Mary Thomas is one of the best all around knitting references there is. Her first book, Mary Thomas' Knitting Book, approaches every angle of knitting from a practical and sensible point of view. She doesn't raise knitting to an art form, as so many of today's popular knitting mavens try to do, but approaches it from the practical level of a craft, as it should be, in my opinion.In this, her second book, the reader is given loads of stitch patterns and suggestions on how to use many of them. Practically everything Nicky Epstein put in her books is an adaptation of something in Mary Thomas' in one form or another. Just goes to show you, there's nothing new under the sun! Certainly, this book isn't as all encompassing as Barbara Walker's Treasury volumes, but for such a small book, the reader is given a most far reaching and complete treatment of nearly every kind of knitted fabric from solid fabrics to lace, motifs to medallions, and practical and amazingly complete instruction on designing your own garments and other projects. The "By The Way" chapter at the end gives a lot of the signature Mary Thomas historical information on knitting tools, knitting humor, transcribing a pattern, and caring for your woolens. The book is sprinkled throughout with factual historical gems and trivia that make Mary Thomas so readable and enjoyable.Because I learned to read charts from Mary Thomas' books, I think they are easy to follow, but the symbols are different than most knitting books on the market today. The key provided for the symbols is self explanatory and simple enough that even a beginner can catch on quickly with a little work and attention.If I had only two knitting books in my library, they would both be by Mary Thomas. Under her instruction, I learned to knit socks, gloves, mittens, and made my first original (or so I thought at the time) sweater pattern. I recently had to buy a new copy to replace my mother's worn and falling apart copy. I keep both of this author's books close at hand. I own a lot of knitting books, many of them very expensive, but very few are as helpful and complete as the Mary Thomas books.