I have been knitting for about 8 years and during that time have gotten more and more comfortable with different types of knitting. I'm not to this level yet - but really loved this book! The AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary is a great book to flip through and learn from even if, like myself, you aren't quite ready to start doing some of the more challenging stitches that this book highlights! The photographs are beautiful and the book is very informative - especially for more advanced stitchers!

For this mothers day, this will be a good idea of gift for any knitters. Good illustrations and tutorials.

A stitch dictionary that has complex but accessible patterns and beautiful techniques? YES PLEASE. This made me want to rework all my go-to patterns and remix them with new stitches.

Rangel’s stitch dictionary is aptly named. It is not “just another book of patterns”. Others have already lauded the cute animal patterns, but there is much more here, including a fascinating “greek” series that has me itching to cast on.

Although the book is written for color work, the patterns also work well with texturing, knitting and purling into the color patterns, a technique that has sent me spiraling off into a pile of swatches.

I particularly appreciate the index of swatches by stitch and row counts, and carefully worked projects where Rangel “does the math” with us to show how to adapt patterns to different motifs.

There is lots of meat here for the serious knitter and designer.

Beautiful book with SO MANY stitch ideas that its almost too much to flip through the entire book all at once.

Its a wonderful book for all levels, from starter to advanced stitcher, since it has fantastic explanations on how to read patterns and get started, but also just goes down to business when the actual stitch ideas/examples are shown, so that if you are advanced enough to just need to see the pattern you can get started right away.

Beautiful book, full of ideas, defiantly a great book for everyone that wants to do any kind of stitches!

A valuable resource for any knitter wanting to know all about stranded color work knitting. Full of color advice, knitting advice, and so many beautiful patterns. Hats, mittens, pullovers and cardigans are beautifully photographed and patterns are presented in an easy-to-follow manner. Recommended.

A great book with a wide variety of stitch diagrams. Lots of diagrams and very little fluff. Gets right to the diagrams you want to see, without excessive chatter or story. Open the book and pick from an amazing array of options! It's amazing how a simple diagram can create some astounding patterns! I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys designing patterns, making up projects as they go, or adding punches of color and design to basic patterns.

Alter Knit (not to be confused with the similarly titled AlterKnits) is a stitch pattern book by Andrea Rangel. Knitting is approached with fresh eyes which have elicited a new pattern dictionary very different from those that came before. Many previous stitch pattern books contain the same designs over and over.
Alter knits includes all new patterns just for this book. All use color charts and not gansey, lace or twisted stitches to create the patterns. Included are a handful of patterns and instructions on how to incorporate the stitch patterns into your own knitwear designs.
Any experienced knitter needs to add this book to their library for inspiration and eye opening ideas. Break the shackles of tradition and forge ahead with modern knitting designs.

Filled with lots and lots of unique pattern, colour and information.
I simply love this book, not only for the stranded colourwork patterns, some of which are so cute - bees, squirrels, swirls and others - too many to mention - but it talks about floats at the back of the project, and not only that, but it explains in both continental and English style knitting.
There are projects for a hat, cowl, mittens, full patterned cardigan and a yoke jumper, all of which can be easily followed and well explained. These form the basis to creating your own unique garment using any of the patterns in the book - really very simple once explained.
Love this book - a real keeper and "must have" for anyone interested in stranded colour knitting.

Very difficult to read this - the numbers were all over the place on my kindle reader, so the patterns made no sense. It is a comprehensive pattern book, with an excellent selection of swatch patterns to chose from.

I was so happy to get this book to review. Stranded colorwork is something I need to practice and with this book I think I might get a good grip on how to do it. The motifs are amazing to see and Andrea Rangel does a wonderful job describing how to do the stranded colorwork with tips and tricks it made me want to get out my knitting needles and cast on right away even though I currently have about six works in progress so they will have to wait until I get semi-caught up.

If you knit then I think you need to have this book in your library. The motifs give great project ideas & she even gives you projects using the motifs. Her instructions are clear and easy to understand.

Afraid of colourwork? Stranded knitting? Steeks?

