Basic Crochet Stitches: 250 Stitches to Crochet

I found this book while looking for books on crochet and knitting, particularly for clothing designs. On the surface, it looked like another ordinary crochet book. When I opened the front cover, I found myself pleasantly surprised. Basic Crochet Stitches is both a visual and written guide on how to crochet a wide variety of designs.

Basic Crochet Stitches: 250 Stitches to Crochet provides a wealth of tips and information for the crochet beginner as well as for advanced users. What I liked best about the book is its visual presentation. The designer did a great job of laying everything out so that the book is easy to understand on a visual level.

Unlike the other crochet books, you won't find any projects that could date the book within a decade. This book is a simple, timeless guide that will teach you how to create a wide variety of stitches.

Tools & Equipment

The beginning of the book covers Tools & Equipment. While Erika Knight barely touches the subjects of crochet yarns and how to hold the hook, she does provide a great visual of the various hook sizes. I held my size K (6.50mm) hook up to the drawing and found that the size of the hooks both matched.

The Basics

Every beginning crocheter should read this chapter because it will show you both visually and with written instruction how to create the most basic stitches of crochet. The illustrations are clear and detailed so that you will not need a magnifying glass to see them.

This chapter will also teach you about gauge, how to work around the stem of a stitch, how to work between stitches, stitch variations, and much more. I bought Basic Crochet Stitches because of this chapter alone because there are some things that I missed when learning how to crochet.

Stitch Gallery

The Stitch Gallery makes up the bulk of Basic Crochet Stitches. This chapter, like the others, offers visual and written guides on all of the stitches that are covered. It starts with the easy stitches, such as the single crochet, and then moves up toward the advanced stitches, such as the Arrow Pattern. An illustration key is located in the back of the section so that you will know exactly what stitch is placed where in the design that you are creating.

Abbreviations

This section lists the jargon, abbreviations, and standard conventions that you need to know if you are going to read and follow the instructions of a crochet pattern.

Index & Resources

The index in this book is standard. The resources include books by the publisher, Interweave Crochet.

Conclusion

Basic Crochet Stitches: 250 Stitches to Crochet, by Erika Knight is a well-executed book that will help beginners and intermediate crocheters. Advanced users may or may not get much from this book, depending on how much experience they have. I am glad that I bought this book and plan to keep it as a reference both for myself and anyone I know who wishes to learn how to crochet.