Book Review: Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book (Completely Revised & Updated)

Book Review: Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book (Copmletely Revised & Updated) via Underground Crafter

I’m sharing a review of the updated knitting classic from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine, along with your chance to win a copy, so read on for details!

This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation (at no added cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. A free review copy of Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated by the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine was provided to me by Sixth&Spring. Although I accept free products for review, I do not accept additional compensation, nor do I guarantee a positive review. My reviews are based entirely on my honest opinions.


Book Review

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated by the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine is the third revision of this knitting classic that was first published in 1989. Since then, over 1 million copies have been sold, and it’s for good reason.

The new 2018 version includes more cast on, increase, decrease, and bind off methods; sections covering brioche, entrelac, double knitting, and mosaic knitting; in-depth design and construction sections with options for accessories and 25 shawl shapes; and more information about tools and troubleshooting. It also includes more than 70 extra pages and over 1,600 photos and illustrations.

The book opens with a Table of Contents and information about the original and current editions of the book, including bios of the teams that brought them the life. The Special Features of This Book explains that the book is color coded and provides an overview of the contents.

Each chapter is incredibly in-depth and definitely allows you to nerd out on knitting. However, to break up the lengthy text, the book liberally uses bold to highlight major points and includes images throughout. As an example, in the 19-page Yarn & Supplies chapter, there are illustrations of both S and Z yarn twists, photographs of yarns in different weights so you can see the relative thicknesses, and so on.

The included chapters are:

  • Yarns And Supplies, which includes a detailed overview of yarn, needles, and notions;
  • Basic Techniques, which explores how knitting “works,” and includes written and illustrated instructions for holding the needles, 25 cast on methods, the knit and purl stitches and all of the basic combinations, as well as joining yarn, increasing, decreasing, and binding off;
  • Cables, which explores how cables are structured, how to read cable symbols and charts, provides a variety of cable patterns, and demonstrates how to cable without a cable needle;
  • Color Knitting, which includes stranded knitting, intarsia, vertical and horizontal stripes, slip stitches, mosaic knitting, short row color knitting, and plaid knitting, along with tips for working with bobbins and reading charts;
  • Lace, which provides an introduction to lace, a review of yarn overs and decreases, tips for reading charts, blocking, and troubleshooting lace problems, and lace border and edging stitches;
  • Circular Knitting, which provides an overview of knitting in the round with helpful photographs for using circular needles, double pointed needles, two circular needles, and the magic loop methods, along with the jogless join, steeking, and Moebius knitting;
  • Directional Knitting, which covers entrelac (both flat and in the round), modular knitting, bias knitting, and center-out knitting (including squares, circles, stars, and other geometric shapes);
  • Advanced Techniques, which covers brioche, double knitting, tucks, loop stitch, elongated and drop stitches, and felting;
  • Understanding Instructions, which is an in-depth guide to understanding patterns, including schematics and gauge and counting stitches, as well as symbols and abbreviations;
  • Correcting Errors, which includes written and illustrated instructions for troubleshooting everything from dropped stitches to mending holes;
  • Finishing, which covers blocking, seaming, grafting (kitchener stitch), and picking up stitches;
  • Designing Sweaters, which takes you through all aspects of sweater design from conceptualization through adding details like shoulder pads or linings;
  • Designing Shawls, which provides a history of various traditional shawl designs and also explains how to construct and shape different types of shawls;
  • Designing Accessories, which covers hats, mittens and gloves, and socks and stockings;
  • Embellishments, which shows how to embellish your knits with embroidery, beads, sequins, and other extras; and
  • Caring for Knitwear, which addresses both cleaning and storage.

The book ends with a detailed index, bibliography and credits, and knitters graph paper in 8 sizes. In addition to the index, each of the chapters includes a strip at the bottom of the page (when relevant) that indicates where in the book you can find more information. As an example, the entrelac section in Directional Knitting includes the page number of different stitches that are used with entrelac so you can refer back to those instructions.

As you can tell, the book has a ton of information inside. As a designer, I did find the three design sections most interesting (and thanks to the illustrated overview of different types of hats, I will finally know what to call my designs that aren’t beanies), but there is a lot included for knitters at all levels. This is the type of book that you can get as a beginner and keep with you as you learn more, or you can pick up as an advanced knitter to take you to the next level. Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated is a hefty hardcover book, so it will withstand years of wear, and you can use the cover flaps to mark your pages. I highly recommend Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated to knitters of all types!

Giveaway

Book Review: Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book (Copmletely Revised & Updated) via Underground Crafter - giveawayNow that you’ve read my review of Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated are you ready to get it for yourself? Well, the nice folks at Sixth&Spring have set aside a copy for a lucky reader!

By entering this giveaway, you are voluntarily submitting information to Rafflecopter. You can read their privacy policy here for more details about how that information is used. This giveaway is open to readers with mailing addresses in the United States and Canada, except where prohibited by law. Enter by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. One winner will be chosen at random from the entries submitted via the Rafflecopter widget. The winner will receive 1 copy of Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated, courtesy of Sixth & Spring. Good luck!

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