Is The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen Worth It in 2026?

Is The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen worth it in 2026?

Yes, if you want one deep stitch reference: buy the 2015 New, Revised, and Updated Third Edition, which its publisher describes as covering 436 stitches with 1,680 illustrations, plus guidance for painted canvases. A used copy of the 1999 revision (369 stitches) is the budget alternative, and a first-time stitcher who only wants to finish one kit can safely skip both for now.

This verdict is built from the publisher's own descriptions, library catalog records and named reader reviews rather than first-hand use.

Whichever copy you are looking at, check the ISBN before you pay (checked October 2026): 9781476754086 is the 2015 third edition and 9780684832302 is the 1999 revision.

Three editions under one title

The Needlepoint Book has been revised twice since its first edition, and the three versions are easy to confuse when you buy secondhand. The publisher's 1999 description traces the book's reputation to that original: "Since its original publication in 1976, The Needlepoint Book has become known as 'The Black Bible'." The editions compare like this, per the publisher descriptions and library catalog records:

Edition	Publisher	Stitches	Illustrations and color	Pages listed
Original (1976)	Prentice-Hall	303	8 leaves of plates	384
Revised (1999)	Simon & Schuster, "A Fireside book"	369	More than 1,300 illustrations; 16-page color insert	428
New, Revised, and Updated Third Edition (2015)	Simon and Schuster	436	1,680 illustrations; thirty-two pages of color photographs	560

Google Books also lists a 2017 printing of the third edition. The third edition is the one to want if you can find it at a fair price, because its additions speak to painted-canvas stitchers: the publisher promises "specific guidelines on how to make the painted canvas yours."

The Amazon link on this page opens a listing for a 1999 printing, so if you want the 2015 third edition, match the ISBN on the listing before you buy.

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What's inside

The Internet Archive's catalog record for the 1999 revision lists four parts:

• Part One, Getting Started: basic information, basic procedures and stitching techniques.
• Part Two, Design and Color: one chapter on each.
• Part Three, Putting It All Together: evaluating your design, colors and yarns, then blocking and finishing.
• Part Four, The Stitches: the stitch dictionary, with chapters on straight, diagonal, box, cross, tied, eye, leaf, line, decorative and open stitches.

The 1999 publisher description adds sections on choosing the right project, transferring designs, left-handed needlepoint, finishing techniques and cleaning needlepoint, plus a crash course on what were then new fibers and a chapter on openwork stitches.

For the 2015 edition, the publisher's description lists these additions and themes:

• A new ribbon stitch chapter, along with "dozens of new stitches explained with photos and drawings."
• Help to "Fill that blank background" and to "Select and use embellishments such as beads and sequins."
• A fresh crash course on new fibers, updated information on materials and their care, and diagrams and stitch guides for select projects in the book.

The design and fiber chapters pair well with our guide to kitting a canvas without overbuying thread, which covers the shopping side of the same decisions.

Who wrote it

Jo Ippolito Christensen has written about needlepoint for decades. The author note on the 2015 edition says she "has been needlepointing for more than thirty years" and names her other books, including Teach Yourself Needlepoint, Needlepoint: The Third Dimension and The Needlepoint Scraps Book. The same note already appears in the publisher's 1999 material, so treat "thirty years" as a floor rather than a current count.

What readers praise, and what they don't

Goodreads gathers reviews of several printings on one page, so the dates matter (reviews read October 2026). The praise is consistent:

• Depth. Anne Hawn wrote in 2014 that "there are hundreds of stitches each with a picture and chart showing the order they are worked," grouped "so that the reader can easily choose among similar stitches without having to flip back and forth."
• The stitch tables. Reviewing the 2015 update, Diane singled out "the old tables with best uses for and characteristics of each stitch," which she called "invaluable as ever."
• Clear diagrams. Michelle, writing in May 2015, found the diagrams "perfectly clear" even though they are black and white and hand-drawn.

