Interweave Press has struck gold again with their latest offering of crochet publications. Yesterday, in the mail I received ‘The Harmony Guides 101 Stitches to Crocheet’ Card Deck. My initial impression was positive, but I was rushing to get to my monthly crochet club meeting, so I tucked the nifty little box into my crochet bag to share with my crochet buds.
During Show n ‘Tell at the meeting, I pulled out the new ‘toy’ and passed it around. Everyone had the same positive reaction I had! Now, you, like most crocheters, already own a basic guide to crochet stitches. They are not hard to find. There are also plenty of good sites online that demonstrate crochet stitches and motifs. If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know I’ve reviewed several of them, including other Harmony Guides. So, what makes this one different…maybe even special?
First is the size and box. The box is a tad smaller than 5X7X2 inches and is that eggshell, peanut butter-proof finish. It’s purple and does not show well in photographs. Never mind that. The size makes it easy to tuck into your crochet bag for easy reference.
Next, each stitch or motif is printed on really sturdy card stock. The pictures are clear and appealing. The diagrams and instructions are clear and concise – just what we’ve come to expect from Interweave. My idea – and this was echoed by the others at my crochet club meeting – is that it would be really easy to pull out several cards to carry around to practice stitches or motifs. I hate having to balance an entire book or pages of computer print outs when I’m trying to learn a new stitch. Don’t you? These cards eliminate that. No bulk. No mess.
The first half of the box contains cards that cover all the basic and intermediate crochet stitches. There is a small, eight-sided fold out in the front of the box that shows hook sizes and diameters, covers beginner basics of sc, dc, etc., and contains a handy reference for starting chains and abbreviations. This fold out alone is a great tool for a rank beginner.
After the first 62 cards (each containing a stitch pattern with picture on the front and diagram and instructions on the back) there are 38 cards each containing a single motif (a flower, a star, a wheel, etc). The final card in the deck contains an index to all the cards and a key to all the diagrams. The cards are all color coded – Basic Stitches and Basic Motifs.
You are unlikely to find another reference that is handier, more concise, more user-friendly, or more thorough. The thing is also just too cute! Put this one on your Holiday or Birthday Wish List. And, why not clip a HL or Michael’s Coupon next to this item on your Wish List??
Specs for this article:
101 Stitches to Crochet edited by Erika Knight
ISBN 9781596681019
List Price is $19.95 (available October, 2008)
