It is a combination of things that make this book so good. Firstly, it is part of the wonderful A-Z series that not only have spiral backs so they lie usefully flat, but invariably give exhaustive information about their subjects. Secondly it is those diagrams. They are colored photographs of hands doing the stages, and happily they have plain backgrounds so you can see what is going on in them. Each stitch has many stages, so there are no awkward jumps from one thing to the next leaving the reader wondering what they were supposed to do to get from this to that. Learn the basics, and then progress to more advanced stitches such as cable and intarsia work, finding out what different nations call things (essential when understanding patterns) and how to make up your projects. Finally, these books are just so good to look at with their pretty illustrations - how the Victorians would have loved them! If you want just one knitting book to show you everything, then get this one. It’s destined for my keeper shelf.

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