Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia Rules!

[cgd]

I've been in a creative funk lately trying to figure out how to make an afghan for DH's and my bed (there are posts elsewhere with my whining on this matter). I picked up Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet today, and I think this is just the cure. There is so much in there that I'll have food for thought for years. If you've thought about getting this, it's worth every penny.

[Wendy79]

Agreed! It's really inspirational and well-done.

[Twinnish]

Last year when I got back into crochet, I took the Donna Kooler book and another out of the library to help me get back in the swing. I like the E of C so much it was the first crochet book I bought. And I got it for 40% off at AC Moore, heh heh!

[tangerine]

I bought this book because so many people recommended it and it had such good ratings on Amazon but I have to say that I was very disappointed by it and returned it.

 

I found The Reader's Digest encyclopedia of crochet is so much better, at least for my needs. When the word "encyclopedia" is included in the title I expect it to have a huge directory of crochet stitches and techniques which Reader's Digest did and Donna Kooler's book did not.

[Twinnish]

I'm sorry you didn't like it. I don't think it was meant to be solely a book of crochet stitches. It also includes a history of crochet, instructions on how to crochet, and an overview of different crochet techniques including patterns wriltten for beginners.

[missamorphosis]

This was one of the first books I ever bought. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner (at least, I didn't learn from it, but someone else might), but I'm very glad it's in my collection of crochet books. Lots of good information in it.

[ForestGreen]

I have the Reader's Digest book and can attest that it's a wonderful reference. I haven't seen the Donna Kooler book yet, I went to our library to look for it and they say they have it, but it's nowhere to be found on the shelves. It appears that it's been stolen. It has to have some good information though, if someone was willing to go through the effort to steal it.

[Lady_of_Roses]

I thought it was really nice that the Donna Kooler book has instructions for both lefties and righties. I thought it was a good book for a beginner->intermediate level crocheter. I intend to buy it yet as it does cover some good stuff here and there. It's nice that it has pattern charts as well as written out instructions.