Moogly reviews spiral-bound crochet stitch dictionary, launches giveaway

A 440-stitch dictionary earns its keep when it stays open on the table, not closed on a shelf. Tamara Kelly’s review and giveaway for The New Crochet Stitch Dictionary put that practical question front and center, because the new spiral-bound edition is built for the kind of crochet that happens at a desk, with charts, notes, and swatches spread out in front of you.

The book itself is not a fresh concept so much as a smarter format for a proven one. Nele Braas and Eveline Hetty-Burkart assembled 440 stitch patterns across textures, shells, bobbles, lace, cables, chevrons, edgings, granny squares, and more. Publishers Weekly said the book is organized into 11 stitch-type sections, with step-by-step instructions for basics, shells and fans, spike stitches, and mesh patterns. Retail listings also note charted instructions, which matters if you draft from symbols instead of reading every row line by line.

That is what makes the spiral binding more than a cosmetic change. A stitch dictionary is a working tool, and spiral binding lets the pages lay flatter while you compare motifs, test border options, or swap one stitch pattern for another without wrestling the spine. Kelly said the book has already earned a permanent place above her desk, alongside the reference books she uses constantly, and she is marking patterns with sticky notes for later. That is the right use case for a title like this: border selection, stitch substitution, and project planning, especially if you are past the beginner stage and starting to make decisions instead of just following them.

The background on the authors helps explain why the book feels so usable. Braas brings a graphic design and photography background, while Hetty-Burkart is a freelance editor and author who lists crochet as her favorite craft. Simon & Schuster’s listing describes the pair as covering classic stitches and newly-created patterns in an encyclopedic guide, and that mix of familiar building blocks and fresh texture is exactly what adventurous intermediates and designers tend to want.

The spiral-bound edition is listed as a pre-order item at major retailers, with an arrival date of May 26, 2026. The book is 272 pages and the original paperback edition was published by Stackpole Books in 2021. For readers in the United States and Canada, the giveaway runs through June 16, 2026, turning Kelly’s review into a useful test of whether this kind of stitch dictionary really does more than look pretty. In this case, the answer is yes: it looks like a reference book that is meant to stay in reach and get marked up.