Following on the success of the best-selling Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Flowers, Epstein gives crocheters a special gift: an equally exquisite collection of over 40 flowers—plus patterns for garments embellished with her floral designs. Featuring a beautiful layout and magnificent photography, this keepsake volume features stitch pattern flowers, petal constructed flowers, cord flowers, and the extremely popular felted flowers. Some make fanciful pieces of jewelry; others can adorn handicrafts for a fabulous finishing touch. Epstein offers yarn suggestions and colors, and encourages crocheters to experiment with all the interesting choices in the market today to create breathtaking corsages and bouquets. Among the pretty garden blossoms: a calla lily, blue and purple pansies, a delicate and lacy white wedding boutonniere, complete with a pearl center; and a selection of floral corkscrews.
If you have a strong sense of classic style and perfect fit and aren't aware of Meg Swansen or Elizabeth Zimmerman, this is the perfect introduction. It contains garments from issues 42-48 of "Woolgathering," a semi-annual newsletter from Schoolhouse Press. Easy-to-read print, concise instructions and lace/color charts as well as black and white photos of items featured. This book is also about expanding your techniques and to get you started knitting lace. An excellent book! 83 photos and charts.
I think every knitter should have one of these in his/her knitting bag. Whether or not you knit sweaters, this book of finishing techniques is very handy. Not only does it teach several methods of casting on, binding off, making seams, and everything else you need to successfully finish a project, it shows you what each technique will look like when finished. The benefits and drawbacks to each technique are also listed, so I can pick the best option for my particular application. A reproducible worksheet also allows me to keep a record of what methods I am using.
Felting — or boiling a knit item so it shrinks and the fibers mesh together — yields amazingly durable, beautiful pieces with unusual textures. It's the perfect technique for beginners because many mistakes just disappear during the washing process. An introduction explains all the knitting basics and felting fundamentals, from yarn selection to blocking and finishing the final product, and there's a wide variety of great things to create. With more than 20 stylish projects, you can knit a flower clutch bag, baby blanket, pillows, a snake toy, beret, tea cozy, slippers, scarves, multicolored mittens, and more. 
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