350+ crochet tips, techniques, and trade secrets

*Starred Review* Crochet is an ever-popular craft enjoyed by people of all ages. This book offers guidance for those just learning and those more experienced, with color photographs illustrating just about everything involved in crocheting. Guides to the basics of hooks, tools, and yarns start the reader at the beginning and then move on to patterns and charts, design, techniques, working in the round, working with color, and assembling and finishing. Throughout the book, sidebars titled Fix It offer tips and hints for addressing common problems, while those labeled Try It include ideas for experimenting and for developing new skills. A variety of colors and types of yarn is used to illustrate the techniques and projects, providing a wide-ranging and interesting visual experience. Similarly, a range of types of projects and applications is included, showcasing the way crochet looks and works in scarves, jackets, buttons, edgings, socks, blankets, embellishments, and more. Even those who don't crochet will find useful details here in the sections on garment shapes, color theory, and home dyeing. A very informative book that will find steady use in virtually any craft collection.--Heidemann, Anne Copyright 2010 Booklist

In this updated and expanded edition of her 2007 guide, needlecraft specialist Eaton (The New Encyclopedia of Crochet Techniques) provides a basics-and-beyond overview of crochet tools and techniques. The content is arranged thematically, with brief, step-by-step tutorials on a variety of topics, with sidebars highlighting skills or easy fixes to common crochet problems. Coverage includes basic stitches, as well as simple decorative patterns (chevrons, fans, and blocks) and special stitches (popcorns, puffs, and bobbles). Also included is information about crocheted edgings, joining motifs, and simple colorwork. Eaton goes in some unexpected directions, with garment design and pattern and chart reading appearing before the stitch guide. The index can help to resolve the oddities in topic arrangement. VERDICT Most questions that a beginning crocheter might have are covered in this guide. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.