Crochet has become an addiction of all sorts from hooks to yarn to patterns… and now books. My little library of crochet books is a little light but I promised myself that in 2018 I would build on what I already have and to bring you my views and opinions.
So I’m going to kick of this months book review with a must have for all level of crocheters.
200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton
200 Crochet blocks for blankets, throws and afgahns by Jan Eaton is a book of crochet squares to mix and match. This book is full of useful information for any crochet levels.
One thing to note if your purchasing this book make sure you buy the right one, The blue/green cover is US terms and the pink/purple is UK terms
The books starts of with a introduction, Chapter One covers how to Mix and Match the blocks. Chapter Two covers 200 square blocks and alternative colors., Chapter Three covers techniques.
So lets explore them a little more
Chapter OneĀ – Mix and Matching
This Chapter shows you how to choose blocks from the directory and includes a selection of colorful designs ideas for making them in various sizes from a large throw to a pillow cover, plus tips on how to plan your own design and how to go about choosing your colors
Chapter Two – Block Directory
The Block Directory contains photographs and patterns for over 200 crochet blocks. Each block is graded by degree of difficulty so that you can choose the ones which suit your own skill level. In the last section, each main pattern is shown in the original colors with three different colorways to illustrate the variety of effects you can achieve.
Note: there are not actually 200 different blocks patterns, there are 128. Blocks 101 – 200 are variations of colorways that can be achieved
Chapter Three – Techniques
In this chapter, you will find a refresher course to help you make and join the blocks shown in the directory, including tips on joining yarns and working a colored pattern from a chart. There are also patterns for making a variety of pretty edging and details of the actual yarns used to work the blocks.
I love that Jan Eaton took the time to explain the yarn in this section. She shows you how different thickness in yarn results in different size blocks.
All the stitches and techniques are clearly explained with step by step illustrations.
Jan Eatons 200 Blocks gets the Pippin approval.
Pippin Poppycock 