A Year of Crochet Stitches

by Jill Wright

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

A Year of Crochet Stitches is a concise perpetual calendar of one-a-day stitch patterns collected and curated by Jill Wright. Released 7th Nov 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield on their Stackpole imprint, it's 408 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. This is a sister volume to A Year of Knitting Stitches , from the same publisher and follows a similar format.

Precisely what it says on the cover, this is a collection of daily crochet patterns including lace, textured stitches, simple edgings, and colorwork, arranged by calendar date, 1st Jan to 31st Dec. Each day is a single page, with a color photo of the finished pattern, written directions, and with a required stitch count for each repeat. The pictures on each page are not huge, but they are clear, and in color.

Comparatively, there are some really nice designs here which are new and -not- included in any commonly available crochet dictionary. They're generally smaller repeats and less intensive/difficult than, for example, the Japanese pattern dictionaries. That being said, there is no basic how-to-crochet tutorial included here. The author has included some general how-to at the back of the collection and a couple of very basic shawl/stole/scarf recipes which show readers some potential ways to adapt the stitches in the collection, as well as some advice for yarn selection.

Four stars, although there's very little that 100% new and innovative with crochet (humans have been doing it for a very long time), this collection is full of small simple repeats which are useful. Absolutely recommended for the crafter's home collection, public or school library acquisition, fibre arts guilds' libraries, maker's groups, and similar. It would also make a welcome gift for a fibre-happy friend. 
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.