What's the favorite stitch reference book of the team here at Needlepoint.com? Hands down it is The Original Stitches To Go (2004) book by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.

Here's why this little book gets such a big tick of approval:

• It's small and lightweight - the perfect book to throw in your suitcase or carry-on or keep in your project bag.
• It's spiral-bound which means it lies flat when open. No one wants to wrestle with keeping a book open while trying to follow a stitch diagram.
• Stitches To Go includes a lot of stitches; in fact, all the stitches that are in the three books from the Stitches for Effect series are in here in a compact, numbered diagram form.
• The stitches are in alphabetical order and include every-day stitches as well as more complex options, including knots and darning patterns.
• The book also includes common darning stitches and bargello patterns, so there really is a lot of information packed into this small package.
• There's an index so you can easily find what you're looking for.

The Original Stitches To Go does not include stitch explanations, which is how so many diagrams fit into such a small package. The diagrams are numbered and easy to follow but offer no explanation as to what the stitches might be useful for - there are other books for that and I'm sure we'll get to those in a later blog post!

The Original Stitches To Go is definitely a great needlepoint book for stitchers who are on the go or on the sofa - you don't have to juggle with refreshing your screen while trying to follow a stitch diagram when you have this handy reference guide beside you.