It's sometimes difficult for a crocheter to know whether or not to spend money on a book of patterns “to knit or crochet.” Ideally, the book would contain two sets of directions for each project-one for knit and one for crochet. But this is never the case. Lion Brand's book Just Gifts, edited by Shannon Okey, seems to have a pretty decent balance between the two methods. Granted, less than half of the projects are crochet-but the ratio is fairly close. So a crocheter can pick it up without too much worry.
As far as the basic layout of the book is concerned, Okey did a nice job organizing the projects by theme and difficulty level. The book starts out with an introduction on yarn, gauge, sizing, and increasing stitches. It's all helpful information, whether you knit or crochet. Okey doesn't waste time in the beginning of the book teaching basic crochet and knitting skills-she outright states that she “assumes you know the basic knitting skills of knit and purl and the basic crochet skills of single crochet, double crochet, and half double crochet.” If you don't, she suggests some online tutorials that can bring you up to speed. Overall, it's an extremely helpful introduction that doesn't insult the reader's intelligence.
The patterns in the book are organized by theme: kids, home, pets, jewelry, felted, bags, and mittens. The book's ultimate goal is to provide a crafter with an arsenal of projects to make as a gift for any occasion. It is definitely successful in achieving this-there are gifts to make for men, women, and children. The patterns also allow room for customization and manipulation. The book would be ideal for the crafter that is adept at both knit and crochet; but it's not totally lost on anybody that can only do one or the other.
