It's pretty easy to explain to concept behind The Harmony Guides: 101 Stitches to Knit, edited by Erika Knight. It's a collection of cards that feature 101 knitting stitches from the Harmony Guides collection, a series of books featuring stitch patterns, tips and techniques, some of which have been updated and published by Interweave.
The box of cards is a handy way to store stitch patterns and are perfect for travel because if you're using just one stitch pattern you can stick that card in your bag and not have to tote a whole book or rewrite the instructions on a piece of paper to work away from home.
Patterns at Your Fingertips
101 Stitches to Knit is packaged in a sturdy cardboard flip-top box, which at a little less than two inches wide will take up less space on your shelf than your collection of Barbara Walker, which is not in any way to suggest that one can replace the others.
Knitters who enjoy designing for themselves or who just want to be able to play with different stitch patterns, in my opinion, should have as many of these sorts of books as they can reasonably afford and store, because they're such a great source of ideas and information.
The first card in the box is actually a fold-out consisting of four cards that includes basic information on knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, other basic knitting skills and the abbreviations used in the patterns.
This part is handy even for knitters with some experience because the Harmony Guides were originally published in England, so the vocabulary is a little different (yfrn, or yarn forward round needle is used where we might say yarn over, for example).
The final cards is an index (numbers can be found on the back of each card) as well as a key to symbols used in the charts that accompany each pattern.
The Patterns
As the title indicates, there are 101 pattern stitches here, including knit and purl stitches, cables and lace. You won't find the basics like Garter, Stockinette and plain ribbing; these patterns are all pretty decorative.
The front of each card indicates the name of the pattern and is mostly taken up by a large color photograph of a swatch of the pattern, which is very helpful for people who really need to see what they're getting into.
The back of each card indicates the multiple of stitches required for the stitch and includes written and charted instructions for the stitch.
The cards are also color-coded so it's easy to find and browse, say, just the cable stitches if that's what you're interested in knitting.
While I find the cards a little unwieldy to flip through, there's no denying the convenience of just carrying one card when knitting on the go.
This little selection would be a good addition to anyone's stitch pattern library, or a thoughtful gift for any knitter on your list.
Publication date: October 2008.
