I'm spinning Merino!

 

Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning   $39.95	Review: Have you ever wanted to get into spinning, learn how to prepare and spin flax, improve your spinning technique, build an heirloom spinning wheel from detailed plans, make ginger beer, know that the yarn you are making will work for what you intend it? This standard textbook of fiber will surely answer your questions. There is more wisdom and information here than is in my entire library's spinning shelf. Don't throw away that shelf just complete it with this marvelous new book. A "Big Book" from a big-hearted spinner. Thanks Alden and Stephanie. The ginger beer will be most refreshing after an afternoon of wool combing.
A Handspindle Treasury by Spin-Off Magazine  $19.95	Review: Many spinners haven't been around for the 20 years Spin-Off magazine has been in print. Well the editors have gathered this collection of articles on the ubiquitous handspindle so you can sit down and study the wisdom of our best writers in this book. The articles are organized by topics such as spinning basics, various spindles, make-your-own ideas, world spinning, and some simple projects. Thanks Spin-Off and 20 more years to you.
ASHFORD BOOK OF CARDING A Handspinners Guide to Fiber Preparation by Jo Reeve     $24.95	Softcover, Pages:  92, Size:  8½'' X 9''    Written for the hand spinner and felter as well as everyone who loves fiber, this is a practical and inspirational guide to carding fleece, slivers and exotic fibers. Included are sections on using flick, hand and drum carders, fiber and color blending, color theory as well as four innovative projects. Step by step instructions and full color photographs envelope you in the world of color, texture and the endless possibilities of fiber. The title does not reflect the full extent of the contents. This is a very good book.
Ashford Book of Spinning $25.95	Review: Although written specifically for the Ashford wheel, the material included here is so basic and so well presented that it would benefit any spinner. Further, it goes well beyond simply providing instructions for spinning. There are chapters on dyeing, felting, and instructions for making projects using handspun yarns. There are sweaters and scarves, mittens and booties, and more -- each illustrated in color. Illustrated.
Color in Spinning by Deb Menz  $26.95	Review: In this day and age, when we are deluged with titles purporting to be "the complete book of...," here is a book that might accurately have been titled The Complete Book of Color in Spinning. Drawing on 20 years of experience learning and teaching color techniques for handspinners, the author has created an essential manual for any handspinner who wishes to add color to handspun yarn through immersion dyeing, painting rovings, blending, carding, and/or plying yarn to create a product unavailable in any store. Included are 150 color photos, line drawings, and a gallery of pieces incorporating techniques discussed in the book. A very practical book, with step-by-step instructions, dye formulas, and a good selection of self-study exercises at the end of each chapter; highly recommended for textile collections.
Creative Spinning $26.95
Essentials of Yarn Design, by Mabel Ross   $34.95	Review: Would you enjoy being able to plan and spin yarn which is exactly what is required for any project you are attempting. The author describes in detail how to make yarns of many kinds - from thick, soft ones to fine gossamer, from simple yarns to the fancy fashion ones, expensive to buy but simple to make when you follow the directions in this book. 126 pages, illustrated.
Hands on Spinning by Lee Raven Interweave $18.95	Review: You'll find here all you'll need to know to spin unique, beautiful, high-quality yarns for your knitting, crocheting, or weaving. With very clear directions and excellent diagrams, the author starts you on your spinning journey by simply pulling some fibers from a small hand full of wool and spinning them on your thigh. She proceeds rapidly from there.
Hand Woolcombing and Spinning by Peter Teal $30.00	No review available.
Handspun Treasurers From Rare Wool Breeds: Collected Works From the Save the Sheep Project by Spin-Off Magazine  $19.95	Review: Spin-Off Magazine present a gallery of the work of spinners who consciously use the wool and support the growing of rare sheep breeds. Looking at the beautiful color gallery of finished pieces, ranging from socks to Navajo rugs isn't the same as feeling them, but all the detailed information about each piece and the accompanying essays make this a valuable reference and inspiration for serious spinners.
