Most knitters love knitting books, almost as much as they love yarn and needles. There are hundreds, if not thousands of knitting books in print, and more if you cruise the used book stores. How can a knitter know what books are worth buying?
I’ve listed many of my favorite knitting books on the Polymath Solution Knitting Library web page. I’ll admit, this is not a balanced list — it’s my favorite books, complete with a review which states why the book is a favorite of mine.
A bit about how I choose books: as a designer, I don’t find I need many pattern books. I prefer magazines when I am looking at patterns, as they tend to have more up to date styles, using current yarns. I do a lot of traditional knitting though, and like books that have stitch and color patterns I can apply to standard shapings. So, my favorite books are those that cover ways to shape knitted garments, and stitch and color patterns to add to them. I love theory books, too. And there are always a few Wow! books, that are so stunning, it doesn’t matter if I ever knit anything from them.
So these are the books on my list. Each book has a cover photo, with a colored border. A red border means the book is out of print, a blue border means, not only that the book is in print, but you can click on the cover and go to a page where you can buy the book.
Finally, I welcome other book recommendations. Feel free to review other books in the comments below, and if I agree with you, I’ll add them to the list.
