Review of Complete Guide to Spinning Yarn

The Complete Guide to Spinning Yarn (US) Spinning Yarn: The Complete Guide (UK)

The US version is the copy I got from a remainder bookshop; the UK from the Library

These are the same book but the title comes up slightly differently, the inside is identical, down to same page numbers. Eling Chang gets a consultant credit on the US cover.

Dublin City Public Libraries

A comprehensive guide to spinning, including history, tools, preparation, techniques and a few projects, along with some inspiration pieces.

The projects are pretty straighforward, a woven cushion (pillow in the US version) cover; Knitted Hat and Mittens in a couple of colours, you could use a commercial yarn and a handspun for this; tassels and a knitted slipcase. The patterns aren't the centerpiece of the book, the book is more about the spinning and the instructions look both straighforward and comprehensive.

 I'm glad I bought it.

 While Dublin City Public Libraries provided me with a copy they offer me no inducement to write these other than my salary and access.

Spinning

About 2 years ago my aunt gave me some fleeces, last summer my dad washed it and we carded it with carders I picked up on holiday in Sweden (if you're ever in Sweden you really should visit Scansen). I learned how to spin with a drop spindle recently from Chicwithstix and brought it with me to Galway with the intention of trying some of it. I also brought some longer staple yarn to see if I could get one of the spinning wheels operating in the house. There's about 4 or so of them, built by my dad, my brothers and some of dad's students (who didn't want them at the end of the year), built for a variety of leaving certs and curiousity by my dad to reproduce some wheels that caught his interest. They have never really been used and I failed to get the first one to work this weekend.

Still I did get some of the shorter staple yarn from my aunt spun, and plied!


It led to a near blister and it's not perfect, but for a beginner it wasn't bad. More practice when I go back again.

My little brother has a bag of my longer staple Leicester to play with, as he is determined to make the spinning wheel work and he has some time on his hands.