Book Review–The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet 
by Margaret Hubert


The title of this book is no misnomer! Wow, Margaret Hubert has done a great job giving us a reference book that crocheters of any level can appreciate. With lots of beautiful pictures and clear explanations, she covers everything from the first basics to advanced techniques such as broomstick lace, hairpin lace, and a few I had never heard of. There is even a section on Tunisian crochet. She covers details like seaming, blocking, and other finishing techniques. There are patterns interspersed throughout the book that provide practice in the stitches and concepts just illustrated. The front of the book even has some interesting articles about the origins of crochet.

Like a dictionary, this book is a great place to start, but for deeper learning you'll need to supplement with other books. As an example, the Tunisian crochet section is great for just learning the basics and a few stitch patterns, but to really get good at it you'll want to invest in something that goes deeper and provides more thorough instruction. The same is true of finishing details like sewing on buttons or linings; you'll need an additional source to really get to the bottom of things like that. If you are new to yarn, this book doesn't go into the different types or talk about weights and fibers. Personally I would have appreciated a whole section just on yarn and how to choose, but there are plenty of other resources out there for that; no one book is going to cover EVERYTHING.

So, this book is definitely worth the $25 it costs. There are wonderful tidbits in it that I've never seen before in other dictionaries or beginning books, and the fabulously clear pictures make understanding each new concept very easy. Add it to your library!

Passing it on

The other day my three-year-old daughter asked me to help her crochet something. Of course she has seen me do it constantly for all of her young life, and has often wanted to play with my hooks and play with my yarn (kitten-like), but has never asked to make something. So I took her in my lap, gave her a large hook, held the yarn myself, and showed her very slowly how to make the hook go around the yarn and through the loop. She grasped the concept right away and we made a necklace of chains, with her doing the hook work very nearly all by herself. She was SO proud, but I think I was prouder. :)