The Knitter’s Book of Wool – book review

Ahhh… The Knitter’s Book of Wool did NOT disappoint.  How could a book be bad that begins with these most enticing endpapers?

Here’s the overview:

First, Clara begins by explaining exactly what wool is and how it grows.  This chapter is both a biology lesson and an explanation of how the science of wool translates into a knitter’s experience.  Great beginning.

Next, we learn about how wool becomes yarn – how it’s sorted, cleaned, spun, and dyed.  If you can’t take a behind-the-scenes tour of a mill, this is the next best thing.  (Actually, it made me want to take a tour of a mill!)  Clara points out what types and parts of wool don’t make it to the knitter’s basket and end up somewhere else in the textile world, instead. 

Next, we meet the breeds.  Clara outlines the broad categories (finewools, mediumwools, down and down-type wools, longwools, and dual-coated and primitives) and provides more detail about 5-10 specific breeds in each category.  We learn the basics about each breed, like the micron range (a measure of fineness), staple length, crimp, luster, its felting qualities, and what it’s best suited for.  Often, photographs of washed locks and finished yarns for each breed are also included.  This section helped me understand the genealogy of breeds better.  Other fun fiber trivia facts are sprinkled throughout this chapter.  For instance, a trademarked process called Optim is described, and I wondered if this is the process used on Knit Picks Felici yarn.  Also, I learned that the Lord Chancellor of Britain sits on a bale of Cotswold fiber in Parliament to symbolize the historic importance of England’s wool trade.  Fun facts.

Clara tucks in one short chapter about blending wool with other fibers.  What properties do other fibers like silk, mohair, alpaca, and plant fibers bring to wool yarn?  What do you use to blend for seasonal comfort?  How about strength?  Good stuff with lots of application for handspinners here.

Finally, we reach the meat-and-potatoes (or should I say tofu-and-broccoli) of the book: the patterns.  There are 19 patterns in the book, designed by Clara herself or other talented designers whose names you will recognize, and each was designed to showcase a particular type of yarn.  For instance, the Sweet Fern Mitts (Rav link) are meant to be made with a woolen-spun two- or three-ply yarn.  They could be made from a mediumwool yarn, a down or down-type yarn, or a finewool yarn… with different results depending on your choice.  I was instantly interested in knitting this pattern with several types of yarn, many of which reside in my growing stash of homespun.  A quick, low-yardage pattern like this is perfect for experimenting with different yarns, commercial and/or handspun.

The end of the book is chock full of reference information, like how to wash wool, how to keep moths away, where to get a fleece processed (either into spinning fiber or yarn), and what to read next.  A very fine glossary and detailed index are also included (you know what a wonderful thing a good index is).

I love this book.  Reading it is like taking a class with Clara.  I can’t wait to knit some of these patterns and understand yarn even better.  Thanks, Clara!

Fabulous Forty

What’s not to love about the fifth decade?  It sure started out great.  A huge birthday banner greeted me by the breakfast table:

This thing is BIG, like 4x6 feet.  Look carefully – it’s covered with balls of yarn!  S1 told the boys to draw pictures of things I liked. 

I also got a copy of Clara Parkes’ new book, The Knitter’s Book of Wool.  It’s dreamy, everything I expected and more.  I’ll post a review soon.

When I got home from work, a book box was waiting for me on the front porch.  S1 said “This is for you, but I don’t recognize the return address.”  I looked at it and said “I do! This must be a signed copy of Kristin Nicholas’s new book that Kristina had sent to me!”  And it was.  Check out the colorful note:The photographs in this book are exciting.  If there’s one thing Kristin knows, it’s color.  I’ve been meaning to make a couple of her patterns for a while now (like the big lilac bag and crochet Christmas ornaments).  I especially like how she embellishes knitted and felted items with colorful embroidery.  This book includes embroidery instruction, color theory, and much more.  I’ll post a full review another day.  I haven’t had time to sink my teeth into this book yet.  I just keep caressing the beautiful cover whenever I walk past it.  What a treat.  Thank you, Kristina!

In knitting news, I finished the pink sparkly socks last week.  I’ll post a full report with photo as soon as I get that photo.  Meggan wants to wear a specific outfit to pose with the socks.  You have to appreciate a handknit recipient who is so into the documentation process that she plans a coordinating outfit.  She also asked about laundry care right away!  (I gave her a Soak sample packet to try.)  This woman knows how to play the situation.  She just might get another pair one day.  Ha!

