The best Crafts & Hobbies Reference books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I strongly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Joy-Homebrewing-Fourth-Revised/dp/0062215752/ Charlie is considered by many to be the father of home brewing. This book has so much great information in it. I can't recommend it enough.

The various weights of yarn like fingering, Aran, double knitting, and so forth are always ranges of sizes, and not, I think especially useful for most knitters. What you really need to know is the recommended needle size, which most manufacturers helpfully provide: in this case, it's a 3.5mm needle. If you're a loose knitter, use a 3 or 3.25. If you're a tight knitter, use a 4.

An extremely useful guide for most all knitters is Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns. You make up a gauge swatch and calculate the number of stitches per inch; figure out what size you want the garment to be; and then follow the chosen pattern, getting appropriate numbers of stitches from a series of inline tables as you go. (Take a look inside the book at that link and you'll see what I'm talking about.) Once you know what you're doing, it's perfectly sensible and intuitive, and will not steer you wrong. It's basically all the patterns for all the garments, ever, and worth every cent.

Have you read any homebrew books? The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian and How to Brew by John Palmer are in most homebrewer's collection and excellent starting points. Charlie's book is a nice relaxed approach to homebrewing. John Palmer's is also easy to read but more packed with knowledge.

I recommend starting simple by purchasing beer recipe kits or using pre-made recipes on the net. You don't need to worry about formulating your own recipe until you're ready to tinker.

Very cute! Added to my liked patterns. There are seamed patterns out there, I'm exaggerating a little, but they're definitely far, far outnumbered by circular sweaters.
This is why I design my own patterns a lot of the time. The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns is really, well, handy for this, since it breaks a lot of the math down for you based on gauge. If you want a design feature like a puffed sleeve or something you have to futz with it, but it's a good starting point.

Pick up a book on woodworking and read it. That will put you ahead of a lot of people. Something like this that will explain wood, joints, and methods with lots of pictures. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Manual-Woodworking-Detailed-Techniques/dp/0679766111/ref=zg_bs_5189_10?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9XPK3HVHBQKJ74K4DRRH

Youtube, but hand stitching should give neater results (apart from for top stitching maybe). You also have a lot more options available when hand stitching than on a machine.

This is a good book to learn better hand sewing

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Couture-Sewing-Techniques-Revised-Updated/dp/1600853358

I went googling and geeked out (and may have also squee'd) when I saw these.

Star Wars Crochet

creepy and cute

Also check out the Edwards Menagerie and Crochet ever after in Amazon.

I bought The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns on a whim, and now I've got the sweater one and the top down sweater one too. I love them so much. I'm tall so I was constantly having to adjust patterns and it was driving me mad, paying £5+ for a pretty cardigan pattern then having to re-write most of it to make it fit! Now I don't bother, I make my own patterns to fit me properly.

I used the Star Wars kits myself but Ravelry has a ton... otherwise Star Wars Crochet (Crochet Kits) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626863261/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ArtRBbZPV2B7C

But you can get it around 15 with some looking

Joy of Homebrewing. It's not the most 'up to date' but it's usually at your local library for absolutely free and is a great starting point. Provides the fundamentals. : http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Homebrewing-Third-Edition/dp/0060531053

https://www.amazon.com/How-Diagnose-Everything-Electronic-Second/dp/0071848290/

YouTube: bigclivedotcom, Learn Electronics Repair, DiodeGoneWild, TronicsFix, Adamant IT, Sorin Electronics, Electronics Repair School

I’m going to try the raglan from The Knitters Handy Book of Sweaters for the first time. The book might be worth a look from your local library. I also have a copy of Knitter's Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges but it’s a more complicated method, but worth a look if you can check it out of the library.

Your sweater looks very nice and fits well, but if you want to have it go easier next time, try The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges. I’ve knitted hats, mittens, and gloves using a different book in the series, but I’m referencing that one for my next cardigan, the first of my own design, mostly because I can’t find the right free pattern for my latest Ice Yarns bargain.

I basically just went cover to cover through a book called the Crochet Stitch Dictionary. Took about a year.

If anyone wants a closeup of any square/pattern, lmk and I can take a pic! 😊

I agree with the other comment that the book is awesome but no need to make a video just for the sake of clicks.

TLDR, here the book

None specified, just the size of the finished sock. I am using the sock pattern in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and making it 12 inches/30 cm to be a long boot sock.

I know one to avoid though: Don't use a tube sock pattern for soldiers. The Red Cross tried that in WWII and the fellas much preferred socks with real heels.

The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges is one I use regularly.

I just looked at the pattern again and realized that row gauge is important. If you follow it as written without adding rows, it with be too short. I suggest you might want to buy a nice used copy of The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges. You can make sweaters in different sizes and gauges.

There’s a short row beanie hat knit from crown to brim just in garter stitch I make over and over that I used to have a pattern for but now I just kind of go by eye/memory. Might have been this one and over time I stopped bothering with the cable in favor of speed or customization https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/braid-edged-cap

I also use this book https://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Handy-Book-Patterns/dp/1931499047 for mittens and gloves especially. It’s the math already done for any size and any yarn weight for just a basic pattern. And then I’ll add any stitch patterns or colorwork or whatever that I want.

Also been meaning to make another Capucine. It’s terribly comfortable.

