Spinning Books

esigner yarns -- tweedy, bumpy, kinky, shaggy, and stylish -- are fun to spin, and when they're used in simple projects, the simple becomes sublime. Spinning Designer Yarns leads the new or intermediate spinner gently into the world of supersoft luxury fibers, of textured effects, and of the dyepot miracles.

Knitters are discovering the pleasure and satisfaction of spinning their own yarns. Master craftsman Priscilla Gibson-Roberts guides readers in the fast-track, low-cost, high-quality approach to spinning. No spinning wheel required.

Color in Spinning is a practical guide to color for handspinners. Deb Menz offers a technically savvy but thoroughly accessible tutorial on working with color and fiber. After introducing the reader to the basics of the color/fiber relationship, she moves on to in-depth discussions and demonstrations of immersion dyeing, painted rovings, blending colors and fibers with a drum carder, drum carding for multicolored yarns, multicolor combing techniques, and spinning and plying multicolored preparations. This book will appeal to both the novice and the expert. The informed text and extensive illustrations work together to inspire the color fiend within us all.

Learn to recycle Rover into beautiful garments and accessories as the authors teach you this wacky new spin on an old craft. Knitting with Dog Hair is the definitive guide to putting on the dog! In this tip-filled, easy-to-use book, the authors tell:How to make Afghan or a beret from your Beagle: you pet can yield yarnHow to collect, clean, and store your pooch's furHow to modify your patterns to accommodate pet-spun yarnHow to find experienced pet hair spinners, a guide to resources and suppliersFrom mittens from a Malamute to caps from a Collie, this illustrated guide is the creative answer to that vexing shedding problem. This fetching book is certain to be this year's best in show!

Knitters who want new worlds to conquer can reach for this guide to handspinning their own designer yarns. A rundown on equipment introduces the drop spindle, supported spindle, niddy-noddy, McMorran balance, and yarn meter, while the following sections include choosing wool and other fibers, presenting knitting patterns suitable for handspun yarn, and in-depth profiles of real urban spinners. For crafters who want to experiment with spinning but don't want to sacrifice too much of their knitting time, there are lots of ideas for jazzing up a thrift-store cardigan with handspun trim or knitting a boatneck pullover in a combination of commercial and handspun yarns. Methods for incorporating beads and threads into yarn and a technique for dyeing yarn in the dishwasher are also featured.

Learn tapestry weaving from start to finish with Nancy Harvey, one of America's best-known tapestry teachers. A thorough explanation of basic weaving techniques, and a series of illustrated projects with step-by-step notes, will reward the weaver with a treasure trove of color and texture. Problem-solving tips are presented along with inspiring photos.