Customer Reviews

Get Spun

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

 

 

Art yarns are all the rage at present. Having started to dye yarn, I was interested in learning how to spin. I had seen mention in many places of the drop-spindle method, but sadly this is not covered in the book as the author finds it difficult. This includes how to spin many art yarns including coil spun - a technique that is not often seen. However I did not find the inspiration I was looking for in this book. The backgrounds to the photos are dull - even the yarns are not exciting as many I have seen produced elsewhere. I was intrigued by the plastic bag and fabric spinning, but this is not something I want to do. This review first appeared on Karen Platt's book review website.

This book is great for people who already spin with a wheel and are interested in producing art yarns. I'd already tried about half of the things the author explains, but I am excited to try some of the other stuff. The instructions are pretty good, so you don't have to be an extremely talented spinner to benefit from this book. (In fact, if you have trouble keeping your yarn perfectly the same thickness all the time, you may especially like this book!) People who are thinking about learning to spin may also enjoy this book, because it gives a pretty good overview of spinning in general, and what the process is for dyeing and preparing fibers, etc, so you can see whether it sounds fun to you. (But you don't have to card your own wool if you don't want to!)

What this book IS:
- a basic overview of spinning on a spinning wheel.
- an overview of all of the tools used in the process of spinning.
- review of different materials that people spin.
- basic instructions for dyeing fiber in a kettle or by handpainting.
- info on blending fibers with a drumcarder.
- instructions on creating many types of art yarn: adding locks, spinning on an elastic core, wool chrysalis, coils, and adding a lot of different things in--beads, fabric, etc.
- a lot of instructional pictures!

What this book IS NOT:
- pretty pictures of art yarns that other people have spun (although there are pictures for each set of instructions)
- a very thorough book about dyeing fiber
- stand alone instructions that you can use without tools (if you want to try these things you need AT LEAST a spinning wheel; it won't be a very fun book if you don't have a spinning wheel and you're not thinking of getting one anytime soon.)

This book is a lot of fun, and very well put together. It gave me some great ideas.

Purchased this book for myself. I have just started spinning and want to branch out into art yarns. I think this book will be helpful for me. Good illustrations and directions.

if you own Lex Boegers intertwined i would not recommend this book, because it is just a skinny version but missing a few things that intertwined has. The last 10 pages however does include how to spin "unspinables" which includes fabric, plastic bags, and adding in 'odd" things such as hardware supplies.
It is a good book if you are new to spinning and/or art yarns, but even then i would recommend other books.

This book has been sitting near my spinning wheel, along with Intertwined, while I have been spinning art yarns. Both books have inspiration for making the pretty, lumpy, bumpy, non-traditional yarns. I have learned some new techniques from this book, and find it has a place in my library. Art yarns are like most creative endeavors, it is impossible to make 2 skeins that are alike, or indeed to replicate through instruction something created by another spinner. This book just gets one started on expanding horizons after the basics. The only thing I took issue with was the instructions on carding. For the crazy batts necessary for art yarns, the objective is not to run the wool through the carder until it is smooth and blended. The instructions for crazy carding is better in the Intertwined book. All in all, this kind of spun yarn is not something to copy, it is something to create.

The author starts out by asking, "What makes a yarn an art yarn and not simply a novelty yarn? Artistry and intention, of course. When you set out to create yarn that is an object of beauty, then you have an art yarn-even if that yarn is a gray cobweb-weight three-ply. Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder."

It's that attitude which makes me appreciate this book. One, she's not insisting that funky, novelty yarns are the only "art" yarns, but two, because she's giving you the techniques you need to make your yarn-no matter what it is-on purpose.

Ultimately, this book is FUN. Even if you prefer "regular" yarn like I do, part of the point of having art in the world at all is to broaden horizons and make us aware of possibilities we couldn't see for ourselves. Sure, most of us may focus on trying to spin consistent, even yarns to knit into socks or sweaters, with no time for this kind of frivolous nonsense ... except that it's NOT nonsense, any more than somebody dyeing their wool bright pink or turquoise is "nonsense." Even if you don't think you want it in your wardrobe, sometimes you just need to step outside what you THINK are the boundaries of what is possible to see the broader horizons.

When I flipped through the pages, I was really happy to see clean photos and easy to understand instructions on how to create new and funky yarns! The book is not too long that you start to feel it's tedious, but it's not too short where it would leave you saying, "Hey? Where's the rest of it?". It starts you off with simple, basic yarn, and then gradually starts adding different elements to make the yarn more complicated looking, for example the yarn that shows beads and even silk worm cocoons added to it.

In the beginning of the book, it teaches you the basics about different fibers that you can use to spin with, it even shows you ideas of how to be environmentally-friendly by recycling things like old silk, strips of old jeans or clothes, and even plastic bags! What a great way to make your weekend Farmer's Market grocery bag than with plastic bags from grocery stores and old cloth that's been shoved to the back of your closet for years! I never thought of using cloth, I just never thought about it, especially when fabric stores have small bundles of cloth for Very inexpensive, sometimes as little as 2 dollars.

This book Definitely encourages the beginner and advanced spinner to get creative with what they use, even if it's coming cloth and wool or even silk and plastic bag! The information was awesome and the pictures were incredibly helpful and inspiring!

I love this book. It is very informative and clear. Has great pictures and easy to read. I use this book all the time!