Customer Reviews

Spinning in the Old Way: How (and Why) To Make Your Own Yarn With A High-Whorl Handspindle

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, a warning: a quick comparison suggests this book is largely a reprint of Gibson-Roberts's earlier book, High Whorling. I was unable to find anything telling how much of the material is new.

However, if you don't own the earlier book, this is a great introduction to spinning on a high whorl spindle, and covers subjects ranging from history to choosing a spindle to how to finish your yarn once it's been spun. An excellent resource for the new spindler, and a good refresher for those of us who've been "around the whorl" a few times...

I'm a new spinner and prefer my wheel to the handspindle, so I almost passed this book by. I went ahead and picked it up since I have learned much from PGR's other books. And this one is a keeper. Her discussion on how much twist in singles and plies is invaluable. Also her discussion on finishing yarn was an eye opener for me. I'm busily plying some yarn so I can try her "boiling" recipe!

This is an excellent book for a beginner spinner with a spindle. I have found it to be very helpful and recommend it to other beginner spindlers. While many of the hand drawn pictures work just fine, it can be difficult to figure out the actual MOTION required to roll a spindle up or down a leg and drafting, I believe, really does take someone showing you.. . or just a heck of a lot of practice. The best thing about this book is how encouraging she is and how it really is perfectly acceptable to just spin. Practical advise, however, abounds and she gives good suggestions for how to make different yarns for different uses.

I have several books on hand-spinning and this is THE best. My only complaint is lack of photos but that would jack up the price and isn't really necessary. The illustrations do a good job as is. I learned to spin on a high-whorl spindle by buying one and doing the spinny thing with my fingers - this book shows how you get WAY more spin by spinning it (in the old way!) up or down your thigh. At first this sounded hokey. I thought I had a good spin using my fingers. I was wrong. Now I'm a convert to thigh-spinning! (I know it sounds weird, but this author knows what she is talking about!)

The book also talks about how you can use cheap and inexpensive things as spinning tools. I like the author's idea of keeping it simple and portable. I also like the section on plying - lacking in a lot of books. The author actually tried a bunch of ways and rated them for ease, and then tells how to do it in the easiest way. That's useful.

I love the book and would recommend it to anyone. If you don't have a drop spindle yet, BUY THE BOOK FIRST, then shop for your spindle when you know something about the difference between a good, useful one and a bad one. I had to get rid of my first "beginner" spindle - it wobbled, had a bad hook, and no notch.

I just learnt how spin last week and saw another book, which I will not mention- which was useless. this book is excellent! it explains the process, variations, techniques, different spindles (who knew?) and gives clear instructions that even a beginner can follow. it really illuminates the hand spinning process. don't be fooled by some other book's glossy look.

from this book, even the experienced spinners! I haven't read any of Priscillas other books, so the reprint issue is irrelevent, but as someone who gave up on trying to spin with a bottom whorl spindle, the top whorl spindle is a revelation, and I have yet to see a book available to Australian spinners that has the wealth and variety of information that is explained in this book!
Even if you don't spindle spin, there is a lot to learn about fibre preparation, plying and other aspects of spinning that it is so often taken for granted that we know! If you don't have the original, beg borrow or steal a copy if you can't get it here!

I am new to spinning with a top whorl spindle, and got this on a whim. I found it fully digestible, with loads of well-written information. The illustrations are clear and useful, covering types of spindles, preparation of purchased fiber, woolen vs. worsted preparation and spinning, direction of spin, plying, cabling, and finishing. It also covers using a nostepinne as a tool for plying.

Ms. Gibson-Roberts is clear, concise and logical about her preferences, but adds other alternatives so that the reader can choose her methods or alternatives, understanding why each might be useful or problematic. She is thrifty, encouraging a minimalistic approach. A list of suppliers is provided at the end, many of whom can be found on the web.

This is an excellent introduction for the novice "spindler".

I respect Priscilla and she is a great teacher. She's done some wonderful books with great details. Frankly, the ones from Nomad Press have not been very good. And this is the ultimate blow--to update a book previously released and not bother to mention it anywhere. This is the High Whorling book with updated pictures and a few updated details. Since I already own that book, it was a total waste for me to buy this one. If you don't own it, then this is definitely worth buying. I'm very disappointed and will be leery of buying any more Nomad Press books. There's no excuse for treating this like it is new material.

Spinning In The Old Way: How (And Why) To Make Your Own Yarn With A High-Whorl Handspindle by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts is an expertly informative introduction to a fun and inexpensive system for creating sturdy and reliable yarn. Providing needlecrafters at all skill levels with a unique and productive guide which is simple to master and easy to do, plus which is economical, suited for busy lives and spare moments, versatile, and efficient, Spinning In The Old Way offers the do-it-yourself enthusiasts with a means to acquire self-created yarn for their needlecraft projects. A unique and welcome addition to any personal or community library needlecraft reference collection, Spinning In The Old Way is very strongly recommended to everybody in the habit of knitting and crocheting as an exclusively comprehensive and "user-friendly" reference for anyone interested in the fiber crafts wishing to create the perfect strand.

I taught myself to spin with a high-whorl handspindle using this book. It is not only informative but gives the feeling of a friendly chat over spinning. The drawings are delightful and evocative of the culture of high whorl spinning. The writing is clear and detailed enough to be useful but doesn't bog down in overly technical explanations.