This book will help you to decide on the right yarn, colours and offers help with holding more than one strand of yarn and how to hide your floats. Don't know what floats are? This book will tell you.

The swatch motives are modern and there are charts and project ideas for the motives.

Ideal for anyone who is interested in colourwork knitting, be it beginner or experienced knitter.

Great book for knitters. I have been doing intarsia/Fair Isle knitting for about a year and it was an eye opener for me.

I love the spirit of this book, but found the patterns a bit simple.I've been brainstorming since what might have been included and wasn't--and while I haven't come up with great suggestion, I just don't think I'd really make any of these projects because they don't present the kinds of knitting challenges I value.

In AlterKnit Stich Dictionary Andrea Rangel presents lovely new patterns for multi-colored stranded knitting. My favorite patterns are: Leaves, Traveller's Joy, and Bees. The patterns add interest to plainly knitted clothing and accessories, for example when inserted as a band around the sleeves of a sweater or as a detail on hats and mittens. I like the detailed how-to instructions and especially Andrea Rangel's method of dealing with steeks. So far I have not tackled any big color work project because I have been terrified to ruin my knitting by cutting it apart with scissors. Andrea Rangel's steek reinforcement makes a lot of sense and takes away that fear. The projects at the end of the book are beautiful. I especially like the cowl. The good thing is that the color patterns in the projects are interchangeable. So instead of using bikes on my beany, I can personalize my beany with sheep or opt for any of the geometric patterns in this book.

I really love that they include the charts for so many patterns. I think everyone can find something that they'd like to make out of this book.

Sometimes there are books that, when I open them, I think "I get to review this? For free?!" This is one of those books.

If you are new (or even not new) to colorwork, ALTERKNIT STITCH DICTIONARY has great guides to helping you learn how to hold yarn to keep your gauge even, how to chose to yarns that contrast well together, etc. "This book is in part an extensive stranded colorwork stitch dictionary. It includes 200 original motifs for you to use in your own knitting and design. (It's got a laser focus, so you won't find any intarsia, mosaic, or other color techniques here.)"

Each motif chart also has an image of the pattern in a knitted swatch, so that you know in advance EXACTLY what it's meant to look like. In addition to the 200 motifs, the book also includes five projects that use motifs: two sweaters, a hat, a cowl and a pair of mittens. These projects are meant to help you feel emboldened to try projects that use these motifs.

There is an entire section on steeking in there, too. But I...am a wuss. I have not made it there in my knitting life yet. Perhaps this book will help get me there a little further down the line. We shall see.

If you question the cost of this book, don’t. It is worth every penny. This is so packed with graphs that the author could have done 3 books. The explanations are clear and concise and the pictures are very clear. Even a novice would be able to understand. But agin the many many gorgeous, some funny graphs are just amazing. If this doesn’t give you inspiration to pick up your needles nothing will. This is a real keeper. I’m so impressed..

A whimsical and modern colorwork stitch dictionary! This is perfect for knitters of any colorwork skill level. Not only does this contain tons of fun stitch patterns for you to incorporate into patterns, but it also has a wealth of succinct information about colorwork knitting, including sections on color theory, color dominance, how to hold multiple colors, and how to work steeks. Five patterns are included at the end of the book, each highlighting how to incorporate the stitch patterns into full garments and accessories.

The stitches are sort of random, sort of broken up into sections–there’s a definitive whimsical section with animals and other fun motifs–but most everything else is randomly included. There are lots of adaptations of traditional motifs that you might find in many other colorwork dictionaries, but there are many other patterns, most of the larger ones, that are unique to this dictionary (at least I haven’t seen them in any other patterns or books), so it’s definitely worth at least a thorough flip through for ideas!

(Please note this is not to be confused with Leigh Radford’s "Alterknits" books. However, this does complement the subtle pop/mod whimsy of Radford’s patterns!)

This is truly a beautiful book for all knitters. A concise introduction shows how best to knit colorwork. Loads of charts show different colorwork patterns. The book ends with several colorwork project ideas.

Love it!