Julie wrote: "Jen wrote: "The Book that I seem to reach for over and over again is The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. I have made so many items using the "recipes" from this book."
..."

I have this book and must admit that I have not spent much time with it. I really need to explore it more. Thank you both for the reminder!

Jen wrote: "The Book that I seem to reach for over and over again is The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. I have made so many items using the "recipes" from this book."

Me too! It's so good. I just made a pair of her cable rib baby socks (from Knitting Daily and perhaps published elsewhere). Ann Budd just has a knack for writing good, easy-to-understand and appealing patterns. Julie

The Book that I seem to reach for over and over again is The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. I have made so many items using the "recipes" from this book.

Itty-Bitty Hats by susan b. anderson. i now look for babies so that I may knit them a hat from this book.

new current fave has got to be NORWEGIAN HANDKNITS, by Flanders & Kosel

I love Scarf Style too and have made several of the patterns in that book. A keeper for sure.

My current fave is Victorian Lace Today. I'm currently working on my 4th shawl from that book. I think I've gotten my money's worth!

My new favorite knitting book is Fitted Knits. I am currently working on two of the sweaters and just love the patterns. I am also learning to adjust patterns so the sweaters fit perfectly...

I really like the second 1-skein wonder book (101 Designer One-Skein Wonders) which I got earlier this year, and has some great patterns in it. I'm knitting the Sock It To Me Scarf from it now, actually. (It's a scarf knit from striping sock yarn - I love sock yarn, but don't knit socks, so was excited to see this pattern.)

I've been knitting about three years, and have six bags of knitting stash (I have other stash, too, but I've been doing embroidery, cross stitch, and needlepoint since about 1980.)

World of Knitted Toys is categorized by difficulty level, from easy (a snake) to difficult (elephant, I think).

Hi all, I'm new here. Been knitting for almost a year now, and absolutely love it! Very few things in this world are more relaxing than popping in a good movie and picking up the latest knitting project.

One thing as good ... reading! I learned to knit out of Stitch 'N Bitch The Knitter's Handbook, but am perusing this for more ideas of books to read. In particular, I'm looking for some good pattern books with an ability scale of projects (like, easy to advanced.)

Any ideas?

World of Knitted Toys is utterly charming - I got it two Christmases ago as a gift from my father. Great way to help bust a stash, too!

I love A Gathering of Lace, too, as well as One-Skein Wonders and the Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Knitting Book book is, I agree, the best reference.

I have a short attention span so I like small projects but I hate knitting socks. I've found many items I love in One Skein 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet, 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, and Luxury One-Skein Wonders. I love the Stitch 'n Bitch books, too.

Two other lace books I loved are Lacy Little Knits Clingy, Soft & A Little Risque and Victorian Lace Today. My favorite baby knits book is Knitting for Baby 30 Heirloom Projects with Complete How-to-Knit Instructions and I also love Designs for Kids Hand Knits and Things mostly because of the adorable dog-themed items. On that note, my favorite dog sweater book is Dogs in Knits 17 Projects for Our Best Friends.

On my wishlist is Ocean Breezes Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea in which I love almost every item. And lastly, I just got World of Knitted Toys which is chock full of adorable patterns.

My favorite reference is The Vogue Knitting Book. I have a copy of the previous edition, it has the best left handed illustrations I have found.

I also like Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch and The Purl Stitch. Great basic patterns and instructions that go beyond scarves. I particularly like her advice on how to make your knitting look less homemade.

I am a collector of sock and lace knitting books. My current favorite sock knitting book is Janet Rehfelt's Toe-Up Techniquest for Hand-Knit Socks.

My old standby is Complete Guide to Needlework from Reader's Digest Editors; I have an 8th edition copy from 1983 (hairstyles of models betray this ;-) ) which I *inherited* from my mother "weeding" her bookshelves. This is a very handy reference to have for MANY types of needlework (and I can do many of them); it has better charts than other guides, and gives you both left-handed and right-handed options. I also like my The Harmony guide to Knitting Stitches Volume 1, which I picked up at the library used book store some years ago for a few dollars; it's a good stich pattern "dictionary," though the pattern is written in slightly different notation than American knitting patterns (e.g., "yf" for "yarn forward" means the same as "yo" for "yarn over"). I generally prefer to create patterns from scratch, or modify very basic patterns, so I don't lean toward books; being fairly well broke probably influences this. It's hard not to have a really great book store or craft store with good books nearby. I'd never buy a knitting book sight-unseen, and since there is not much of a selection available very locally it would be hard to know where to even begin for what would be good (especially since so many of the books call for much fancier yarn than I ever use...not a yarn snob here).

I love Vogue Knitting. I practically learnt everything about knitting from this when I returned to to this fiber art. I also admire Stitchionary series & almost all of Nicky Epstein's.

One-Skein Wonders - it has some neat ideas for those odd lots of wool that seem to accumulate in your stash.

I've made a mohair shawl out of it, and am contemplating casting on a baby hat I found in it, which is just adorable.

I absolutely LOVE Scarf Style Innovative to Traditional, 31 Inspirational Styles to Knit and Crochet The scarfs are so beautiful. I've made a couple of them and they are true eye catchers.

My favorites are "Inspired to Knit" by Michele Rose Orne (mostly for the cabled dream of a sweater on the cover!) and "Knitting on Top of the World" by Nicky Epstein...every time I see either of these books I have to stop and flip through them! Nicky's book is amazing to read; she includes some really interesting histories of knitting from around the world. The chapter on Middle Eastern/Islamic knitting is of special interest to me.

Does anyone have a favorite (non-fiction) knitting book? Do you have a particular book that inspires you to pick up the needles? Where do you find patterns?

I have Nicky Epsteins 'Knits for Barbie' and that book is so much fun to read! Makes me wish I was at the photography sessions. I have completed several of the projects for my step-granddaughter.

Also, I recently borrowed from the library 'A Gathering of Lace' and I'm thinking I need a copy of my own!