Customer Reviews

Creative Spinning

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, this is a BEAUTIFUL book. If you love yarn, and love to look at great photos and dream of what you too could do with a little fiber and a big idea, you will like this book. It is not a book for beginning spinners. The spinning how-to section is very basic, with drawings, not photos. More useful is the plying section - how to combine strands to get different effects, but then again, this section is also drawings, not photos. The photos of the author's yarns are gorgeous, and she tells a bit about the kind of sheep/plant the fiber comes from, and a few properties of that particular fiber. I wouldn't call this a serious How-To, rather it is a very good idea book, and a great pleasure to leaf through over and over again.

A beautiful gift book for spinners, filled with gorgeous close-up photos of amazing handspun yarns, accompanied by instructions for duplicating the yarns using specific fibers (for example, merino, lincoln). The opening section includes good instructional material, although the book chiefly provides inspiration for spinners who aspire to create lovely designer yarns. The book amply demonstrates the results that can be achieved by accomplished handspinners, and it is a typical high-quality softcover book from Lark Books.

This is a stunningly beautiful book, if you want to see close ups of gorgeously spun yarns. However, that's about all it is. The sparse information in the front on spinning can be obtained from most spinning websites or in pamphlets given away with the purchase of a spindle. I found very little useful information or even inspiration to copy the yarns created. My recommendation, peruse this one at a bookstore with a cup of coffee, then put it back on the shelf and instead spend your money on some yummy fiber to spin.

Of the 'Creative . . .' series of books this is on the plus side. THe beginning is full of standard info re: wheel & hand spindle spinning, plying and even washing fleece. Not a book to actually learn how to spin, althou there is enought info there if you are really adept, just no trouble-shooting info. Arranged by color (?) There are examples of many, many different sheep breeds in the yarn section. A very pretty book to look at, there are better technical books on the subject. I think I will keep my copy, but I probably would not have bought if I had had a chance to browse it 1st.

This is a beautiful book. I took it to our spinning group, Delta, Colorado, last Friday and everyone wanted my book. I think the best thing is the photos of different fibers and the mixing of fibers and seeing the wonderful combinations and results. You will be inspired by this one. Since moving to Colorado I have found many fibers to work with and this book is helping me see the fibers up close.

After reading the reviews here, I decided not to get this book. Then I came across a used copy cheap and bought it. I am glad I did. It is great to see a spinning concept/recipe book on the market. You see this type of book discussing design ideas and inspiration in other arts a lot and it is about time that there is one for spinners. It is stunning. The recipes or patterns for the yarns described and shown are a bit of fresh air. It is nice to focus on yarns by giving a swatch for a sample instead of having (for example) average looking garments and small project patterns to show off handspun yarns. I like that it focuses on the theme of the book. It gives the reader insight on how to acquire and apply their inspirations creatively into desirable yarns with meaning. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

This book is an inspiration to the individual who has some spinning expertise. It has been helpful to me in that it gives recipes for spinning specific styles of yarn using a variety of short and long fibers. Each time I look through the book and as I develop my skills I find that there is something new that I learn. But, the book was worth the price if for no other reason than it is beautiful. This book will be a spring board for my own creative spinning!

This book is only for inspiration. Looking at the pictures would offer many ideas for creating yarns. It was written by two British spinners. Many of the breeds of sheep mentioned are not available in the USA. The instructions for each yarn, all refer back to pages describing the spinning techique used. Often they say to spin two bobbins of "singles" then ply them together. How do you get the same yardage on each bobbin? Most of the book is devoted to "pretty" pictures of inspirational subjects. The new book by Lexi is the one to buy!

Although beautiful to look at, I don't feel it covers some areas thoroughly and could miss lead beginners.

beautiful photos, love the "recipies" for the wool, and the how the yarn looks knit up. A+