Debbie Bliss

Great patterns for boys and girls alike! Very helpful for new knitters, with illustrations of complicated techniques and gradual progression from easy to difficult patterns. I particularly liked the smart Jacket with Moss Stitch Bands and the V-Neck Cardigan with Contrasting Rib (so cute!). Hope to put those patterns to good use either for charity or for coworkers'/friends' kids.

Debbie Bliss is notorious for designing baby and children's knitwear that is extremely oversized, so I was pleased to see that this book includes measurements for each item's circumference and length as well as most if not all seams. The toys are adorable and the charming stitch patterns and intarsia (or sometimes stranded) colourwork is adaptable to other sizes or other types of items, so it's not a book that abruptly expires when your youngest child turns 6 years old.

I have...mixed feelings about Debbie Bliss Tips for Knitters. From an artistic perspective, it is very beautiful. The photography is gorgeous, and the pages and sections are well laid out. The text flows nicely, and each section includes a goodly amount of diagrams.

Unfortunately, beauty of design seems to be more or less the only thing this book really has going for it. The beautiful photographs are of Debbie Bliss designs--that much information can be gleaned from the front matter of the show more book--but there is no reference list of the patterns shown included anywhere in the book.

The scope of the knitting techniques described and discussed is quite narrow, and at least some of the terms used are non-standard to knitters in the United States (and possibly elsewhere as well). As an example, this book gives two different methods for casting on stitches. Two other comparably-sized guides give between six and eight cast on methods, complete with diagrams. Binding (or casting) off fares similarly.

As a very basic book for a beginning knitter this would be reasonably adequate. For a more advanced knitter there may be some things of interest or use (I do like that it includes patterns for several knit lace edgings which can be added to the work, and the colorwork section seems decent as well). In general, however, I would have to recommend picking up a different book if you want a quick reference for your knitting bag. show less

I borrowed this book from the library because I had three problems I needed solved and insufficient internet access to consult YouTube: creating an I-cord border around a blanket, improving my darning technique, and grafting a mend in garter stitch. Debbie B told me how to bind off in I-cord (not useful on a 24 square blanket) and how to graft a mend in stockinette stitch. As for the darning, she shows purely the weaving technique and even the diagram looks messy. It’s nice that she covers show more mending at all (Hiatt doesn’t, she considers that only creating a knitted piece is within her remit; although she does tell you how to graft garter stitch!), and Bliss does have lots of information, but not what I needed—and the i-cord thing is actually pretty basic. show less