Edgings (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary) [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

If you already own the previous five volumes in the STITCHIONARY series, you will probably want to purchase VOGUE KNITTING STITCHIONARY VOLUME SIX: EDGINGS to keep your set current and complete. However, VOLUME SIX, like the others, is nothing more than a somewhat unwieldy coffee-table-book collection of "more than 200" edging patterns "taken from the pages of Vogue Knitting magazine."

The patterns are organized into seven general categories: ribs, texture, cables, lace, color, unusual, and crochet. In each category, the edgings are arranged in order from the easiest to the most difficult. Instructions in the ribs, texture, unusual, and crochet categories are written-out (row-by-row); instructions in the cables, lace, and color categories are both written-out and charted.

Nearly all of the edging patterns are for decorative hems, knit vertically. A few patterns are for horizontally knit edgings with stitches picked up from the long edge after knitting. There is no instructional material on (1) attaching edgings to projects; (2) selecting appropriate patterns for different kinds of projects; or (3) understanding or using the charts and written-out instructions. There is one page of instructions for yarnovers (illustrated with line drawings), apparently taken from the publisher's excellent reference book, VOGUE KNITTING. There is also a short glossary of knitting terms used in the book.

For each edging pattern, there is a beautiful, enlarged, color photo of a swatch knitted in the pattern. The selection of patterns is somewhat random, because VK magazine is the only pattern source, but there are many quite beautiful edgings included. The perfect edging can change an ordinary shawl, scarf, or sweater into something extraordinary--and for that reason, you can never have too many collections of edging patterns. However, because of the lack of instructional material, and the lack of horizontal edging patterns, I rate this book at only 4 stars.

Other sources of edging patterns that I highly recommend include: Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots (the first of Nicky Epstein's three excellent collections of edgings); 150 Knitted Trims: Designs for Beautiful Decorative Edgings, from Beaded Braids to Cables, Bobbles, and Fringes (an inexpensive but limited paperback collection); The Complete Book of Crochet Border Designs: Hundreds of Classic & Original Patterns (a wonderful sourcebook); The Beaded Edge: Inspired Designs for Crocheted Edgings and Trims (delicate beaded edgings for silk scarves), and The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches (an excellent stitch dictionary with a few basic edgings). Knitters shouldn't shy away from crocheted edgings, because they're easy to do, and often give the prettiest results.

(Full disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Sixth and Spring to review on my blog.)

As the name suggests, this book is entirely focused on edgings, borders, and trims. The book starts out with a Foreword and then a short section called How to Use this Book. This section (which is the one I would have overlooked if I was just reading the book, instead of reviewing it) explains that stitches in each chapter are arranged in order of difficulty and also indicates which yarn and needle (or hook) sizes were used for each chapter.
The stitches are organized into seven chapters: Ribs, Texture, Cables, Lace, Color, Unusual, and Crochet. The book ends with Abbreviations, a key to the pattern abbreviation terms which includes a US/UK conversion chart for the crochet terminology; Yarn Overs, an illustrated guide to forming different types of yarn overs; and Glossary, which explains pattern essentials like "rep from *, end..." and "stockinette stitch." Like all Sixth and Spring books (at least, all the ones that I have seen), the book is beautifully presented with great colors and photography.

What I like about this book
Each stitch includes a large swatch which is clearly photographed. Each chapter uses one color of yarn for all of the swatches (except, obviously, the Color chapter), so there is a uniform appearance which makes comparison between similar stitches easier. The book's color palette is in the purple family (my favorite).

Almost all of the swatches include rows of stockinette stitch. This allows you to see how the edging impacts the knit fabric - does it lay flat, ruffle, pull together, fan out, etc. While this makes for a bit of an uneven appearance to the book (because the swatches don't look "neat" and squared), it is practically helpful when you are choosing the type of edging you'd like for your finished project.

When stitch symbols are used, the key appears on the same page as the pattern, so you don't need to flip to the back of the book.

The book is well organized (by stitch type, and then by difficulty level through each chapter), so it would be easy to find a stitch you like later.

The book is really lovely to look at - I found myself itching to pick up the needles and get started with edgings. In particular, the edgings in the Color, Cables, and Crochet chapters had me very excited.

The book is hardcover, which allows it to lay flat while you are knitting and reading.

The hardcover binding will make sure this book lasts through all of the abuse a good stitch guide will get.

What I don't like (or what's missing)
I guess I've been spoiled by the old school crochet stitch guides (e.g., the Harmony guides) which dominate my collection, so I've come to expect that a stitch guide will include some basic information for a newbie like illustrations of how to form basic stitches. This book doesn't have any of that, except for in the one page Yarn Overs section. So you should already know the basics (including basic crochet stitches) to get the most out of this book.

The patterns with special stitches can be a bit confusing in how they are presented on the page. The special stitches are explained at the beginning of each stitch pattern. Then the stitch pattern begins. When the stitch pattern is long, or when the swatch photograph is large, there is no vertical space between the description of the special stitches and the start of the pattern. This is the type of thing which often confuses people who are relatively inexperienced at pattern reading.

It isn't always clear from the description how the edging attaches to the rest of the piece. On some stitches, you will be instructed that "Sts for st st were picked up after edging was knit." The "default option" is presumably to
knit the edging after the pieces is finished, but that isn't actually indicated.

Similarly, there are no instructions in the Color chapter about how to work these combinations. It would be left up to the knitter to know how to make color changes.

There are many stitches which only use pattern abbreviation, without symbol charts. (Note that all of the stitches in the Cable and Lace chapters include symbol charts.)

Summary:
This book would be a wonderful addition to the library of any knitter who has already mastered the basics. A beautiful edging can really transform a project. While the book may seem limited because it only includes edgings, in reality the majority of these stitches could be used for a project as well. The book is well organized and lovely to look through. On the other hand, if you love symbol charts, you will wish there were more in the book. If you are a relative newbie, you may want to hold off on buying this until you feel more comfortable with pattern reading (or be prepared to jump onto YouTube or Ravelry with questions). I would give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars (and 5 stars if you are an experienced knitter who doesn't mind the lack of charts).

Love this Vogue Sitchionary book as much as the rest. You can not go wrong buying a Vogue Stitchionary book.