Spin It - Making Yarn from Scratch by Lee Raven

Spin It - Making Yarn from Scratch
by Lee Raven

I often pick up a drop-spindle rather than sitting down at my wheel. It may not be as quick as treadling a wheel, but I like the control it gives you and it really makes you feel a direct connection with the ancient beginnings of spinning.

There's no doubt that mastering the spindle before moving to a wheel pays dividends.

Lee Raven's Spin It is the perfect accompaniment to a drop spindle for an absolute beginner. Or perhaps perfect without a spindle, given that it shows you how to make one from a CD!

Presentation

It's a slim book but its 30-something pages are packed with so much information. The presentation is fun, not formal, with lots of photographs and drawings.

The subtitle is Making Yarn from Scratch. Scratch really does mean first principles - try rolling fibres on your thigh, and then moving on to a hooked stick. A great demonstration of the way it all works before taking you step-by step through spinning yarn on a drop-spindle. If you like, it shows you how to make a home-made drop-spindle. Lee Raven tells you all you need to know to spin your own yarn; plying, carding, combing, scouring, and finishes off with five fun projects involving knitting, weaving and crocheting with handspun.

paperback, 30 pages, 8.5" (215mm) x 11" (280mm)

Shiela Dixon, 18 April 2009

Buy Spin It - Making Yarn from Scratch by Lee Raven