It's basically the height and width of a knit stitch and the height and width of the intended garment. The former depends on yarn, needles, knitter and even knitter's mood. Looking at a pattern that has a good schematic will help with the latter.

Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book Of Sweater Pattern: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges may give you some answers if you can borrow it from a library (or buy it). She has tables of measurements.

I don’t have a list, but when I was learning I got the Crochet Stitch Dictionary by Sarah Hazell and it was tremendously helpful! It has photos, written instructions, and charts of a ton of stitches of varying difficultly! I still flip through it when I can’t choose a stitch for a project. It starts with the basics like chain, single, half double, etc, so it helps when you’re just starting (or getting back into)

Here’s a link to it on Amazon Canada. I’m not sure of its availability outside of Canada, sorry!

Good luck! I’m sure your mother will love whatever you make! Wishing her a speedy recovery!

Sarah's dress fits that way, because it is an extremely structured dress. It is heavily boned, and likely she's wearing an additional structured garment underneath it that sleeve stays are tucked into. If you can't let the dress out enough to add boning and a waist stay, your other option would be an underbust stay--or attaching a strapless bra-- you would anchor a piece of elastic in the middle of your underbust, through basically belt loops all the way around your underbust, and add a hook and eye closure to the back. From there you can add small rods of boning to the under arm to tuck into your undergarment to keep them in place or adding basically a harness of ribbon or elastic across the back from the end point of the sleeve ending at the opposite side waist/hip seam, on both sides.

You might find Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire B. Shaeffer to be very helpful. She has detailed instructions on how to add all kinds of shape-perfecting stays.

Negative ease just means "a little bit smaller than the desired size", so if your hand was seven and a half inches around, you could work a glove to be seven and a quarter inches around so it's snug. There's a reason that "fits like a glove" is an expression.

Since you know how to make a nice pair of socks, try a pair of mittens some day: they're no more difficult, and I would say they're easier. Once you know how to make a thumb, you're ready for gloves, which really are just mittens with five thumbs. Check out Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, which makes it easy to knit any garment in any size with almost any yarn: it's how I learned to make gloves.

Buy one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Crochet-Stitch-Dictionary-Step-Step/dp/1620331292/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SUBB7Y5X89G0&keywords=crochet+stitch+dictionary&qid=1646091812&sprefix=crochet+stitch+dictiona%2Caps%2C532&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1931499438/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_JQ61WXVDDDCYYGFR9SJE?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Ann Budd's book - Knitter's handy book of sweater patterns! It does provide some patterns, but it primarily talks about design and how the patterns work. (She has a similar book for top-down sweaters, if you like those better!)

So Ann Budd had/has a book of standard patterns and it’s laid out so you use a formula driven chart to create any size from any (okay many ) gauges …

The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns https://www.amazon.com/dp/1931499047/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_BW0QQB02RSTRVTB3CTFJ

Or, using ravelry’s advanced search features you can look up baby sweaters and filter by the needle size or rough weight of the combined strands… (you can do a WPI, (wraps per inch ) test holding the two strands together

I searched sweater and filtered by “knitting” “picture” “all sweaters” “baby” and then Aran and Bulky weight yarn

Here’s just one hit https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/quick-oats of the 435 patterns those terms returned…

Happy hunting!!

I'm going to second swatching it. The pattern should have a schematic of the blocked sweater so you can do some Fancy Math™ to figure out how many stitches you need to have for the size you're looking for. The armhole decreases on the sleeves and the body will need reworking as well, but you could probably use a resource like The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns to help you with your calculations.

I found this book helpful way back when I had the bandwidth to think about construction outside patterns The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns https://www.amazon.com/dp/1931499438/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_P7GYMFYHQ6H53P49FJP4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I would recommend starting with a basic stitch book like this one: Crochet Stitch Dictionary: 200 Essential Stitches with Step-by-Step Photos https://www.amazon.com/dp/1620331292/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_2TJN0ZHEJ0PWEYH4WJ1Q

Don't get her a "beginners kit" with Disney characters and such, I see posts about those kits again and again on this sub about how difficult they are for beginners. I recommend that beginner crocheters start with flat, square projects like dish cloths and scarves. Amigurumi dolls are way more advanced than those types of projects.

Good for you for getting into woodwork and already having paying customers. Doubtless you will have learnt a lot from this project alone. I won't go into pricing or highlighting the flaws of the piece, however it's clear that you're in the early stages of your career and you have a lot to learn. I would suggest that the quickest and best way to learn the craft is from someone else. Go and work for a person or company- cabinetmakers or furniture makers. Put yourself out there as an eager beginner. (You're already building a portfolio and obviously can use tools) You might not command much of a wage to start with but at least you'll be getting paid to learn. Depending on you and who you work for you could become competent enough to go it alone in a shorter time- say a year or two, but the traditional apprenticeship time of 3 or 4 years with a good craftsman or company, coupled with your desire to learn will get you to where you want to be- a good craftsperson able to design and build anything a client wants (and able to charge a premium for it!) You could go and do an educational course however in my experience learning on the job is the best way to go.

Also buy this book-

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Manual-Woodworking-Detailed-Techniques/dp/0679766111

It's an excellent reference for everything from materials and tools to techniques and design. I still refer to it after 20 odd years as a woodworker and recommend it to anyone starting out.

Good luck and keep making!