I'm a self-taught knitter who has been experimenting with increasingly complex patterns and techniques for a number of years. To start this endeavor, I was looking for a manageable resource that was small enough to always have in my project portfolio. This book ticks all the boxes and more! This is the BEST money I've ever spent on my knitting materials/resources. This book is remarkably easy to use, extremely clear in its explanations and very comprehensive in its breadth of information. It saved me a lot of knitting troubles! More than once I read an explanation of something in a template I was using and thought there was no way I could figure out how to do it right. Then I looked at the same thing on Knitspeak and thought: why didn't they explain it that way in the pattern?!? Easy. If you are not a very experienced knitter, GET THIS BOOK!