Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns

Rating:
Summary: Very Unique
Review: Dover did all of us a huge favor making this and Mary Thomas's Knitting Book available for such reasonable cost. I can't say enough good about this book and its companion. I would guess that I pull this book off the shelf every couple of weeks to look up something and I always find it. Originally published in the '30's it obviously isn't very helpful for "today's yarns" but if you want to develop your skill in knitting, this is a must-have.

Rating:
Summary: Politically Incorrect, but Usable
Review: Here's how a sentence in one of the chapters begins: "The name Faggot Stitch immediately suggests the dainty embroidery used for fancy seaming on dresses, lingerie, etc..." Statements like this and the sometimes cute, sometimes tasteless accompanying graphics diminish the appeal for me. On the plus side, this book is an experimenter's dream, and a person could go wild just making samplers from all the patterns, which range from easy to complex.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Collection of Stitches
Review: I am so glad to find a reprint of this book. I inherited one of the 1930 ones from my grandmother, and have used it for the last 40 years. Now that it's coming apart, I'm so glad to find a replacement. This is a wonderful encyclopedia of stitches, and I have found its clear instructions a wonderful resource for designing my own knitted afghans...

Rating:
Summary: Very Unique
Review: I never ever thought of adjusting commercial stitch pattern to adjust the size of projects, or I never ever dreamed of creating my own, until I met this book. Creating pattern stitches was a mystery to me for long time, but this book trained me to have a far better command of dealing with pattern stitches. I have never found any other book which is like this one. The book shows you all most all the kind of possible "core" techniques, and how they are used solely, or how they could be combined together to creat more complex design. And it shows how the pattern grow and develop from simple to complex. Ant it also explains what alterative ways are possible. The possiblitiy of creating new ones are just infinite. It just the matter of clever combinations of technique in scientific order. It has been nearly 70 years since the book was first written, there are no other books which try to further develop Ms. Thomas's idea, even Ms. B. Walker is not as scientific as. This is like the first so excellent book for piano practicing that you would have so much better understanding when trying other piano lesson books. Lastly, the price is so good. It has so much more value than its price.

Rating:
Summary: Queen of the Knitting Books
Review: This is a really great knitting book. If you could only bring one knitting book with you to a deserted island, this one would be it. I think it was originally published in the 1940's, or perhaps it was earlier in the 30's, but its contents are still contemporary to this very modern day. Mary Thomas explains in a very clear and easy-to-follow way all different types knitting patterns that can be used for different results, as well as different ways to change the patterns to suit your needs (ie. different needle sizes, etc.) A portion of the book covers garment construction, providing a good foundation for those who would like to venture off and design a garment of one's very own. I was surprised to even find a section on seamless knitting for sweaters that I had thought was originally a certain reputed knitter's idea and which this book outdates... I guess a good idea will never die, only to be passed down to the next generation... There are also some good sections on shaping and an amazing section providing different ideas on finishing touches for the final product.

I highly recommend this book. Not only will it be an inspiration, but it will prove to be an excellent resource of information that I find myself reaching for often.

Rating:
Summary: Gotta love a Dover book
Review: types of stitch reference books for the projects they inspire. When I'm bored and want something to knit (or crochet) but don't have anything in mind I turn to stitch guides and make swatches. With a little effort and imagination these swatches can turn into a scarf, lap blanket, the sky's the limit.

To correct the reviewer, imgeorg, who cried 'politically correct'; fagoting, or faggoting is a type of open-work embroidery that was used in lace collars, cuffs, etc. Mary Thomas was certainly not making an insinuation of the sort imgeorg referrs to as, assuming she was even familiar with the term, to a woman of her generation that would have been unthinkably unladylike.