Customer Reviews

Color in Spinning

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Deb Menz offers wonderful information on creating multi-colored yarns for knitting and weaving. As a graphics professional, I thought I had a good grasp on color theory -- until I started to dye fibers for spinning. The interaction of colored fibers is very different than what you'd expect from paints (and I have a big basket of ugly yarn to prove it!) This book helped me understand what was going wrong and gave me new princples to explore. And the range of techniques used by the author (painted rovings, blending colored fibers by carding and combing) are very inspiring.

My only reservation about the book comes the examples used throughout the text. The photography is lovely but there are very few closeups. I have often stared at the images and wished I were about two feet closer to see how the colors interacted and how the yarn structure affected the final product. Additionally, I found the range of examples to be surprisingly limited. Deb Menz has a particular style to her work and after a while I found the examples got a little repetitive. Her color theory covers a huge and complex range of possibilities, but the examples seemed to use the same palette of colors over and over again. A little more exploration and contrast between sets of examples would have been welcome.

But overall, this book is absolutely invaluable for any yarn designer. There is no other that covers this important topic in such detail and I'm delighted to have it as part of my library.

I received "Color In Spinning" as a gift and have found it to be one of the best, if not the best book on the subject of color blending that I have read. I was especially intrigued by the section on producing multi colored rovings using a hackle or combs. The many colored drawings and photographs throughout the book make her well written directions very easy to understand.

I am now making some wonderful multi colored yarns using the techniques explained so well in Deb Menz's woderful book and I highly recommend it to any hand spinner who wants to create their own unique one of a kind yarns.

If you've ever wondered how to work with color, this is the book for you! Deb does a wonderful job explaining color theory and how to use that theory with fibers. She explains how to blend fibers for specific colors using both drum carders and combs. There is also a section for dyeing roving using Sabraset dyes. The instructions for each section are clear with great illustrations. She also includes self study exercises.

In every way, this is a book that will improve your color skills. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Deb Menz's approach to using color in handspinning is firmly based on color theory yet fairly easy to understand and execute, with the help of photographed examples and formulas, exercises, etc. I own the Twisted Sister's book, which is good for inspiration but rather vague in terms of instruction and creating repeatable results. Menz covers handpainting, carding, combing and plying, and shows you how to use colors to achieve different results in each method. I feel that it's probably the only book I need on this subject, I love it!

Color theory and techniques for dyeing are only the beginning of the riches in this book. More importantly, it covers how to achieve color effects with fiber. I have found the detailed instructions on hand-combing and drum-carding to be indispensible.

I first saw this book as a novice handspinner who was interested in hand-carding small quantities of fiber blends for my fiber arts experiments. I checked it out from the library, spent the entire time that I had it absorbing information, but did not feel the need to own it. Much of the material seems directed more at production spinners or fiber artists who are blending large quantities. It's an interesting read, but if you're working with small quantities, you're likely to be just as happy with simpler (less fussy or precise) methods.

Now that I'm more experienced and have acquired a drum carder, the book is a must-have. When I paint, I find that the colors I mix on my palette are richer and deeper than colors straight from the tube. With fiber, I find that the same is true. Blended colors have a vibrancy that is lacking from commercially dyed fiber that is usually dyed in large uniform batches.

Most importantly, the book gives the fiber artist the skills needed to blend colors consistently from one batch to another. When I was hand-carding small batches for experimentation, I was much less concerned with how easy my results were to replicate than I am now that I'm going to be carding larger batches across multiple batts. If I'm carding a pound of fiber in 2 ounce batts, I want the 8th batt to be almost indistinguishable from the 1st so that I don't get strange color shifts in my yarn or my finished project. This is the skill set that Menz is trying to offer her readers and it is one which will be invaluable in my continuing development as a fiber artist.

This has to be the most informative spinning book I've come across. For me it has been most helpful in detailing carding & spinning tips & tricks. Several 'ah-ha' moments while reading then spinning. I highly recommend this book for any beginner spinner. Totally inspiring to do more & push the limits!!

Coming from a formal art background, I really appreciate this book. Not only does it cover the basics of dyeing and carding/combing well, but it also provides lessons in color (beyond the basic color wheel) where you directly see the results of mixing and using different color combinations. There are samples of finished knitted pieces using similarly-colored yarn yet with slightly different properties. Readers are encouraged to use the exercises for future self-directed study. Great cataloguing ideas are offered.

I highly recommend this book!

I purchased this book after having borrowed it so many times. It is a wealth of information on how to blend colours and gives many great suggestions on how to prepare wool fibre for colouring and blending. I am a spinner who likes to experiment and this has given me so much more confidence in colouring and blending to achieve a specific result. Thoroughly recommend it to those who spin and like to create their own special colours in wool/fibre.

Gave me so many ideas for dyeing and spinning my fiber. it has lots of info on colour theory. I do think it was missing more simple dying, and a lot of the colourways it shows have 10+ colours in them, but it is a GREAT resource.