June Hemmons Hiatt

I'm torn on how to review this. Is it a huge, comprehensive work on knitting techniques? Yes. Is it as useful as it could be? Definitely not. The main reason for this is that the author decided to rename most techniques for whatever reason instead of relying on the names that generations of knitters know and use. That makes it difficult to look topics up in the index, difficult to interpret instructions that use names you're not familiar with, etc.

This tour-de-force volume is worth the exorbitant price I paid the used book vendor for it. It covers many techniques, such as double-knitting, that do not appear elsewhere in my book horde. Hiatt does have some definite prejudices about the mechanics of forming stitches, and that's what keeps the book from getting a 5-star rating.

Excellent reference covering many, *many* knitting techniques. Not for novice knitters; more useful for intermediate and advanced knitters. It loses a star because Hiatt has chosen to rename many of the techniques from that which is in common usage. Hiatt is a trained scientist with a highly developed sense of order and her names for the knitting techniques are, for the most part, more accurate, HOWEVER the new names make it hard to look up a particular technique. Including the common names show more as “also known as” entries, and including them in the book index would have made this a SIX-star book and earned status as the ultimate knitting reference. show less

Principles of Knitting is an exhaustive compilation of knitting techniques, descriptions of tools of the trade, and detailed advice on designing knitted garments of all types. If you can get a copy, avail yourself! Would love to see it back in print.