This book is the ultimate lace knitting book. It is the exquisite work of a craftswoman from a bygone age analysed and interpreted by a scrupulous scholar, craftswoman and designer. Anyone who wants to work on their understanding of how different lace pattern stitches create different fabrics needs this book. There are clues in many books - and for many, Mary Thomas, Barbara Walker or a Weldon's Encyclopedia will be enough - but this is the one to go for if you are designing something. All this in a clear, precise and logical style that does reward your efforts to understand it eventually. My advice would be to avoid trying to find or understand the instructions for the 'hem' at the beginning of the sample, and do the pattern stitches, picking up your needles straight away.Long awaited, this reprint has delighted me and the exalted few in England who have heard of it, let alone appreciate it. I can't wait to get back to my stitch and bitch group and boast about being the proud owner of something that has been virtually unobtainable for decades, and which is just as good as it promised.