Basic Crochet Stitches :: The Harmony Guides

I have waxed poetic about my love of Erika Knights books before and here I am again. She edited this great series of books called the Harmony Guides and after purchasing Harmony Guide: Basic Crochet Stitches: 250 Stitches to Crochet, I am considering buying the other guides. I feel like it would be a great asset to reference library for sure.

Here’s why:
Crochet for me has always been a little more elusive than knitting. I’ve had a hard time reading the charts (which makes me unable to make my own), I’m always a little unsure about the beginning of rows (what counts for what stitch), and there are a million other little things that have held me back in my pattern writing as far as crochet goes. I think a huge part of it is the fact that unlike knitting, I have not known an accomplished crocheter who could guild me through the standards and I had yet to find a book that explained things throughly enough for me to get a good grasp of things.

Well, no longer. I love this book. For the more accomplished crocheter it may not be a “Need” for the library, but honestly, I think it is. If you already know all the stitches, it’s just a good reference and inspiration guide to have on hand. For the beginner and intermediate crocheter, it’s invaluable.

It has wonderful illustrations to help you understand how the core stitches are made and each core stitch also has it’s chart simple (that is wonderful!). Making Fabric goes over all the things that have kept me guessing – stitch placement, working rows, fabric structure, color work, increasing and decreasing. Then a section on standard variations (fillet crochet, puff stitches, bobbles, picots). And that’s all before the actual “stitch dictionary” section starts.

I really like the way that the stitch dictionary pages are set up too. Each stitch has a very clear picture, the stitch pattern written out, and then the chart. There are even charts for just single crochet through the back loop. This is really helpful for me, because I will get a good grasp of charting with stitches I know (single crochet, shell stitches, etc) and then I’ll feel more comfortable building up my skills getting a little more complex each try. The problem I have had with charts up to now is that in the pattern, they rarely have both because the point of a chart (as in knitting) is to convey a lot of information in a nice little compact chart. So any pattern I have tried with a chart I feel is completely over my head! No longer!

The back of the book contains a jewel of a key with all the chart symbols and then of course a detailed abbreviations section.

I think this is the first stitch dictionary I have read cover to cover, haha. The introduction is great and Erika Knight shares her inspirations for the book and why it was put together how it was. Wonderful! Thank you again for yet another wonderful book! I can’t wait to get my hands on Cables & Arans as well as 101 Stitches to Knit, Knit & Purl, and then of course Lace & Eyelets. It would be nice if they sold them all as a set. I do hope they make a follow up to the crochet book like they have with the knitting guides.

Well, all this talk of crochet has me itching to grab my hook, I’ll see you all tomorrow!

Kristin