A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns (Hardcover)

by Lisa Lloyd (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
It is clear that Lloyd is conducting a love affair with Aran designs (those wonderfully cabled knits from Ireland) as well as with the concept of blending the best of classic design with contemporary sensibilities. What does that mean? It means a judicious use of cables and twists with body-skimming shapes. Moreover, she figures out how to fashion each of the 26 patterns in hand-spun and in commercial yarns, presented beautifully in photographs and detailed instructions. For those unfamiliar with sheep breeds and “outputs,” there is a primer on hand spinning, selecting appropriate yarns, and other topics. The patterns present skill level (with clear definitions), measurements, gauge, materials, step-by-step how-to’s, and, of course, photographs and graphs, whenever appropriate. Dream of these names—Espresso, Le Smoking, October Frost, Gaelic Mist—then begin stocking, er, stitching up. --Barbara Jacobs

Product Description
The pleasure of knitting can be that much greater when you know you’re using the perfect yarn. In A Fine Fleece, designer, knitter, and spinner Lisa Lloyd explores the different qualities of handspun yarn and presents projects that show them to their best advantage. There is valuable information here for every knitter, even if you’ve never considered learning to spin (though you may find inspiration in this book to do just that).

While educating you on the differences in fibers (like Alpaca, Merino, Cormo, Rambouillet, and Suffolk) and the characteristics you can achieve in a handspun yarn by combining fibers according to certain recipes, Lisa Lloyd also shares the three important concepts that enlighten her designs: the use of contrasting color and fiber; scale and perspective (chunky yarns with chunky cable stitches versus chunky yarns with delicate ones); and the creation of “poetic” sweaters that try to capture an emotion.

Each of the 26 projects in A Fine Fleece shows the finished project knitted in both a handspun yarn and a commercial yarn so that you can train your eye to understand how fiber and texture can truly transform a piece.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Potter Craft (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307346838
• ISBN-13: 978-0307346834
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #195,241 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not *just* for spinners, but..., April 16, 2008

By	Elizabeth Metz "Muse" (Crescent, Iowa, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book might be geared towards spinners who are looking for beyond-the-basics use for his or her handspun (and provides tons of great information for those that do), but even if you've never spun a foot of yarn in your life, you can get something out of this book.

The patterns included are *fabulous*. Beyond fabulous. They're rich and intricate and have a nice mix between smaller things and to-die-for sweaters. The photography is amazing and inspiring, and for a closer look at each garment, there are diagrams and stitch charts provided for every wearable. (One of the previous reviewers commented that the photos weren't clear -- not all of them, no. But the charts make up for that, plus some. And the photos are inspirational, so it's all good with me.)

Each pattern gives you not just the required amount/wpi of the handspun yarn needed, but also gives a commercially-spun equivelent AND shows the knitted item in BOTH variations (hand/commercially-spun), so you can see how the handspun aspect changes the nature of the fabric (if it does)...it's an amazing extra that the author gives us.

Speaking of extras -- the sizing on these patterns ROCK. Being one of the Large Chest Brigade, it's often hard to find books that go beyond the 32 - 34 - 38 sizing for miniature people and get into the sizes more realistic for my...uh...front additions. Not a problem here. I think the smallest size I've seen has been 48", and that RULES. I loved the author just a little bit more than I did before after noticing that little (big?) detail.

I've been paring down my Stuff lately. Getting rid of a lot of the extraneous posessions I've been hoarding. Knitting books are included in that. And I can say, without even a hint of hesitation, that this book would be one of the five I'd keep, no matter what. It's got EVERYTHING I look for in a knitting book, plus one. I'm so glad I picked it up, and I can't wait to start knitting a wardrobe-full of handspun, handknit sweaters just for me.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Art photography reduces value of book, April 9, 2008

By	Susan L. Rubendall (Rockford, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I would have liked to give Lisa Lloyd's writing five stars and the photography two stars or perhaps just one. The text is well-written -- a pleasure to read, and informative; and the projects are classic -- many cabled sweaters,a bit of lace. The information provided for spinners is both inspiring and useful; although I would have liked more details about the fiber preparation and spinning techniques used for each project.

The photographs, however, which should clearly illustrate the stitches and techniques, are in such soft focus that they are almost useless for that purpose. In some instances, the entire project is fuzzy because the photographer has focused on a prop instead of the sweater. Are the photos pretty? Yes, very pretty. Are they helpful? Absolutely not. I checked the photographer's Web site and found that she is known for photos with a shallow depth of field. I think the book designer or publisher should have looked into this before selecting her.

The designer made another choice that reduces the value of the book to spinners -- the primary customer base. There are no photos of the handspun yarn used in each project. The reader must deduce what the yarn is like from the brief description.

Am I still happy that I purchased the book? Yes. But it would have been so much better had the designer or publisher made different choices.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars cables, cables, cables, June 15, 2008

By	Kerry (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

I'm a huge Lisa Lloyd fan and have been for a long time, so this book is never going to make it to the shelf, it's going to stay in the pile next to my knitting chair. I want to make every pattern in this book. The patterns are classic, this book will be just as valuable in your knitting library in 30 years as it is today. Everyone always wants The Perfect Sweater, the one to wear on your autumn walk to go kick leaves, and there are a dozen of them in this collection. There are patterns for a variety of yarn grists, and patterns typically go up to about 52".

The beginning section on spinning and wool characteristics is a good intro to new spinners, or wannabe spinners. It was good information to get new spinners thinking about spinning for a big project. I've been spinning for years and it didn't have any new information for me, but reading it got me whipped up to start spinning with one of these projects in mind.

However. The photographs, while beautiful and artsy and fun to look at, leave a lot to the imagination - not a great thing in a knitting pattern book. They're teaser photos - look good in the picture, but if you come to a question in your knitting you won't be able to figure out what you're doing by looking at the picture. I don't think there are more than a couple of patterns with good photos you can really tell what the pattern looks like. I'd expect this would be a struggle for a person who hasn't had a lot of experience knitting cables. I've been knitting them for years and I still need to refer to pictures, it's really a shame they aren't more available. "Harriet" has a diamond lace pattern, but you would never know that the bottom third of the sweater has an entirely different lace pattern. They've pinned sweaters to make them look shaped (a BIG, BIG NO!), but almost all of the sweaters have straight sides. The publisher wants this to be a fashion layout, with fuzzy pictures and beautiful settings, but they don't seem to get that it's an instruction manual and clear pictures of the designs need to be included. And they need to know their audience - spinners like microscopic closeups of yarn!

So overall, I love the book. I am excited to have this collection of Lisa Lloyd's patterns and I expect to wear this book out. A big finger-wagging to the publisher on the photography and thankfully I have the internet available to see some other pictures.