Important! I'm going to the bookstore...

Any book that is a STICH dictionary , Catch hold and put in your Safe Nicky Epstein`s books ,buy at least one .

The New Knitting Stich Library , By Lesley Stanfield , lark books.

The Illustrated Dictionary of Knitting , by Rae Compton , Interweave Press.

Module Magic , by Ginger Luters, Xrx books ,,

At least one book by Elizabeth Zimmermann ,, mirjam

The Knitter's Book of Handy Patterns

Higs, Katherine

Knitting Around, by Elizabeth Zimmerman

and at least one good stitch dictionary!

HTH, Noreen

Hi Pam

On my wish list, even though I like crochet better, are Nicky Epstein's books 'Knitting on the Edge' and 'Knitting over the Edge.' Plus any big, thick crochet stitch dictionary you can find. And maybe one for knitting.

I think I'd leave any 'how-to' or 'learn-to' on the shelf and borrow them from a library or get them cheaply secondhand; you're only learning for a little while and might grow out of them fairly quickly.

My most-referenced book is an old copy (it was my mom's, and she's gone since 1992, and it was OLD then) of the Reader's Digest Guide to Needlework. I've seen copies around here at secondhand stores for $5 and less. It gets into knitting, crochet, sewing, patchwork and quilting, macrame, needlepoint, cross-stitch, redwork, anything done with any type of needle. The knitting and crochet sections I find especially good; broken down into knit/purl, sc/dc patterns, textures, lace, mesh and for crochet there's a section on motifs, squares and flowers.

Maybe you could try a big secondhand bookstore first; with yarn work so popular now, I find that the books here are about $30-$50 and more (Canadian dollars). Secondhand books, although probably old, still have all the stitchwork in them, even if they're dated with ugly yarns. The stitches are still the same.

Just my long-winded two cents.

Michelle

On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:01:21 GMT, Qintes spewed forth :

Elizabeth Zimmerman: Knitting Around, or Knitting Without Tears, title will vary depending on publication date. Knitters' Workshop. Knitter's Almanac. The Opinionated Knitter.

Barbara Walker: Treasury of Knitting Patterns I, II, III, IV; There is some overlap, but it is excusable

Sharon Miller: Heirloom Knitting

With Elizabeth's basic formulae for pretty much any knitted garment, Sharon's exhaustive lace discussions and Barbara's endless stitch patterns you ought to be able to keep yourself occupied for a few decades, at least :D

For colorwork ideas (ie, Fair Isle) you can look for the Harmony Guide to Fair Isle. It is pretty widely available. Add to Elizabeth, make sweaters and all manner of good things.

+++++++++++++

Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

Oooh! Depending on your skill level,

is the very best crochet book I have so far. If you're anintermediate to high level crocheter, this is oodles of fun and goodinfo. If you're a beginner, the quirks and mistakes in the patternsare a pain in the tuchus.

Viking patterns for Knitting, Twisted Sisters Sock Book, Knitters Stash, Marie and the cats

No one has mentioned The Principles of Knitting by June Hiatt. This books is a source of information on all things knitting, easy to understand with lots of illustrations. DA

Are they the same book, Wooly? Pam

Thanks everyone! I'm very excited to go book shopping. I've picked out a nice selection all based on your recommendations. I'll have some Elizabeth Zimmermann books in the cart, some Nicky Epstein, a stitch dictionary (although sadly the one Mirjam mentioned is not available around here right now) and a couple other of the books mentioned. My dear brother gave me a nice gift certificate for my birthday last fall and I've been waiting for a good reason to use it! Thanks! Pam

Different books, same approach. Same excellent author. Jacueline Fee uses Zimmerman's approach, but updates it for modern beginners.

Knitting the Old Way by Gibson-Roberts and Robson applies a similar approach to traditional ethnic sweaters. It is good if you remember that they are doing modern adaptions, and the fabric will be to a more modern style.

I think the glory of knitting is displayed in Gladys Thompson's books. This book displays the visual beauty of fabric produced by knitting on finer needles than are commonly used today. This book shook up my ideas on kitting, and it took me two years to understand how to produce these fabric textures, because the approach is do different from what is taught in modern knitting books - even modern knitting books with titles like "Knitting the Old Way."

Aar>

Pam,

I belive Knitting for Dummies is one of the best books they have published. It is great. I belive if you want to size and knit your own sweater you will want "Knitt the Old Way" It shows you how to knit sweaters and such with out a patter.

With these two books you will not need much more.

let me know what you pick Pam.

Hugs & God bless, Dennis & Gail

Wow, I went to BookFinder4U.com to put the Principles of Knitting on my wish list. (Quote from their website "BookFinder4U is a FREE service that searches 130 bookstores, 60,000 booksellers worldwide and finds the lowest book price in A click") The cheapest you can find that book is 237.49 and the most expensive is 754.95. I guess I'll only have to dream of owning it lol.

Geeze, I guess that I should increase my homeowners insurance. It doesn't seem like I bought it that long ago. If you have any good used book stores or thrift shops where you live, I would check there. Yard sales are also a good source of old knitting patterns and books. DA

Pam

I went through my knitting box, and in addition to my 1970s Coats & Clark Learn How book, I've found the Harmony Guides to be helpful, have several volumes including their Aran, Stitch Guide 1 & 2, and Techniques books. I also have a Threads Hand-Knitting Techniques book which has some really good info in it like how to knit with beads and lots of basic stuff too, like how to do gloves and socks in the round (which I don't do much HK in the round). I have Mary Thomas' knitting book, which the language used in it is really dated , but it also gives some knitting history, which I found interesting.

For machine knitting, I have the 3 from Catherine Cartwright-Jones and Roy Jones (Enchanted, Tapdancing, Prolific KM), with lots of neat fair isle patterns in addition to how-to techniques for a KM, and also how to embelish your 2-color knits with fabric paint or duplicate stitch.

Hope it helps.

Leah