little acorn creations

Book Reviews: Essential Crochet (two volumes)

When I was at the library the other day, two new crochet stitch dictionaries by Melissa Leapman caught my eye. Two small books with big titles, Essential Crochet: Starter stitches : portable stitch companion : solids, shells & fans, openwork & lace, and simple edgings and Essential Crochet: Next-level stitches : portable stitch companion : textures, colorwork, and fancy edgings. They’re small in stature and I believe essential additions for your bookshelf. I will add them to mine.

I’m reviewing both titles together. I personally find the terms starter and next level less particularly helpful for a stitch dictionary. Both expect the crocheter to know how to crochet, I’m not sure what other terms I’d use. My belief is that they are both valuable to crocheters of every level, and those with less experience may have their skills expanded!

The groupings of stitches for each book are thoughtful, depending on the project I could see preferring stitches found in one volume over the other. That could make them even lighter additions to your project bag that day.

The titles explain what’s inside each slender volume. The sections in the first volume cover solid (not open) stitches, shells and fans, openwork and lace, and simple edgings. The second volume explores more textures (including post stitches), colorwork, and more edgings. After covering some brief basics and to my surprise offering advice on adjusting stitches when shaping, the two books follow a similar lay out. Each section’s swatches have a color family chosen for them. This allows one to compare similar stitches while still highlighting differences.

The pages are laid out similarly, while most pages have two stitches in a few cases it is one per page. Despite the small size of the book, this does not feel cramped. The stitch is named, and a prominent icon will show if it is a reversible stitch. Underneath is a photo of the swatch. Following is a stitch diagram and written instructions.

I really liked how some stitches were laid out allowing a comparison of variations on a theme. Let’s look at this spread of pages 20-21:

This comes from the first volume, Starter Stitches. On this page spread I can see subtle differences here between 4 reversible stitches that alternate dc and sc (or a yo). They layout helps me to see which stitches I could easily swap in place of another and what they look like. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you; I edited the image to distort some of the text.

Both volumes include several edgings, something that is difficult to photograph well and I think it’s been done well.

Finally, there’s some useful information, a chart of American vs UK crochet terms, line drawings to show techniques (including reverse sc which I must look up how to do every time ), and a detailed index.

Yes, they are small books; the title says it all – portable. Yes, they are simple books, not crammed full of every tip, trick, and stitch – they’re a companion not a teacher. Yes, I will add both to my bookshelf. Essential Crochet are the sort of crochet books that I wish existed a long time ago and am delighted to see now. They help to elevate crochet from one that’s often … scorned as a lesser life form … to a fiber art that modern crocheters can be excited by.