For knitters, crocheters, and weavers ready to make their own yarn, this handy guide provides detailed instructions for spinning both on a spindle and a wheel, and offers a special section devoted to troubleshooting and wheel maintenance that keeps projects on track. It offers a comprehensive look at the various available fiber options, choosing and preparing each type of fiber for use, and crafting these materials into ready-to-work pieces. A final chapter on the various uses of spun yarn...

Enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the current trend of DIY crafts, the hand spindle remains one of the most productive, versatile, and convenient tools for creating stunning fiber arts from home, as this beautifully illustrated guide from a veteran spinner and spindle aficionado demonstrates. With step-by-step instructions, this essential manual details the basic steps of spinning and then advances to the more complicated spinning wheel, showing how to use the spindle to make s...

Both a celebration of the craft and a sourcebook for practical information, Knitting Rules! is a collection of useful advice and emotional support for the avid knitter. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee unravels the mysteries of tangled yarn, confusing patterns, and stubbornly unfinished projects. Daring to question long-standing rules and encouraging crafters to knit in the way that works best for them, this illuminating, liberating, and hilarious look at the world of knitting is full of su...

With a knitter's perspective, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee describes the astonishing wisdom and hard-to-swallow truths that are embedded in everyday clichés. You'll laugh with Pearl-McPhee as she realizes that "babies grow" after spending nights knitting a now-too-small sweater. "Beginning is easy, continuing is hard" takes on a new meaning to the knitter who has five projects going, but wants to start another. The next time you drop a stitch, take a cue from this insightful collection and remem...

The author of Yarn Harlot returns with more hilarious personal stories about all the ups and downs of being a knitter.Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. the Yarn Harlot) returns to pen another hilarious, insightful, and poignant collection of essays surrounding her favorite topics: knitting, knitters, and what happens when you get those two things anywhere near ordinary people. Free-Range Knitters shares stories of knitting horrors and triumphs and kni...

The New York Times–bestselling author of Yarn Harlot returns with more witty stories about knitting, motherhood, friendship, and more.In this all-new collection of yarns, New York Times–bestselling author and self-proclaimed yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is all wound up about life, motherhood, losing her beloved washing machine, and, of course, knitting.With trademark humor and wit that have sustained her through thick and thin...

The popular blogger and New York Times bestselling author of Yarn Harlot puts her humorous spin on everyday life, parenting, and, well, pants.The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes takes on the amazing in the ordinary in this side-splitting series of short commentaries. Pearl-McPhee turns her trademark wit and perspective to everything from creative discipline to a way you would never think about fixing your email situation. This book loo...

From soft, bulky single yarns to serviceable three-ply for heavy use, this guide to handspun yarns combines the positive traits of commercial yarns with personal touches. Focusing at first on the spinning wheel, emphasis is placed on the importance of adjusting and customizing the wheel for best results. Instructions on core spinning and less traditional techniques lead off the beaten path to novelty yarns. Each type of yarn is explored in detail with instructions on how to make them.

The tangled life of the knitter is the subject of inspired nuttiness in 300 tongue-in-cheek meditations from the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. At Knit's End captures the wickedly funny musings of someone who doesn't believe it's possible to knit too much and who willingly sacrifices sleep, family, work, and sanity in order to keep doing it. Covering everything from the deadly "second sock syndrome" to a pile of yarn so big it can hide a washing machine, this hilarious colle...

**Now featuring new instructions, new illustrations, and new information, The Principles of Knitting—beloved by knitters everywhere and one of the most requested out-of-print books for years—finally gets the revision that fans have been clamoring for!A treasured guide beloved by knitters everywhere, the classic book The Principles of Knitting is finally available again in a fully revised and updated edition. This is the definitive book on knitting techniq...

For spinners of all levels, this guide provides fleece profiles of nineteen sheep breeds and different spinning methods to produce yarns for a range of projects.The characteristics of fleece — its structure, grease content, and fiber diameter — vary widely depending on the breed of sheep the fleece comes from. In this comprehensive guide, Beth Smith profiles twenty-one types of fleece, from bouncy and pliant to lacy and lightweight. A sheep-by-sheep reference descr...

Discover the satisfying fun of spinning your own yarn!This step-by-step guide shows you how to create 80 distinctive yarn types, from classics like mohair bouclé to novelties like supercoils. Covering the entire spinning process, Sarah Anderson describes the unique architecture of each type of yarn and shares expert techniques for manipulating and combining fibers. Take your crafting to a new level and ensure that you have the best yarn available by spinning it you...