Customer Reviews

The Natural Knitter: How to Choose, Use, and Knit Natural Fibers from Alpaca to Yak

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With the recent increased interest in knitting and natural fibers, the choice of yarns available to knitters has never been greater. In The Natural Knitter, Barbara Albright helps knitters incorporate these good-for-the-planets yarns into their knitting repertoire.

Albright has structured the book in an easy-to-follow format. The first three chapters look at wool, silk and other animal fibers, and plant fibers respectively. Chapters four and five move beyond knitting and explore the world of natural dyes and spinning.

In her introduction, Barbara explores what qualifies as "organic" yarn and the varying classifications of organic products. In explaining the purpose of The Natural Knitter, she states: "Armed with the information you glean from this book, you will have a greater understanding and a new appreciation of the wide variety of natural yarns that are available...While this book is about natural fibers, it is also about people who take another step toward being more earth-friendly..."

Each of the more than twenty patterns in The Natural Knitter has been created using some of the most beautiful and luxurious artisan fibers by some of today's top designers. Accompanying these patterns is useful information about the fiber itself and a profile of each of the companies whose yarn is used in a project.

The patterns included here are not only made out of special yarns but many feature unique construction as well. Lidia Karabinich's "Memories of Ukraine" sweater is made from linen and features her signature seamless yoke. Debbie New's "Cast-Off Clothing" is made with hemp yarn and features a net-like stitch created while New was experimenting with loose cast-off methods. Knitters who wish to make something with the prohibitively expensive qiviut yarn will be drawn to Linda Romens' "Qiviut Twinset." Made with a qiviut/wool/alpaca blend, the yarn has an incredible 275 yards per 57 gram ball and yet, as Romens explains, it is fabulously warm.

The Natural Knitter is Barbara Albright's final publication and is a fitting tribute to the significant contribution she made to the craft she loved. Her passing in 2006 was a significant loss to the knitting community.

Armchair Interviews says: Earth-friendly knitting.

Everything about this book is rich, lush and beautiful. The author did a beautiful job of exploring natural fibers. For me, many of the patterns are challenging with my current "patience to skill" ratio (I consider myself a newly-intermediate-knitter) - but I am inspired to eventually try several patterns. Albright discussed how to define "organic" fibers - there are, I believe, 5 distinctions of organic fibers. Qualities of fibers are thoroughly reviewed. Though I am not a spinner, spinning is discussed in terms that make sense to a knitter. I liked Albrights' general approch, it's very nuturing and informative to knitters and fiber artists of all levels.

This book is an inspiration in this day and age. I'm always skeptical when I hear of a knitting book focusing on "natural". It usually means the patterns are dowdy, oversized, shapeless and photographed in only neutral colors. Not so with Albright's book. The book is beautifully written, photographed and styled. The patterns are classic and lovely with modern shaping that's enhanced even more by the luxurious fibers. Breathtaking and timeless.

Each of the chapters deals with a different natural fiber and is incredibly informative and interesting to read. Gaining understanding of these fibers enables a knitter to choose intelligently between quivit and cashmere before spending a lot of money.

With the influx of so many new knitting books on the market, this one is original, and lovely - "the real deal" - and a must-have for any serious knitter's library.

As a dedicated, life-long fiber arts enthusiast, I opened The Natural Knitter with anticipation, and it didn't disappoint. This is a beautifully written and presented book full of interesting and useful information about natural fibers and the countless ways of putting them to use. While much has been written about sheep's wool (still my favorite), it's been more difficult to find info about the more exotic fibers, such as yak and bison, but now The Natural Knitter has filled the gap. Nicely illustrated, with patterns, tips, and suggestions that will stimulate the reader's creativity, it is very much worth the attention of fiber artists of every stripe.

