Expert Beth Smith teaches you everything you need to know to spin your own yarn, from choosing a spinning wheel to every stage of preparing your fiber, plying, winding off, and finishing. Fully illustrated step-by-step instructions make it simple and easy!

“This book is bold and strong and unapologetic. Unflinching, even. Joy Beth doesn’t back down from those hard conversations that need to be happening, not just in our churches but in our small groups, our social circles, our relationships.” —Mandy Hale, creator of The Single Woman and New York Times bestselling authorDid you enter adulthood thinking marriage would naturally find you, only to end up at a second-cousin’s wedding, dodging yet...

When a mysterious surge of elemental magic disrupts every corner of the realm, five extraordinary teens from vastly different lands are chosen to restore the balance. Each bears a unique power tied to their homeland: the whispering winds of Myrethil, the harmonic crystals of Kaelora, the water-spirits of Dravenvyre, the shifting sands of Solhara, and the haunting shadows of Umbrenox.But darkness stirs. Vaelora, a powerful sorceress of shadow, intends to fuse the realms through the ...

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...

Every boss/manager/executive deserves to have the very best employees working for them. Think about the impact on the world: When companies hire the right people, work environments are pleasurable, productive, and innovative, and mountains move. Beth Smith has developed a system of interviewing that reveals a candidate’s motivations, talents, desires, and passions. This is the meaningful information that enables an employer to effectively discern the absolute best fit for the role, the mis...

RIGOROUS DAP in the Early Years: From Theory to Practice provides teachers with a roadmap for teaching that helps children meet academic expectations and maintains focus on the appropriate development of the whole child. A construct of eleven practices, RIGOROUS DAP supplies teachers with strategies for 1) making instructional decisions that meet the needs of the individual child; 2) sustaining culturally relevant practices; 3) engaging stakeholders in conversations about educatin...

Did you enter adulthood thinking marriage would find you, only to end up at a second-cousin's wedding, dodging yet another bouquet the night before you turned thirty? Maybe you've started wondering if this is the best the single life has to offer. Joy Beth Smith says it's not-that single life doesn't have to leave you constantly waiting for real life to begin. If you let go of the tired lies weighing you down, you can turn toward truth.

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.

Jacey Boggs helps you bring textured and novelty yarns to the next level in Spin Art. Inside you'll learn all the secrets behind her exciting new fusion of traditional spinning and envelope-pushing creativity.The yarn styles explored in this comprehensive spinning guide are as well made as they are inventive. Jacey walks you through each of her techniques, with a refreshing mixture of quirky, fanciful, and unexpected designs that are always skillfully constructed. Inside y...

This one-of-a-kind encyclopedia shines a spotlight on more than 200 animals and their wondrous fleece.Profiling a worldwide array of fiber-producers that includes northern Africa’s dromedary camel, the Navajo churro, and the Tasmanian merino, Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson include photographs of each animal’s fleece at every stage of the handcrafting process, from raw to cleaned, spun, and woven.The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook is an artist’s handbo...

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...

In this complete guide to wool - the most popular yarn around - passionate wool expert Clara Parkes translates the vast world of sheep and their wool into the language and context of knitting.What is wool? Clara starts with the fundamentals: what wool is made of, how it gets off the sheep, and how it is transformed from a jumbled mass of dirty fluff into a gorgeous yarn that so tempts us at our local yarn stores.Who makes it? Parkes conduct...