The New Knitting Stitch Dictionary: 500 Patterns for Textures, Lace, Aran Cables, Colorwork, Motifs, Edgings and More

by Lydia Klos

Inspiration at your fingertips! Within the pages of The New Knitting Stitch Dictionary you will find not only 500 innovative knitting stitch patterns, but dozens of ideas popping through your mind. Cables may inspire designs for sweaters or blankets, cozy textures for scarves, colorwork for hats, mittens, and more. You will turn to this book again and again for fresh ideas! The stitches are divided into sections by type of stitch to make it easy to find what you want: texture, lace, cables, Aran cables, flower and leaf patterns, bobbles, lifted stitches, Fair Isle, intarsia, borders, and more. Instructions for each stitch are charted so that you can easily visualize the pattern and use it in your own design. You will find this stitch dictionary to be an invaluable reference on your knitting bookshelf.

Genres: Knitting, Adult, Crafts

336 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Knitting Stitch Dictionary by Lydia Kilos has 500 patterns with great pictures of the sample. This isn’t for beginners even though the book does have knitting basics near the end. It’s a great resource and I found it useful and helpful. If you’re looking for a good resource then I highly suggest it.
Thanks Globe Pequot via NetGalley.

[Sabrina Fair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my last knitting book. I'm quitting knitting. It's an addiction at this point!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The New Knitting Stitch Dictionary is a compendium and technique pattern guide for knitting stitches compiled and curated by Lydia Klös. Released 2nd June 2023 by Globe Pequot on their Stackpole imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a no-nonsense collection of precisely what it says: stitches to use in creating, enhancing, or adapting knitting projects. The patterns are grouped thematically in chapters: knit-purl, cable, Aran, lace & cable, lace, slipped-stitch, nupps (bobbles/popcorn), brioche, edgings, stranded colorwork & intarsia, special techniques, a how-to knitting tutorial on the basics, pattern adaptation to finished object, some DIY charts, and a very useful index.

There are a lot of patterns here (not for actual projects, but for stitches and surface patterns), and it would be a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, gift giving, and the knitter's home reference library. The photography is clear, detailed, and in color throughout the book.

Four and a half stars. Very useful. The chapter on beginning basics of knitting is quite simple, but well written and accessible. For readers who are true beginners, I would recommend having a teacher/guide in addition, or videos on the internet *in addition*... but it does provide enough info to get started. The following chapter contains a lot of good info on finishing, blocking, and surface techniques such as duplicate stitch, though again, additional instruction might be needed.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Bobbie Kirkland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of THE NEW KNITTING STITCH DICTIONARY (500 Patterns for Textures, Lace, Aran Cables, Colorwork, Motifs, Edgings and More) by Lydia Klos, in exchange for an honest review. As titled, this is a stitchionary for knitters. The positive is that this appears to be a fairly comprehensive collection of knitting stitches. The not so positive is 1) this appears to be a translation from a German work & some of the passages have not been translated into English; 2) there are no charts; and 3) the stitch notations are confusing and more than a little unusual and unwieldy. For example, instead of using K for knit and P for purl, the writer uses j and f. The writer does use k as a stitch indicator, but it means ktbl. Instead of telling you to K6, the work will use jjjjjj. Sequences of certain numbers of squares will signify specific stitches, but the pattern will have a line of nothing but boxes. I believe this work still needs some serious editing and further translation for the English reading audiences.

#TheNewKnittingStitchDictionary #NetGalley

[Quickbeam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a lifelong knitter but am always eager to discover new stitch patterns. Please be aware that the patterns in this book are *charted only*. The keys and descriptions are very good but you must like or be willing to work with charts. The line by line directions are not written out.

There is a lot to love here….great photos, comprehensive range of stitches, easy to read font. The samples are well knitted and blocked so that you can see clearly the outcome. Nice section on color work which is my weak point in the craft. My favorite section is the nupps which I’ll be using a lot.

The best part of this dictionary is that I can use it as a jumping off point for my own designs. A wonderful addition to my knitting library.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is tough to critique.

The pictures are super-helpful, and the stitches themselves are fantastic.

I have just about every stitch-ionary out there, and this one still managed to show me something new.

FIVE HUNDRED somethings new.

The issue was the eBook format.

There were bits that hadn’t yet been translated from German, there were not charts, and the instructions weren’t super-user friendly.

For instance, instead of the letters, K and P for knit and purl, J and F were used. If the pattern required you to knit six, instead of K6, it would say JJJJJJ.

I get that all of this will likely be fixed before publication, but it really made this review difficult.

Contents 8/10
Delivery 3/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Globe Pequot for this ARC.

[Ag · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are knitting stitch patterns for various knitting skill levels and suitable for various projects. There are basic knit and purl combinations, there are cables, there is colorwork, and there is brioche. There are edgings and there are motifs. As a bonus, there are some knitting instructions and tutorials at the end.
A knitter and knitting pattern designer myself, I find this book to be very beautiful and well made, and definitely a very useful one. If you have a knitting project in mind but are undecided on details and what special personal touches to add, this is a great reference and inspiration. Definitely, something I will be recommending to other knitters.

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need some new knitting inspiration??

Just flipping through The New Knitting Stitch Dictionary gets my creative juices going. I can imagine so many beautiful sweaters I can make out of so many knitting stitch patterns! This book is gorgeous and well-thought out, with different sections for cables, lace, cables, color work, motifs, edging, and so much more. The instructions are clear and concise, and there’s BEAUTIFUL color photos to accompany each pattern or stitch.

I am so happy to include this book in my knitting books collection. It really is a must have! A big thanks to Roman & Littlefield for sending me a review copy.

[crafty.jenn.reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been knitting since I was a young girl and I am always on the lookout for new stitch patterns to add to my own designs. This books contains a variety of 500 patterns from beginner to advanced. There are beautiful pictures, and clear charted instructions for many stitch combinations, including Aran cables, color work and edgings! However, you must know how to read a chart as the instructions are not written out.
If you are a knitter, I highly recommend picking up this book when it’s released in June.
It’s going to be a great addition to my knitting library.

[Elspeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of knitting stitch patterns. It includes the regular stitches: cables, lace, brioche, intarsia, aran. I was impressed that this also included some nonstandard uses of knitting stitch patterns - for example using intarsia patterns to add beads to knitting. Every knitter's library needs a good knitting stitch pattern book and this one can fit the bill.

[Aimee Leonhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nicely organized with clear color photographs. All of the patterns are charted rather than written. This is not a problem for the simpler designs but it looks pretty intimidating in the section on brioche. I particularly like the sections on leaves and flowers and the one on edgings.

[Susan Underbrink · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thank you to NetGalley and Globe Pequot/Stackpole Books for the eARC. I enjoyed this book! I felt the descriptions were a little odd-but everything is defined. 4 stars

[Tam G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've browsed a lot of stitch dictionaries. I was impressed with how well organized and curated this one is.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really happy to get to review a knitting how-to book. I love designing patterns and tweaking patterns I get from other sources. THE NEW KNITTING STITCH DICTIONARY by Lydia Klös. It features 500 patterns for textures, lace, Aran cables, color work, motifs, edgings, and more.

I found many patterns I want to incorporate on future projects and this book will be a great resource to have on hand when I’m looking for inspiration. 5 stars!

Thanks NetGalley, Globe Pequot, and Stackpole books for the opportunity to rate and review this wonderful book. I love it!