Mosaic Knitting (1975)

Mosaic Knitting by Barbara G. Walker (2006)

This book had a great influence on my knitting. I learned to add designs to my work, and make them one-of-a-kind. And the patterns were so interesting, and easy to make. Mosaic knitting allows the knitter to knit complex color designs without the use of bobbins. ( )

I am a self-taught left-handed knitter. I bought "Mosaic Knitting" when it first came out. It inspired me to knit a complex multi-colored and multi-patterned blanket.

It was the fourth of four now-classic volumes cataloging knitting stitch patterns, sometimes called stitch dictionaries. Each pattern is illustrated by a black and white photograph, along with the clearly charted directions.

The charts are a revelation. No more twisted balls, or awkwardly holding multiple yarns. You can knit intricate multi-colored designs with only one color of yarn per row using simple slip-stitch patterns! In fact, based on the extensive information in this book, i began creating my own slip-stitch patterns.

Barbara Walker's "Mosaic Knitting" is much more complete than Roxana Bartlett's "Slip-Stitch Knitting: Color Pattern the Easy Way," which i found rather disappointing,

This book has been brought back into print by Meg Swanson's Schoolhouse Press - which has reprinted all of Barbara Walker's knitting pattern dictionaries.

This new edition is not just a reprint but includes a significant number (116!) of new charted mosaic patterns from Barbara Walker which she calls "Magic Mosaics".

The new edition is lacking the color plates included in the original edition, but this is not a great loss. The photos illustrated some of the patterns used for items like lamp shades and ponchos. In my opinion the color combinations were not very nice and the garments look rather dated. But this doesn't detract from the usefulness of the patterns themselves, which you can apply in your own choice of colors to any knit items you like. ( )

I am a self-taught left-handed knitter. I bought "Mosaic Knitting" when it first came out. It inspired me to knit a complex multi-colored and multi-patterned blanket.

It was the fourth of four now-classic volumes cataloging knitting stitch patterns, sometimes called stitch dictionaries. Each pattern is illustrated by a black and white photograph, along with the clearly charted directions.

The charts are a revelation. No more twisted balls, or awkwardly holding multiple yarns. You can knit intricate multi-colored designs with only one color of yarn per row using simple slip-stitch patterns! In fact, based on the extensive information in this book, i began creating my own slip-stitch patterns.

Barbara Walker's "Mosaic Knitting" is much more complete than Roxana Bartlett's "Slip-Stitch Knitting: Color Pattern the Easy Way," which i found rather disappointing,

This book has been brought back into print by Meg Swanson's Schoolhouse Press - which has reprinted all of Barbara Walker's knitting pattern dictionaries.

This new edition is not just a reprint but includes a significant number (116!) of new charted mosaic patterns from Barbara Walker which she calls "Magic Mosaics".

The new edition is lacking the color plates included in the original edition, but this is not a great loss. The photos illustrated some of the patterns used for items like lamp shades and ponchos. In my opinion the color combinations were not very nice and the garments look rather dated. But this doesn't detract from the usefulness of the patterns themselves, which you can apply in your own choice of colors to any knit items you like. ( )