle Easy Knitting

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Book Description

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 crafts: 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.

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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A book I can always fall back on..., Sep 17 2003

By

"mahanks" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Idiot Guide To Knitting And Crocheting (Paperback)

I am a self-taught knitter, and I must say, that when I am in a bind, I can always find help from this book. I also like that it has both knitting and crocheting. The tips inside are also very helpful. If you are just learning to knit, I must say this is a great reference for you!

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2.0 out of 5 stars Do not expect this to be your only knitting guide, July 1 2003

By

NewKnitter (WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Idiot Guide To Knitting And Crocheting (Paperback)

I tried to teach myself to knit using only this book- don't try it, it doesn't work. I ended up buying some cheap, simple books with big pictures to show me how to follow the instructions in the "Complete" guide. The previous reviewer who said that the authors sometimes omit crucial information is absolutely right-simply telling you to "turn your work" doesn't make much sense if you're a brand new knitter and you can barely cast on. This doesn't mean that this is a bad book by any means, but it definately does NOT live up to the purpose of Complete Idiots Guide series- you must have some previous experience or outside help to learn to knit.

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3.0 out of 5 stars An OK resource, but look elsewhere for better help, May 1 2003

By

Natalie Morales - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Idiot Guide To Knitting And Crocheting (Paperback)

I bought this book about two months ago because I wanted to learn how to knit and crochet. But, I haven't found this book to be the all in one resource that I had hoped. The pictures are too small to really help me understand what is going on, the descriptions are sometimes to vague. For example, after you complete a row in knitting you are supposed to turn your work. The book tells me to turn my work but never tells me what turning means. I had to get another book to help me out. I still can't do a purl stitch correctly despite several hours of practice.

I think the section on crochet is a little better but I still had several issues. The drawings were too small and the directions didn't go into enough detail. I've spent the past two evenings trying to follow the granny square example that is in the book. All I've managed to do is make an ugly round knot. For instructions that have almost 20 items, there are only three pictures which just show completed sections but don't actually show what the square should look like while in progress. Also, the section about working around the post just has a small desciption with no pictures to explain to me what the heck I'm supposed to do!

There are two projects in the crochet section. The first is an afghan blanket. But, this project requires you to use two skills (weaving in ends and changing yarn) that aren't explained until later in the book. The other project is a placemat which I have no interest in making. I bought a crochet manual from Michaels for six bucks that answered a lot of the questions this book gave me and went into a lot more detail.

This is an OK resource but I'd say get at least one or two others as well.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars All you need to learn how to crochet
I love this book and refer to it often. I used it exclusively to learn how to crochet. People can't believe that I learned from a book, as this is usually a skill passed on from... Read more

Published on April 28 2003 by terrinow

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth your money.
Way too little information for such thick book!
(but good info on sewing knitted piece though.. even though it's only on 2-3 pages of the book.)