Stitch Dictionaries

Published by Arco in New York, 1985

I love Mary Thomas and Barbara Walker, but perhaps my favourite stitch dictionary is one that I bought at a car boot sale for 50p.  No dust jacket and a bit scuffed and marked here and there The Arco Guide to Knitting Stitches is a treasure.  It's A4 size but not very fat and inside it's unfussy.  Just lots of stitches with pictures of beautiful swatches and the directions for making them, no commentary, just picture and pattern.  Of course, I spend most time studying and trying out the slip stitches - my favourites.

The builders have started work and the garden is being trampled, so I have begun to swatch obsessively to take my mind off it.  I'm working my way through the Arco Guide.