Debbie Bliss is well known as a pattern and yarn designer, and she's sharing the basics of knitting and a few of her favorite tips and techniques in Debbie Bliss Tips for Knitters: Stitches and Seams to Finishing Touches.
This small book is perfect for keeping in your knitting bag as a quick reference, especially for people relatively new to knitting.
Getting Started Knitting
Bliss says her book is helpful for both new knitters and those with more experience, but given the subject matter it's really ideal for those knitters with less knowledge of basic techniques. It's really an overview of the main things you need to know to make a knitting project a success, as well as some more detailed information on color knitting and embellishments.
The book covers the following topics:
- yarn
- equipment
- understanding patterns
- beginning to knit (casting on)
- the stitches (knit, purl, pattern stitches, binding off)
- increasing and decreasing
- fixing mistakes
- color knitting
- seams
- finishing touches
- care of garments
Each section includes the basic techniques and often has some tips from Bliss on how best to perform a particular technique such as cable knitting, intarsia or embroidery.
The small (5.5 x 7.5 inches) book has an interior spiral binding so that it easily stays open to whatever page you need, which makes it nice for people who are learning from the book.
There are color pictures of projects (though there are no patterns in the book) and stitch patterns, and techniques are illustrated with color drawings as well as detailed text instructions.
Bottom Line
There are a lot of books out there similar to Debbie Bliss Tips for Knitters. You might want to choose this one if you're a new knitter looking for a good overview of the basics in a small, highly portable format.
I don't think it has much to offer knitters with more experience unless you just happen to be a fan of Debbie Bliss and want to read everything she produces.
Knitters with a bit more skill would probably enjoy Bliss' Design It, Knit It better as it provides a look at more advanced techniques and design ideas.
Publication date: October 2009.
