Irish Crochet: Technique and Projects (Dover Crafts: Crochet)

This Dover book was first published in 1984, and it was probably the best resource for the Priscilla book at that time. Priscilla Publishing released a few famous books on Irish Crochet, including this one first published in 1909. So this is a copy of that very popular book, apparently reprinted from photographic plates, of the first volume of the original Priscila Irish Crochet Book.Unfortunately, this is not Dover’s best effort. Normally, I really like their books and really appreciate their efforts to preserve these terrific resources, but in this case, the pictures are gray and fuzzy. It seems their source material was not of the best quality. Since then, better versions or the Priscilla Irish Crochet Book have been made available, and I actually own a PDF of this book with pictures in clear black and white, rather than the dim grays seen here. I wanted a print copy as the seller of the PDF had watermarked their pages, so all the instructions have the seller’s name going through them, which is very annoying.Having muddy pictures makes it difficult to use this book for crocheting the motifs. The method of writing instructions for crochet was not standardized back when the original book was written, so the instructions can be sparse, vague, and very difficult to understand. I am an experienced Irish crocheter, and I tried one pattern and was lost. Usually, I can work between the instructions and the pictures, but in this case, the pictures were too vague. It wasn’t until later that I realized I owned the PDF with hard-to-read instructions, but clear pictures. I will probably try again, using the instructions in one and the pictures in the other, when I need a motif or two.The book is extraordinarily valuable for anyone interested in Irish crochet. It has a multitude of motifs and it shows joining the motifs into various designs. It is a pleasure to just go through and admire the work. So it is very nice to have the book for a reference. Since Dover is still in business, I wish they would redo this book with better pictures, in which case, I would definitely buy another copy.

I agree with the other reviewers who have said the images are too dark, grayed, and blurry. I own another reproduction of this book with much clearer images. It is not bound as well, so I thought owning this one would be a good idea.I understand others' comments regarding the written instructions. The print is clear and crisp enough to read. I have to remember that this is a vintage pattern, with instructions written in a way more typical of decades past.I still think it's a valuable book to own; however, with that being said, other Dover reprints are available in Kindle editions and have come out with much clearer images. Perhaps Dover could take a stab at providing this one in Kindle format also.

If you thought this was going to teach you how to make some Irish crochet, boy oh boy were you wrong. This isn't just a learning experience, this book will confuse you until you give in and go to YouTube to see what the hell the book is talking about. If you already know how to make Irish crochet this is a good book for you. 10/10 will recommend to my greatest enemy (he doesn't know how to crochet and I want to see him cry)

I have been doing all types of needlework for years and years. I never have touched the Irish crochet because from the appearance if seemed rather overwhelming. I stumbled upon this book here on Amazon and since I was trapped in the house because of this silly extended winter weather, I thought it might be just the thing I needed to keep myself from going crazy while I waited for spring to arrive. The book arrived quickly. It essentially is a reprint of an older book, but the photos are very clear and the directions quite well done. Having no knowledge of Irish crochet, I opened the book, took hook and thread in hand and in a very short time I had created sample pieces of Irish crochet based entirely on this little book. There is, of course, a basic assumption that you know how to crochet. It is important to keep in mind that the instructions are based essentially on European crochet not American - the difference being that their double is our single crochet, our double is their treble. Once you reorganize your brain to that fact, it is quite simple to get going. I cannot believe how beautiful the work is, and how simple it was to create with these clear instructions. If you have ever wanted to try this technique, this is the book to get you started. When I ordered this book I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of sunshine and spring...now I don't really care, I am busy making lace!One side note of importance - I fully support Amazon and the Sellers here, but once in a while you stumble across something wonderful elsewhere and I have done just that. All of these old reprint books are available for free at www dot antiquepatternlibrary dot org. You can print a page or the entire book for free. If you love needlework but simply do not have the money in your budget to own the book this site offers you a alternative information source.

When I got a renewed interest in crochet I purchased this book. I confess I was drawn to the low price while making my decision to buy. Although the book is an authentic reproduction, it looks like bad photo images of an original. The illustrations are very dark and blurred, the print is small and the instructions are confusing. The paper quality is reflected in the price. Will be searching for another book.

I have definitely become a fan of Dover books. I didn't think it was important to learn crochet when I was younger, and now find myself wanting to learn how to make the things my mother and grandma made. This book is full of beautiful projects.

I’m refreshing my needle work to preserve the arts of an era nearly forgotten.I learned knitting from my 5th grade teacher during the 60s and crochet from my grandmother during that same time period. Very good book to help me accomplish my goal.I’m hoping to pass on the art to kids in my Sunday school class while sharing stories from the Bible. ❤️

Bearing in mind that this is a scan of a vintage book and the original photographs would have been taken with glass plates, the scanned pages are really rather dark. You can still see the stitches reasonably clearly though and the crochet work is exquisite. My favourites are the photograph of the jacket at the beginning and the full scale dress, for which there are no instructions but which are exquisite. You wouldn't expect any in a book this size.There are a number of cases where the actual design is several pages away from the pages, which might be annoying as this really is very complex crochet and not for the beginner. Worth having in your crochet library though when you get to the stage of doing fine thread work.It is still possible to buy original copies of the Priscilla books at quite reasonable prices so do research prices of these unless you want a brand new book, which this is.

Whilst the content of the book may well be fantastic, I haven't tried any of the motifs yet, the actual quality of production is very poor. The illustrations are dark and not very clear, and the text is very difficult to read. It is fully justified, ie spread out to fill the line, if it had no justification at all it would be so much easier to read.

Love the patterns and the introduction

Brilliant books and great quality

Very interesting book but more of historical interest than practical use. An experienced Irish crochet maker might find some of the motifs usable but who now needs a corset cover?