So are the complaints:

• Dated visuals. A 2020 reviewer said grayscale photos make it "really difficult to see the stitches properly" and called the book "a good resource, but very dated." Diane noted that in the 2015 update "the old black and white photographs and diagrams of stitches have not been updated."
• Slow to navigate. Ally Holland, reviewing in October 2025, praised the alphabetical list of stitches and their attributes that opens each stitch chapter, but found that the diagrams that follow are not in the same order, so "you have to hunt for that stitch."
• Daunting for newcomers. Michelle admitted: "As a complete newbie to needlepoint I will admit I found this book a bit intimidating." She called it "a real gem" once past the old-fashioned style.
• Uninspiring projects. Diane found the color plates of projects "not very inspiring."
• Awkward on Kindle. A 2019 reviewer wrote that "the photos don't enlarge" in the Kindle format.

Who should buy it, and which edition

• Painted-canvas stitchers who want one reference: the 2015 third edition, for its painted-canvas, background and embellishment material on top of the stitch dictionary.
• Budget buyers who mainly want the stitches: a used 1999 revision. Diane, who owned the earlier edition, found "nothing earth-shaking" in the update and concluded that "this is the same wonderful book."
• Owners of the 1999 revision: keep it unless the ribbon stitch chapter or the painted-canvas material matters to you.
• Left-handed stitchers: the 1999 publisher description lists a section on left-handed needlepoint.
• Brand-new stitchers on a first kit: wait. Learn tent stitch from the kit's instructions, sort out your needle with our tapestry needle sizes by mesh guide, and come back when you want more stitches.

Lighter alternatives

If the size of The Needlepoint Book puts you off, two needlepoint shops recommend smaller references:

• The Original Stitches To Go (2004) by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson is, per Needlepoint.Com, "the most recommended needlepoint stitch reference guide by the staff." It is small, light and spiral-bound so it lies flat, and it gives diagrams without explanations of what each stitch is for.
• Needlepoint: A Modern Stitch Directory by Emma Homent is Poppy Monk Needlepoint's pick for "any level stitcher, and especially for needlepoint newbies," full of colorful photographs and stitch illustrations.

Both are lighter. The trade-off is scope: The Needlepoint Book is the one that puts a stitch dictionary next to full chapters on design, color, blocking and finishing.

If the stitch chapters tempt you into a sampler, as they did a 2013 Goodreads reviewer who wrote that the book "makes me want to get started on a needlepoint sampler RIGHT NOW!", a small set of DMC tapestry wool is enough to try a handful of stitches on a doodle canvas.

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Bottom line

The Needlepoint Book remains a rare single volume that covers stitches, design, color, blocking and finishing together. Its weaknesses are presentation rather than substance: black-and-white diagrams, project photos some readers find uninspiring, and a stitch section that takes some flipping. Buy the 2015 third edition if you can find one at a fair price; otherwise a used 1999 revision covers most of the same ground, and the Amazon link below goes to a 1999 printing. For the needles, lamps and other tools that make a stitch reference useful, see our full shortlist.

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Sources

1. Publisher description for The needlepoint book / Jo Ippolito Christensen (LCCN 98033812) — Library of Congress (publisher-supplied description, Simon & Schuster) (checked October 2026)
2. Publisher-supplied biographical information for The needlepoint book / Jo Ippolito Christensen (LCCN 98033812) — Library of Congress (publisher-supplied author note, 1999 edition) (checked October 2026)
3. The needlepoint book (1999) - catalog record — Internet Archive (library catalog record) (checked October 2026)
4. The needlepoint book : 303 stitches with patterns and projects (1976) - catalog record — Internet Archive (library catalog record) (checked October 2026)
5. The Needlepoint Book: New, Revised, and Updated Third Edition — Google Books (catalog record with the publisher's description) (checked October 2026)
6. The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen - reader reviews — Goodreads (reader reviews, several printings pooled) (checked October 2026)
7. The Original Stitches To Go: A Handy Needlepoint Reference When You're On The Go — Needlepoint.Com (checked October 2026)
8. A Fantastic New Needlepoint Book — Poppy Monk Needlepoint (checked October 2026)