Product Description

Wonderful textured fabrics are now within easy reach! This complete guide explains, in a clear and easy-to-follow fashion, how to create everything from openwork and lace through to woven and hairpin crochet. As useful for the highly experienced as the absolute beginner, this information-packed book takes you through the basic techniques to a highly adaptable project section that will provide guidance and inspiration for making colourful and stylish garments for you to wear. Create wonderful textured fabrics with this complete guide to crochet. Essential tools and techniques are clearly explained with step-by-step illustrations, from working stitches and measuring gauge to adding embellishments and finishing off. Each technique includes stitch patterns to try out, and an adaptable project section allows you to practice your new skills making original and colourful garments and accessories using your own choice of yarns and stitches.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4180 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent book on Crochet for beginners & anyone with experienced
As a beginner to knitting, I wanted to try crochet as well. Having read the encyclopedia of knitting book, and finding it a brilliant book, I decided to take a gamble and buy this encyclopedia of crochet book in the hope it would be as good. I was not dissapointed.
Chapter 1 covers basic skills, giving easy to follow instructions with lots of colour photographs.
Chapter 2 covers techniques and stitches, and covers a lot of variety. E.g. shell stitches, bobbles, popcorns, puff stitches, loop stitches, lace, chevrons, tubular crochet, circular motifs, hexagons, cords, etc. Most start with a step by step guide to the stitch, with colour illustrations, and then gives a row by row instruction, to at least one example of each.
Chapter 3 covers projects for you to try, covering a scarf, bags, pillow etc.
Finally chapter 4 gives a gallery of garments and accessories to inspire you, as well as a glossary and a list of suppliers.
N.B. A word of warning to beginners. In the basic skills section, for the half treble crocket stitch, step 2 reads "Draw the yarn through the chain, leaving three loops on the hook." This should be re-written as "wrap the yarn over the hook and draw it through the first loop, leaving three loops on the hook." This also needs changing in the 1st step in the treble crochet stitch. Hence the drop to 4 stars.
Overall an excellent book and worth getting.

Excellent for beginners
As a complete newbie to crochet, I brought two 'beginner books'. I then found myself having to cross-reference between the two as I found that they were not 100% clear on their own. But then I got this book and was completely thrilled. It covers everything that you need to know as a beginner plus more. It shows all different types of stitch and gives, in my opinion, clear advice, both written and visual. I can't comment on how it would be viewed by the more experienced but for people starting out in crochet then I would recommend this book

Breadth but not much depth. . .
I agree with rantinghousewife: this is a nice book for beginners, but doesn't offer much for the experienced crocheter. I feel that to call it an encyclopedia is rather overstating the case -- "Guide" or "Compendium" would be more accurate, as there's breadth here but very little depth.
Basic techniques are nicely shown but there's no information on better or more advanced methods, such as using foundation stitches instead of a starting chain, or the adjustable ring method of working in the round.
The section on seams and joining I thought very disappointing and sketchy, advocating less-than-optimum methods, and there aren't any tips on how to overcome common problems, such as the "hole" at the start of treble crochet rows (visible in the pictures), or what to do if your filet grid isn't square.
On the plus side, the book is very nicely produced and has good, clear pictures. For a new crocheter, or someone who wants to learn, it's a good overview, showing the huge variety of effects crochet can produce, but if you've moved beyond the basics, this book is not for you.