I know I am late to the party on this one. Heck, I know I even filmed a first look video… but did I ever upload it? Who knows.

Since this book arrived, I have built and moved house, been through lockdown and covid restrictions, suffered writers block and various anxiety breakdowns, changes in career, change in car, change in hobbies… you name it. The book arrived in February of 2018… so this is a long overdue blog post.

However, it was a spendy book, and 2 years should be enough to make an accurate report on what I think about it.

Initially I was excited about this book. It was full of hype, and the previous edition had sold a lot. Also, I am not a fan of “patterns” as I tend to find they don’t fit right for me… so I end up changing them all anyway. Which I do suppose a lot of us do.

Then I was a little disappointed. While it covers pretty much everything, it does so in a really superficial way. This was frustrating when I just wanted a deep dive into something very specific.

But, I have come to realise over the last year, that I keep returning to the book. Sometimes it is just to figure out which way I want a decrease to lie, sometimes just for a reminder on an alternative bind off technique… and sometimes just to go over yarn descriptions. Because of the pandemic, we are all doing a lot more shopping online, and having an expert on the shelf when making decisions about yarn is quite handy.

I have used the centre out method as described in the book – which I found to be clearer than a number of video tutorials online, which surprised me somewhat.

After 2 1/2 years with this book, I know how to use it. Keeping it within arms reach as a reference, and flipping through it when searching for inspiration. It shouldn’t be used as a stitch dictionary – but almost more like treating it as a how-to of a stitch dictionary. This book alongside a comprehensive stitch dictionary opens up a world of possibilities to create new and original things.