The Handknitter's Handbook

After about a year (seriously) of procrastinating, I finally did it. I borrowed Montse Stanley's The Handknitter's Handbook from the library. Now, this is a book I'd been reading about for years. Everyone was saying that it was the best book on knitting ever produced. I knew that one day I would finally have to bite the bullet, step up and read it. Move into the big time. It really came about as an accident as it slid through the chute into the check-in room at my library. But, by a fateful coincidence, I felt I was ready.

A number of misconceptions were blown away immediately. I always thought that Montse Stanley was a man (well, it does sound kind of masculine, doesn't it?) I'd always thought it interesting that what is generally considered to be the best handbook on knitting ever written was made by a man, and I was looking forward to getting his perspective and seeing if it was any different to the ones I'd read before. And, I have to admit, there was a little bit of daydreaming about 'him' sitting by the fire with a glass of whiskey, knitting away on a cold night. So I was a little shocked to find that he (she) was a woman!

Secondly, I'd gotten the impression that Montse Stanley was a bit like the Hitler of knitting. The Knitting Nazi, if you will. Perhaps the other writers who had written about her work had mistaken 'authoritative' and 'knowledgeable' for 'stern' and 'inflexible'. For a book of knitting techniques, I actually found it quite enjoyable. For example:

"When it comes to starting or finishing a piece of knitting, it is very tempting to learn one method and then stick to it whatever the circumstances. Many knitters actually boast of ALWAYS using such-and-such. How utterly boring! What would you think of a cook who ALWAYS starts with bringing water to the boil and ALWAYS ends by adding a knob of butter?"
-- Page 62.

(Okay, so it's a bit like university-professor humour, but I think it's quite cute.)

Each technique is accompanied by illustrations which are actually detailed enough for you to understand what the technique is, and how it will look. There is also a blurb saying in what situations it could be used. The illustrations are the clearest in any book on knitting I've ever read.

The colour plates showing garments she has designed using some of the techniques are placed in the appropriate parts of the book, so you don't have to flip over 50 pages every time she refers to them!
I'm glad there aren't any patterns or instructions for making whole garments. That might sound a bit odd, but I like that she's just given the reader the choices, and lets them make their own decision on what to create. She goes through the basics, but then moves onto so much more.

I didn't mean for this to becomes a book review, but I've decided - I must own this book! I just can't afford to photocopy all the pages that I want from it:

(That's when I was about 2/3 of the way through.)

I say Hmph! to your Stitch n Bitch! Before I read Montse Stanley's book, I thought there were only 3 or 4 ways of casting on. She has over 40!! 20 ways of casting off, and about 14 different selvedges, all illustrated as to exactly how they will look. That's what you want from a knitting handbook!