Friday, March 21, 2014

The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs

I am a novice spinner.  As a novice spinner I still don't know many terms or what kinds of options are out there.  I'm basically been trying one technique, and I don't even know what it is called.  There is so much I need to learn, and this is why I'm grateful I've come across the book The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs: Techniques for Creating 80 Yarns by Sarah Anderson.

This book can teach you how to create some amazing art yarns that are so unique that if I were to ever see one in a store I would have to buy it right away.  But this is why I have a spinning wheel, so I can try to create them myself.  And with this book, I actually think that I could do it.

Beyond these advanced types o f yarns, The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs takes you through some basics.  You learn about different types of drafting techniques and when you may want to use one over another.  You can learn about different types of singles, and then the dozens of different ways you can ply them together.  There are many comparisons to show why you may want one type of yarn vs another for a project.   Ultimately everything boils down to preference, but this book shows the most comprehensive options of any spinning book I've seen thus far.

As a bonus, the book comes with little flash cards that show the different types of yarns you can create.  They are broken down into the single types, the final yarn and then what page you can find the instructions.  What a great way to flip through to figure out what you want to create!

After flipping through this book I immediately sent the Amazon link to my husband begging for it. (At the time of writing this review, my birthday was right around the corner so I was no longer allowed to buy stuff for myself.)