The Crochet Answer Book
by Edie Eckman
ISBN 1-58017-598-8
“Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face, Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask.”
This handy little guide is packed with tons of information. The author, Edie Eckman, is also a pattern designer and crochet instructor. In her introduction she states, “I’ve tried to answer some of the most common questions crocheters have and to anticipate some questions you didn’t know you had.” I think she’s accomplished this very well! Set in an easy to read Q&A format with well defined chapters, this book also includes clear and concise illustrations.
Many of the questions are aimed at the beginning crocheter, but I was surprised and delighted to find lots of information included here that would be helpful to intermediate and experienced crocheters as well.
While going through the book there were quite a few questions where I thought, “I wish I had this book when I needed that answer!” Such as; “Do I always have to work a foundation chain?”, “How do I make an oval?”, “How do I tell the Left Front from the Right Front of my sweater?”, “How do I join separate motifs?”, and so much more!
Also included in this guide is a hook size chart, graph paper, a chart for suggested sizes of accessories and household items (such as afghan sizes), standard measurements and sizing charts, standard abbreviations, stitch symbols, yarn care symbols, common crochet terms and phrases, more resources, and an index.
I am very impressed with this book and I think every crocheter should have a copy in their toolkit. Not only a useful guide for questions you may have, but also for those answers you may have forgotten.
What do you think? Visit your local library and if they do not have this book in their collection, ask them to loan it from another library for you. It’s a free service, and a great way to preview books if you are considering purchasing them.
5 out of 5 “Hooks Up” recommendation
I am loving this new feature you have of reviewing books. I'll have to go to the library this weekend and check this one out. = )
ReplyDeleteThanks hippie dippy, I'm glad you are finding the reviews helpful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I can't tell by the cover if I have seen that one before. I will have to see if our library has it. I often go down that aisle just to see if there is anything new.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I always look at in a crochet book that is new to me is if the diagrams of how to do the stitches actually show you going under both top loops. Several just show going under one, which ends up giving either a backloop or frontloop stitch, which is not correct if you just want to do a regular sc, hdc, or dc.
Good point Laura, and this book does show working the stitch under both loops in the illustrations and also has the wording "Insert hook under both loops" in the written instructions. I hope you get a chance to check it out :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review! However, this isn't the cover that most people will see in the library or bookstore, so you might want to update the cover image. Let me know if I need to send you the correct image.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you might want to check out my newest book, "Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs".
Happy Stitching!
Edie
Thank you Edie, I've changed the photo of the cover. Your new book looks fantastic! I love working in motifs and I'll definitely have to check this out!
ReplyDeletelooks like it's a great book! Got to check it out sometime :-)
ReplyDelete