I'm forever looking at all of my stitch dictionaries when I'm stuck, need inspiration, or am just plain bored.  Recently I was given the opportunity to get a free review copy of both Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia and Knitting Stitches Visual Encyclopedia and they've become a welcome part of my library.

As soon as I got the books, I poured over them and marked all the stitches I liked.  See all those sticky flags?  Ha!

I pulled out the knitting encyclopedia  when I started designing my knitted cowl.  I needed an airy and lacy stitch pattern that would feel squishy and soft against my neck.  But I didn't want anything overly designed since that would be lost in the folds of a cowl.  I pulled out the knitting encyclopedia and a stitch immediately caught my eye.

The orange stitch (bottom, left) has you doing 2 yo in between each stitch every three rows.  On subsequent rows, you drop the wraps.  I modified this for my cowl by doing one yo and varying the number of rows in between yo rows.  It made a perfectly squishy-soft cowl!

As you can see, the stitches include a chart, a photo, and a written description. Everything is organized and clear.

The same goes for the crochet encyclopedia: charts, photos, and a written description of each stitch.  The stitches are grouped by type and the color coding at the bottom corners of the pages indicate what chapter you're in.

These are definitely solid stitch dictionaries and the photography of the stitches is great because it reliably shows you what the final stitch will look like.

Both books also include some non-overall stitches, like the motifs above, color charts, and edging patterns.