Spin to Knit by Shannon Okey

The knitter's guide to making yarn

Are you ready to move on from knitting with commercial yarn and to start making your own?

This is another excellent 'getting started' book, this time aimed at experienced knitters who'd like to knit with their own handspun. Half of the book teaches you to spin and the other half is packed with imaginitive knitting patterns designed with handspun in mind. They're well-chosen to make you want to get your hands on the fibre and get started!

The book starts logically with what to look for in a fleece and how to wash it. It covers carding using hand and drum carders, spinning and plying using a drop spindle and a wheel.

The illustrations (see the image below) have white backgrounds, which makes them look extremely clear and easy-to-understand.

The last chapter - literally the entire second half of the book - is descriptively entitled "What to do with all that yarn". Twenty patterns for your handspun including hats, scarves, socks, jumpers, a shrug, a bag and a beautiful shawl. These are varied in style - I've selected a few (see image below) to give you a feel. To get you knitting more quickly, there are ideas for combining your handspun with commercial yarn, or for accentuating existing garments.

The book concludes with a glossary, consisting of several pages of stitches, knitting pattern abbreviations and a yarn weight chart.

Size: 216 x 228 mm, 128 pages

Shiela Dixon, 21 April 2009

Spin to Knit - the Knitter's guide to making yarn - by Shannon Okey

This is another excellent 'getting started' book, this time aimed at experienced knitters who'd like to knit with their own handspun. Half of the book teaches you to spin and the other half is packed with imaginitive knitting patterns designed with handspun in mind. They're well-chosen to make you want to get your hands on the fibre and get started!

Read my review of Spin to Knit

£15.99

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