I don’t have a lot of experience with spinning yarn, and I don’t really think you could learn it from a book. There are so many variables and the learning curve is so much lower if someone who knows what they’re doing can watch you and guide you along the way (especially when it comes to spinning with a wheel).
So I wouldn’t say that you can learn to spin form Pam Austin’s book Hand Spinning: Essential Technical and Creative Skills, but looking through and reading this book might inspire you to want to try.
It covers the basics of learning to spin with a drop spindle (which you maybe could figure out with a book, and perhaps a video to reinforce the basics), spinning wheel or e-spinner, different spinning techniques, how to choose a good fleece and prepare fiber for spinning, an overview of other fibers for spinning beyond wool and plying and finishing yarn.
It also delves into using color and dyeing yarn and methods for changing the structure of yarn and making different textures.
This book provides basic instructions and lots of photos that will inspire knitters who haven’t gotten into spinning yet to learn more about it. For people who already know the basics of spinning, this book might inspire them to try different techniques, delve into dyeing or try a different method for preparing fiber before spinning.
As someone who doesn’t really spin (I took a class on a drop spindle more than a decade ago and I own an e-spinner that’s still in the box) I found this book a little intimidating, but I think that might have been the way it was organized not so much that the information isn’t good. For example it talks about getting proper tension on a wheel before it talks about the parts of a wheel, so it can be hard to imagine how a wheel works if you haven’t already used one.
Still, for pure inspiration and getting knitters fired up to learn more about spinning, this is a good book. Spinners who already have some experience but want to improve their skills or try something new are sure to enjoy it, too.
About the book: 144 pages, paperback. Published 2023 by The Crowood Press. Suggested retail price $36.99
