Recently I've had several people ask what my favorite knitting books were. That really depends on what kind of knitting you're doing, or what purpose you want the book to serve. Considering the fact that I have a bookcase full of various fiber craft books, I thought I'd go through and make a list of the ones that I use the most. I'll break them down by category, and they are in alphabetical order so no one gets their feelings hurt. You'll notice that I put Latvian Dreams in twice. That's because it is not only a fabulous book on Scandanavian knitting, but it is full of good, well-explained knitting technique. Joyce is a fabulous knitter. I only wish I could have taken a class with her sometime. We met her knitting away on a beautiful fairisle sweater in a dark bar at Stitches West. I couldn't knit that well, that fast, under the best of conditions. Amazing!
I know I have left out many great books, many of which are in my own library. These are just the ones that use, or refer to, the most.
Basic Patterns, Designing, How-To:
Knitter's Handbook, Montse Stanley
Latvian Dreams, Joyce Williams
The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, Nancie Wiseman
The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, Ann Budd
New Knitters:
Sally Melville's series
Lace, Lace, and more Lace:
A Gathering of Lace, Meg Swansen
Folk Shawls, Cheryl Oberle
Heirloom Knitting, Sharon Miller
Stahman's Shawls and Scarves, Myrna Stahman
Victorian Lace Today, Jane Sowerby
Patterns:
Folk Socks, Nancy Bush
Debbie Bliss' children's pattern books
Handspun Handknit, Linda Ligon
Latvian Dreams, Joyce Williams
MinnowKnits, Too, Jil Eaton
Vogue Knitting on the Go books
2 comments:
Great lace book list! Another good reference book is Martha Waterman's Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls. Your Frosted Ferns is very beautiful. This was just done as a KAL by the NieblingLaceKnitters Yahoo group. Two of the members charted it out, & added an alternative lacier edging. BTW, I also just started Lyra in a laceweight cashmere/silk blend, & plan to make a square shawl. Looking forward to your progress posts, Lois W.
Thanks Lois! Actually I do have Martha Waterman's book, and the "Kerry Blue Shawl" was my second lace knitting project. It is a good book, but be sure to download the errata sheets!
Lyra is coming along pretty well, but slowly. I'll try and post a picture soon.
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