Reddit mentions of Crochet Stitches VISUAL Encyclopedia (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer Book 51)

This is the one I've been thinking about. I've been able to flip through it at a few places. I've not seen yours around! I'll make sure to check it out!
http://www.amazon.com/Stitches-Encyclopedia-Yourself-VISUALLY-ebook/dp/B006JRNKEQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374497834&sr=1-2&keywords=crochet+stitches

I've looked at it before because I was thinking of doing it for shits and giggles (and then I could say I'm in a masters program) and the Crochet Guild is the main organization/authority of crochet, so it's reputable. It would be the closest you could get to a crochet certification; the only other worthwhile certifications would be the Instructor credentials from the Yarn Council, which would be useful if you plan on teaching. Going back to the masters program, I feel like the teaching itself would be overpriced, compared to the multitude of crochet stitch books available that I could get for $90 (the guild member price). I just looked at the curriculum overview now and I know how to do just about everything they listed specifically. It's disappointing because some of the crochet books I already own go over those techniques and have a lot more advanced/unique patterns to learn.

If you do want to go through a bunch of swatches and learn different techniques, there are some really good advanced crochet books out there that I either own or have looked at and will be purchasing soon. The current price for all these books from Amazon would be $62.64:

• New Encyclopedia of Crochet Techniques. I have this book and it goes over a ton of unique stitches with really good descriptions, like intarsia, loop stitches, or tubular. Plus it has a few patterns in the back that use the techniques in the book.
  
• The Finer Edge: Crocheted Trims, Motifs & Borders. Another book I looked at and want to buy. Tons of edging patterns, which is useful as I think a lot of stitch books are lacking in the borders department.
  
• A to Z of Crochet: The Ultimate Guide for the Beginner to Advanced Crocheter. Another book I looked at and plan on ordering. Tons of stitches of varying difficulty levels.
  
• Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia. I'd only really recommend this book if you're good at reading graphs. There's a lot of written errata in the few patterns that I've tried and while this has not been my best purchase, there are a lot of stitches and motifs which come in handy as reference. But this would probably be a bottom priority purchase.
  
  I own a few pattern books and some on Tunisian crochet techniques, but for reference on a wide range of crochet techniques, this is my personal library and I think that these books could keep you pretty busy and be equally, if not more so, challenging than the masters program curriculum. I may still do it for fun, but really there's a lot of other resources that are better priced, not including all the free YouTube tutorials or blogs that are out there.