In Sheep's Clothing by Nola Fournier and Jane Founier $24.95	Review: So you've been spinning awhile and a variety of breed's fleece are available. Which one will suit your needs? What are it's properties besides the obvious ones? How should you prepare your choice for your project? This new handbook clarifies through photos, specs, and suggestions for many breeds from three classifications of sheep breeds: fine wools, long wools, down wools, and miscellaneous crosses. Each classification has a quick reference guide for each of its breeds. This reference book will inform your fleece selection and fine tune your spinning so you get what you expect.
Learn to Spin Silk on a Top-Whorl Spindle by Ruth MacGregor  $9.95	Review: This claims to not be an in-depth text, but rather opens the door to those of us who have fallen in love with silk and want to learn a new skill through an easy to use booklet. However I found the pages to be full of helpful information. From affordable equipment suppliers to concise definitions on the forms of silk fibers, to the kinds of silk available, the author obviously knows her subject. She takes you by baby steps, through refining your technique, to making a skein, to plying. There is a section on troubleshooting, and info on local guilds of fiber friends. A very useful little booklet.
SPIN IT: Making Yarn from Scratch (drop spindle) by Lee Raven $9.95	Review: Lee Raven has been spinning and offering her yarns and teaching skills for many years. This slim book brings her approach to handspindle spinning to the beginner. The tools and fiber preparations are kept simple and attainable. The illustrations and information are clear and thorough. The projects that use some of the yarn you've made are as fun and interesting as the spinning instruction. Let Lee Raven guide you through the process of learning basic spinning and yarn design.
SPIN TO KNIT The Knitter's Guide to Making Yarn   by Shannon Okey     $21.95	Softcover  Pages:  128  Size:  8½'' X 9''    Do you want to knit with something other than commercial yarns? Dare to be different — become a full-fledged fiber fanatic with Spin to Knit, the essential guide for knitters wanting to learn to make their own yarn!   Urban spinner Shannon Okey, author of KnitGrrl, teaches the basic tools you need to get started spinning: whether you should begin with a drop spindle or a wheel, and how to control singles, twist, and ply. She also discusses incorporating color into spinning, from "dishwater dyeing," to incorporating beads, thread, or other media into yarns for visual interest. Inventive patterns include a thrift-store garment that is jazzed-up with the addition of a beautiful handspun trim, a boatneck pullover that combines both mill- and hand-spun yarns, a retro pom-pom scarf, a traditional lace shawl, and much more.
SPINDLE SPINNING From Novice to Expert by Connie Delaney        $14.00	Softcover  This is a manual for the spinner, who, like most spinners around the world do their spinning the time worn way on a weighted stick of some form or other. A very well produced text with good essays on spinning and clear line drawings and photos of the various processes and techniques, this slim tome will inform the novice and inspire the expert.
Spinner's Companion by Bobbie Irwin   $19.95	This little book of facts and hints to keep in your spinning basket and learn from. It touches on a plethora of facts and lore that you know you’ve seen, but in which book? It is published by Spin-Off magazine, so you know you’re in good hands. Spinning wheels, drop spindles, fiber handling, yarn handling, charts and tables, some new ideas and discoveries are the content. The format is a small spiral bound, sturdy book printed on heavy paper. Take it to a spinning bee. Your fellow spinners will like it too.
Spinning Designer Yarns $24.95	Review: Many of us started spinning just for the fascination of creating our own yarn for our own projects. These first skeins told me that there is much more to learn to get consistent and planned results for each project, each fleece or new fiber. This new release from Interweave Press exploits their talent in book publishing and the talents of the author is bringing a serious, clearly accessible, manual on the spinning techniques for that next step of designing, dyeing, spinning, and fashioning exactly the yarn for the purpose at hand. Much information here for handling the fibers, using color theory and dye techniques, and finishing the yarn. This is a classic manual for spinners and textile designers.
