Vogue Knitting Quick Reference: The Ultimate Portable Knitting Compendium

I have to agree with the previous reviews of this book about many points. As I was also able to compare with the full Vogue Knitting book, I thought I'd add my thoughts that may help if you are debating between the Quick Reference and Ultimate Knitting books by Vogue Knitting.Since this book is not currently open to viewing, here are the chapters:1. Basic Techniques2. Understanding Knitting Instructions3. Correcting Errors4. Circular and Double-Pointed Knitting5. Color Knitting6. Assembling7. Design Details8. Embellishments9. Tables and Tools (Knitting Needles, Crochet Hooks, Substituting Yarn, Conversion Chart, Equivalent Weights, Needle Inventory, Pompom Template, Notes)The Needle Inventory and Notes are for you to fill-in and are nice for a travel book.I like that this book opens flat, but the covers are VERY thin (glossy cardstock) for a book that you are supposed to travel with - and the covers hang over the pages so the corners arrived already bent... and will become more bent when introduced to your knitting bag.The book is somewhat bulky for most knitting bags... if they could have made it just a little smaller it would have been better. I would have preferred more thickness for less width and height. It is less than half the size of the Vogue Knitting Ultimate Knitting Book when you consider depth, so you do save on weight.The book omitted complete chapters from the full book that you would expect including:History of KnittingBlocking, Assembly and FinishingCare of KnitwearStitch DictionaryModular Knitting PatternsTraditional Knitting PatternsMost topics were shortened from the full book. For example, there are no left-hand instructions in the portable book nor all of the tips. Blocking, basting, shaping your designs, planning circular designs, some decorative edging techniques, curved facing, row slants, pleats, tucks, gathers and ruching, and a few other topics are not included. These topics, especially blocking and designing are not something you would typically do while traveling with a knitting bag, so it makes sense to omit these as well as the stitch dictionary that you shouldn't need when working with a pattern.In addition to the flimsy cover, I do feel that the Quick Reference lacks in some areas were it shouldn't.Some topics I thought should not have been omitted, at least if this book is for all levels of knitters, include:Joining yarnsSome of the cast-ons, increases and bind-offsUsing bobbinsReading chartsMosaic knittingSince there were some mostly blank pages, additional information could have been added without much additional bulk.Most of all, this book is missing an index - which is a major hindrance when trying to find a particular topic more quickly, even if there are only 120 pages.Overall, I recommend this book if you don't have another book like it in your library. It is handy when you are away from your home library or an internet connection. It is also fine for beginners or those who just like to follow patterns and don't need to know the design process or have available techniques for making major alterations. You really won't benefit much from the larger books.Otherwise, I would recommend either getting the full Vogue Knitting book or another knitting handbook if your budget only allows for one book. If you are more advanced and like to alter patterns, you should only have this book as a portable reference in addition to a good book or two at home.

I bought this book to be a major reference book for my knitting library. The book's advantages are the sprial-binding, which allows it to stay open and easily accessed even while your hands are full with your knitting, and the book is thin and light, which is perfect for adding it to your knitting bag. A con is a lot of the more advanced techniques are taken out (compared to the complete Vogue Knitting Reference book). Since I plan on using this book mostly at home, I'm now kicking myself for not buying the more complete knitting reference book. I would suggest buying the other one if you plan on keeping this book at home and not carry it around in your knitting bag.

One of the best basic knitting guides out there! This book clearly covers about 80% of what you will ever need to know in knitting - which keeps it fairly un-intimidating for a beginner to novice knitter. The descriptions are clear, there are plenty of photos and diagrams. There is a nice stitch dictionary as well. Because it is written by the editors of Vogue Knitting, the terms and definitions are the standard ones - or at least as standard as knitting instruction gets - you will find the same or very similar terms and chart symbols in most modern knitting patterns. I HIGHLY recommend this one!

Instructions and photographs are clearly demonstrated making this an excellent on the road companion.

I really like having this item small enought to fit in my knitting bag, yet having a great deal of information. This was exactly as the seller described, arrived fast and was a great price.I made an error and posted bad feedback for another item I received on this item. The seller contacted me and offered to make this right. You don't find too many sellers with this kind of business ethics. Thank you for your consideration and great products at reasonable and great prices!

I was wary that this guide won't be enough, after reading a few mixed reviews. "The ultimate portable knitting compendium" is quite exactly what it is. It still provides necessary stitch patterns and quite several interesting ones, as well as knitting glossary. I am satisfied. As any reference book goes, if you're looking into one book that does it "all," then go for the bigger version.

I love this thing! It is very clear and small easy to use. I have read other reviews of people who were not so happy with how little it covers but it is listed as a quick reference guide. It is exactly that but if you are wanting more; then the larger counterpart to this book is perfect for you.

I was disappointed with this book. I didn't think any of the Quick Reference items were worth the hassle of lugging this book around in my knitting bag all the time. It may be that I've advanced beyond this book in my skill, and somebody who is just starting to knit would find more use out of it. Honestly, the items covered in this book are readily available online in numerous locations. I guess if you didn't access to the Internet this would be helpful... I just don't even know anybody without a Smart Phone anymore. I rated it two stars or "I don't like it" on Amazon's scale.

If you know what you are looking for, this book is okay. It is lacking an index, which would help find things in a hurry. Instead, you have to look through the table of contents and decide which headline best suits what you want to find.

Tolles Buch, genau wie beschrieben, nur der Versand hat etwas länger gedauert.Kann ich jedem nur empfehlen, der gerne mal mit englischen Anleitungen arbeiten will.

I'm very pleased that the book refers to both the English and Continental style of knitting. It is a good size to take along and refer to.

英文パターンで編むための基礎本として購入してみました。あ、日本人です。英語力はふつう。編み物については、お恥ずかしながらふつうの日本の編み目記号や、操作の仕方も知らないドのつく初心者からのスタートでした。結論から言うと、使える！バッグにも入るコンパクトサイズですが、基礎本としてかなり広範囲が網羅されています。写真、イラストも多用されているため、直感的に理解しやすい。リング製本だから目的のページを開いてかたわらに置いておくのに便利。編み物もやはり欧米のテクニックは日本と違うものもあるようですので、編み物を長くつづけてらっしゃる方にも、英文パターン用として需要がありそうです。ハンドブックとして、粗にならず、盛りすぎず、いい塩梅だと思います。