Vintage Christmas Stockings knit and crochet

If you want a brief introduction to most of the things you might want to learn about when learning to knit, Everyday Knitting by Megan Goodacre has you covered.

It talks about everything from yarn weights and needle types to casting on, knitting, purling and binding off. You’ll find tutorials for basic increases and decreases, colorwork, cables and lace, tips for reading patterns and charts and plenty of patterns to practice your new skills.

The biggest part of the book is these tutorials, with a couple of beginner practice patterns (a garter stitch washcloth and a knit and purl chevron coaster) found toward the beginning of the book, another chapter with four more patterns is in the middle, and the rest of the patterns are at the back of the book.

Skill ratings are on a scale of one to five, which don’t correspond to the standard skill levels (which is a scale of four). For example, a pair of Fair Isle style fingerless mitts worked in the round is a skill level five on her scale, but would probably be a two on a standard project level chart. Three of the patterns (aside from the ones scattered through the book) don’t have skill ratings listed.

Of those that do, two are rated one, three each are levels two, three and four, and two are level five. The other five rating goes to a woman’s sized raglan sweater with a textured panel on the front but that’s mostly stockinette stitch. I think the three patterns that aren’t rated would be level two, but I can’t understand the thinking that went into the rating system.

In addition to the patterns there’s a gallery of knitting stitches you can add to your projects.

Lots of photos illustrate the tutorials, but there are only one or two pictures each of the finished projects in the pattern section.

There are definitely things about this book that annoyed me (not teaching about holding the yarn in your left hand until 37 pages after holding yarn in the right hand is introduced, saying seed stitch and moss stitch are the same thing, etc.) but for basic, general information on how to knit all in one place, it’s a pretty good guide.

About the book: 272 pages, paperback, 22 patterns. Published 2024 by DK Publishing. Suggested retail price $24.99.