This is another of those "all in one" compendiums, with a little bit of information about every possible knitting subject, from learning how to cast on, to entrelac techniques.  There are a number of these encyclopedic books on the market, and they all suffer from the same problem: there's simply too much about knitting to put it all into one book.  Which is understandable.  So some sacrifices have to be made.  Which is also understandable.

In the case of Big Book of Knitting (not THE Big Book of Knitting, like you would expect - just Big Book of Knitting), the sacrifice is somewhat compounded by the inclusion of a lot of lovely diagrams and photographs.  These make the book very appealing to flip through and browse, and they definitely help with the step by step instructions.  However, those photographs do take up space; space that could otherwise be used for words to explain more things.

I think if Big Book of Knitting has any problem is it that its choices are somewhat baffling at times.  I have consulted it many times, sometimes with success, and sometimes not.  I once wanted to substitute a different kind of collar in a sweater I was knitting, and I spent quite some time poring over the section on various different kinds of collars.  Just what you would want, you might think, except that I have to confess I couldn't make heads or tails out of the instructions.  

In some cases, I can barely tell the difference between the two collars, much less find enough information to make an informed decision on which one would be appropriate.  Some of the information is downright cryptic, like the picture caption for "Knit-in Plackets," which reads, "By increasing at the front edges, the collar reaches further down."  I'm sure this sentence makes sense to someone - but not to me. And I defy you to decode the instructions for a polo collar "With Double Pickup."

I'm also baffled by the inclusion of the "double neckband," which makes it look as if you're wearing a sweater beneath your sweater.  It's bizarre and unflattering, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist anywhere beyond the pages of Big Book of Knitting.

But aside from these oddities, I have to commend Big Book of Knitting for including instructions on how to knit socks.  It has a section for basic patterns - hats, sweaters, scarves, and so forth.  And then, socks!  Considering that most beginning knitters consider socks to be the hardest thing you can possibly knit, I felt that this was a brave choice.  But one that will certainly help the book grow with the knitter.

(Even if the sock section does include these puzzling instructions for preventing ladders when knitting with double pointed needles.  "Place the needles so that the end of the used needle lies on top of the next one, and work underneath the previous needle with the new needle.  Hold the needle on which you are working between your thumb and forefinger in such a way that the needle in front lies in between.")