Spinning Llama and Alpaca   $14.00	Review: "Everything you might ever want to know about spinning the wool from the popular Andean camelid, but couldn't find the best book for", would describe this new book. All kinds of camelid raising lore, wool handling facts, spinning hints, including dyeing, abound here. Along with all the photos and illustrations, there are even some actual samples of wool and yarn.
Spinning Wool: Beyond the Basics by Anne Field $28.95
Start Spinning Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn by Maggie Casey     Paperbound, 8½ x 9, 120 pages 125 photographs, 5 illustrations ISBN 978-1-59668-065-4 $21.95	The art of spinning is growing in popularity as knitters, new and experienced, want to make their own yarn. All it takes is some fluff, a spindle or wheel, and a little practice! Maggie Casey, co-owner of Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins yarn shop in Boulder, Colorado, and veteran spinning teacher, takes complete novices to competent spinners in Start Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn.   Based on Maggie's time-tested Spinning 101 workshop, which she has taught for twenty-two years, readers will learn to spin the yarn of their dreams beginning with an introduction to the various types of fibers available, choosing and preparing (or buying) fiber with which to spin, and detailed instructions for both spinning on a spindle and spinning on a wheel, with extra detail on Wheel 101 complete with plenty of photos. Maggie also offers a special section on troubleshooting and wheel maintenance, plus tips and tricks for creating better yarns. Then she moves into plying, setting twist, using a niddy noddy, and woolen and worsted spinning. Maggie concludes with a chapter on uses for spun yarn, which covers wraps per inch, measuring yards for projects, and size of yarn.   Start Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn covers all the basics newbies need to spin their own fabulous yarn. Using yarn handspun to your own specifications is like tasting a delicious strawberry from your own garden; once spinners get comfortable creating new and wonderful yarns, anything is possible!
TEACH YOURSELF VISUALLY HANDSPINNING by Judith MacKenzie McCuin   $21.99	Softcover  224 Pages With its soothing, meditative effect, hand spinning is a relaxing hobby, and the beautiful yarns you create are an even better reward. This visual guide shows you the basics, beginning with the tools and fibers, and takes you through spinning, plying, making novelty yarns, using exotic fibers, dyeing, and more. Whether you use an inexpensive hand spindle or splurge on a spinning wheel, stick with wool or try alpaca, cashmere, or cotton, you′ll learn how to create fun, original, one–of–a–kind yarns that you can knit or weave into truly unique, handmade, and all–natural creations.
Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing Book by Rachel Brown  $40.00	Review: This is a very good book. Judging by its cover only, my initial reaction was how can one book cover so much and yet do a good job? But, the author covers a great deal and does it well. You are shown "how-to," then given more than 50 weaving projects for such things as belts, sashes, stoles, handbags, wall hangings, pillow covers, tapestries. The step-by-step directions are crystal clear and thoroughly illustrated with drawings showing everything that must be seen to be understood.
THE YARN BOOK: How to Understand, Design and Use Yarn by Penny Walsh $26.50	Softcover 128 Pages 6” X 9” Review: Yarn is the basic unit of textile construction and every fabric, except felt is made with it. The properties of yarn — its ply, tensility, strength, weight, elasticity, and resistance to heat, water, shrinkage — are what give each yarn its unique characteristics. By manipulating these properties, an astonishing array of fabric types can be produced, creating any number of textures and appearances. By focusing on these varieties, Penny Walsh is able to closely examine the composition and construction of different yarns and explore their many uses. She examines the techniques of spinning and the mechanisms used to create yarn. Color illustrations accompany the text, demonstrating the appearances of different yarns. There is also practical instruction on making your own threads and yarns. The Yarn Book is written for the serious student and the professional textile artist, and will be useful for spinners and weavers. It is a complete guide to understanding, designing, and using yarn.
Spin Off Issues       New Spring Issue  is in. See Spin Off page

Return to Top