This is a very bittersweet review of Barbara Albright's "The Natural Knitter". Barbara wrote both knitting and cooking books. Sadly she died last fall of a brain tumor at the age of 51. This was her last book, and how sad she missed enjoying her wonderful new book. The world has lost a wonderful person, knitter and author. Barbara's "The Natural Knitter" had to be an enormous task to write and illustrate. This book is like an encyclopedia of yarn all natural all beautiful. You will learn what natural fibers to use from Alpaca to Yak. We are all familiar with the new interest in natural fibers like cotton, flax and hemp and all other fibers that come from plants. Barbara introduces us to a fiber called vicuna and it is softer than cashmere and extremely protective. The vicuna is a rare wild animal which sports hair less than half the diameter of the finest sheep's wool. Its wool is not just for show, however. Because it lives at an elevation of between 12,000 and 18,000 feet on the slopes of the Andes Mountains it needs that insulating coat. Up there, near the snow line the days are beautifully sunny but at night the temperatures plummet to many degrees below zero. I learned that you can spin fibers directly from an Angora rabbit onto a spinning wheel, which is absolutely amazing to me and that angora goats produce mohair, so don't let the name alpaca fool you into thinking that is where alpaca yarn comes from. Did you know cashmere comes from the cashmere goat? You will learn about different qualities of particular fibers, it also provides information about the animals and plants that provide the yarn. You will learn which plants produce fibers for each yarn and which animals yield fiber for other natural yarns. If you are in to eco-friendly knitting then this book is a must have for the conservationist knitter. Did you know that there are yarns made from bison, guanaco and even yarn made from pineapples, I didn't! You certainly see that this book was created by people who are passionate about fiber. In addition to all the great information about the yarns themselves and where they came from, there are also 23 patterns using the different fibers Barbara has introduced us too, helping you be aware of how you can use these fibers to their best advantage. This is a book you will definitely want for your knitting and fiber library. It is a beautiful hardcover book with stunning photography by Alexandra Grablewski. Barbara was a person that adored fiber and in this book has passed that knowledge on to us and I think everyone will appreciate Barbara's efforts in putting this amazing book together for you and me to treasure.

beautifully photographed and personality through and through and patterns that I want to make...almost all of them. wonderful book. she will be missed.

Very beautiful book with nice photographs. However, there is no information on the preparation or care of any of these fiber. Just a pretty book about plants and animals on a primary level. Sorry, but I sent it back as it was not what I expected in the "choose and use" department.

The Natural Knitter is a book for all lovers of natural fibres. I purchased it on the strength of a quick look at my regular knitting group's meeting, and also because it has a wonderful Norah Gaughan pattern in it. On closer perusal it is so much more - not only does the author's love of fibre, colour and the natural world come through, but it is a wonderful testament to a person whom the world could ill afford to be without. This book not only contains a variety of patterns suitable for all members of a family, but a warm and humane account of the author's love of fibre, whether it be alpaca or sheep, llama or qiviut, spinning, natural dyes and organic fleeces. It is NOT a book to exclude those of us whose love of fibre is confined to commercially produced yarns, the text alone will win many friends. This is a book to truly savour and enjoy.

The photography in this book is exquisite, and it's a pleasure to just flip through and look at the pictures of the various yarns. The book is split into descriptive text about the various sources of wool and yarn and a selection of patterns. Each section of the book focuses on a type of yarn, such as wool, or plant-sourced yarns.

I wasn't turned on by most of the patterns and would be unlikely to knit most of them. There were a couple of exceptions, though, including a beautiful fair isle sweater in natural shades. Each pattern specifies a type of yarn to use, but in many cases it would be very difficult to get the yarns she recommends as some are not widely sold.

Overall a nice book to own and look through. The patterns are fairly diverse, so I suspect most people would like one or two but not all.

I bought this book for myself for Christmas. I love natural fibers. I love learning about them, how they are made, where they come from. I love knitting with them, and best of all I love wearing them. This book is therefore a delight, in my opinion. I read it for pleasure. And as a resource. This book offers several beautiful knitting projects, which I may not make, but from which I will borrow ideas. It describes each fibre, their animal source, their properties, and how to find them online. I am now knitting the 'Qiviut Twinset' pattern, which I have easily adapted for my top-down approach, out of yarn I purchased from Mini Mills Ltd. Based on this book, I have also purchased a handknitting hat kit in qiviut from Oomingmak, in Alaska. I have enjoyed my gift (to myself), and recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the natural yarn they like to knit with and where to get it. Also, shop around for the best price. I ordered mine online from 'knit picks' which at the time had the lowest price.