When I posted about blogging more frequently the other day on Instagram, I was chatting with Kay Johnson, who is porkupinehill10k on Instagram about books and learning resources for both new and intermediate spinners, like myself. I thought that the subject would work best as a blog post, as I could add some links to a few favourite websites and include a list of a few favourite books. Instagram doesn’t allow for links and works best for shorter messages.
- Respect The Spindle by Abby Franquemont
- Dyeing To Spin and Knit – Techniques & Tips to Make Custom Hand Dyed Yarns by Felicia Lo Wong
- Yarn.i.tec.ture by Jillian Moreno
- The Spinners Book of Yarn Designs by Sarah Anderson
- The Spinners Book of Fleece by Beth Smith
The Abby’s book is the first spinning book I bought as a new spinner back in 2013, along with a couple of issues of Spin Off Magazine. It is an excellent book if you are just starting off on your spinning journey. Her no nonsense, yet encouraging writing style is very clear, as she guides you through the technical aspects and physics of spinning on a spindle. I spun exclusively on spindles from 2013 -2017, when I was able to afford to buy my Lendrum DT wheel and I still love them for small projects with luxurious fibres, or for sampling and travelling. Every summer I take a small project bag and my my mini Turkish spindle from Subterranean Woodworks with me to Scotland.
Books 2&3 cover similar territory, in that Jillian and Felicia are both writing about taking hand dyed fibres and drafting and manipulating them using different drafting, blending and fibre preparation techniques. Where they differ is that Felicia’s book is aimed at spinners and knitters who would like to learn to dye some of their own fibres and yarn at home. I found this book very helpful for that, along with Gail Callahan’s book Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece. When I want to spin, but I’m not sure about what I want to spin, I love dipping into these books and trying out some of the techniques in the books. Colour and the manipulation of colour is one of the reasons I love spinning so much, you can really come up with combinations that can be difficult to find, or replicate with commercial yarns, especially fractal and gradient yarns.
The fourth book is all about texture. I love textured yarns for weaving and smoother, finer yarns for knitting. The samples in Sarah’s book are all spun with undyed white fibres, so that you can see the intricate ply structures clearly, without the distractions of lots of bright colours and there are clear step by step photos for each type of yarn. Again this is another book I turn to often when I feel like trying something different. I have been experimenting with thread plying corespun yarns and spiral plying and I have also been exploring some of the different ways to spin sock yarns that are in this book. If you are interested in exploring art yarns further, I can recommend Jacey Boggs Faulkner’s Craftsy course called Spinning Art Yarns, my son loved the part where she shows you how to make yarn moustaches in order to make Beehive’s, that part of the video had him crying with laughter and sparked his interest in trying a bit of spinning for himself. I also recently joined the Fibery Goodness Community over at Tiny Studio, they have some wonderful video tutorials.
https://www.fiberygoodness.com/
The fifth book is one I bought a couple of years after buying my wheel. I had joined a few spinning groups on Ravelry and there were interesting discussions about how different breeds had lock structures that were more suitable for smooth, drapey yarns, while others were more bouncy and sproingy. I had been spinning Corriedale and feeling disappointed with my slightly crunchy results and Beth’s advice to try spinning it over the fold was very helpful, the result was a softer yarn, with lots more loft. I regularly look at this one if I’m trying a breed of wool that I haven’t tried before and I want to make some samples.
Do you have a favourite spinning book? I would love to hear which books have inspired you the most and why.