Treasure Map

I’ve gone postless for a while because of camera difficulties… we will return to our regularly scheduled programming soon.  In the meantime, perhaps you would enjoy this art explication by Boy #2:

The Knitter’s Book of Yarn – book review

Some of you know this is one of my favorite knitting books.  It was published in 2007, and I received a copy for Christmas.  I devoured it in a day or two and was particularly intrigued by the front matter.  Clara Parkes explains everything knitters like me want to know about yarn: the difference between fibers (plant, animal, and manmade), how yarn is created, how plying affects yarn and the things that are made from that yarn, and more.  Clara also offers patterns for different types of yarn, with notes about why the pattern showcases certain features of the fiber. 

After reading this book, I found myself untwisting yarn to see how it is constructed, and I began to think seriously about making my own yarn.  I finally gave in to the urge in Summer 2008 and bought a Schacht Ladybug about a year ago.

I’ve met Clara twice.  She signed my book (and Kristina’s, and Kris’s) at MDSW 2008.  I was also thrilled to be able to take her class, “Finding True Sock Yarn Happiness,” at Sock Summit 2009 (blog post about that day).  Of course, I receive a personal email from her each week.  (Maybe you do, too?)  When I reflect on my personal yarn evolution, I find that Clara is a major contributor to my knowledgebase.

And so, you can imagine how excited I am that she has another book out: The Knitter’s Book of Wool.  We saw a preview copy at  Sock Summit, and it exhibits the same high production qualities of the first book.  I can’t wait to sit down and devour it.  You can read a little bit about it here.  Also note that there are a couple of free patterns from the book, and a list of 9 wools that inspired the book.  Fascinating.  As part of the pre-publication hype for this book, Random House published a Which Ewe Are You? quiz.  I’m Finn!

And wouldn’t you know, I just spun some mohair/Finn fiber in an attempt to make my own sock yarn.

The book was published last week (on Tuesday, 10/13, to be precise), but since I have a birthday next week, I am biding my time.  I’m pretty sure that a copy of this book is hiding somewhere in my house, but I can’t have it until Thursday.  In the meantime, I’ve been rereading The Knitter’s Book of Yarn and wondering how she can top it.  But I know she will!

Review of book #2 forthcoming!

Pinky #1 is done

Here is the first sock of Meggan’s pair.  Isn’t it pretty?  The petal pattern on the front extends down the back of the heel, too, and the lace pattern on the side is nubbly and interesting.  It reminds me more of cables than lace, but there are no cable crossings at all – this is all lace.  Lace stitches are stretchier and more forgiving than cables, so maybe this is a good thing in a sock, especially a sock that comes up the leg as far as this one does.  There will be no chilly drafts sneaking up Meggan’s pant leg when she wears these.  Plenty of warm wooly coverage. 

Here is the back of the heel, but the perspective is kind of twisted, because I’m taking a picture of my own foot.  What must the neighbors think of my front porch contortions? And here is the side, which is my favorite part: Today is is about 43 degrees and raining, so wool socks are perfect.  The color scheme on these is a little springy, but the feel is fall fall fall.

More Blue Yarn, Woolen This Time

Last week I had the fun opportunity to do a spinning demo for a class of first-year students at my college.  Their course is called A Matter of Substance, and it’s about the raw materials that make up our world.  The faculty member is a physical chemist by training.  The students are writing papers about things like wood, glass, steel, plastic, etc., and one of them chose to write about textiles.  (She might have had a nudge from me, her friendly reference librarian.)  So the professor asked me to do a short spinning demo for the class.

I decided to take both spindle and wheel, and to have the wheel set up with finished singles ready to ply.  That meant I needed to spin some singles, since I had recently finished the Mohair-Finn yarn.  I grabbed the remaining Heidi’s Blues roving I purchased at the 2008 Knitters’ Day Out market.  This was one of the first things I spun, and some of it became 40th Birthday Yarn for Kristina. 

Here was the original 1/2 lb of roving (called Heidi’s Blues – I think one of the sheep was named Heidi):

Here was Kristina’s birthday yarn (248 yards, 114 g, 2-ply):

And here is the remaining yarn from the Heidi’s Blues roving (209 yards, 91 grams, 2-ply). There was way more yellow in this half of the roving!I tried to spin this in more of a woolen style and I do think it looks fuzzier than the first skein.  Usually I spin worsted, but I wanted to try something different and see if I could change my drafting style (which is very inchworm-y). I think I felt more free to experiment with this roving because some of it had already been finished successfully.  It’s a weird mind game, but I felt like I could afford to mess this up, you know?  My singles were definitely less consistent and more fuzzy (less smooth) than they usually are. 

I had a little bit left on one bobbin, so I fired up YouTube and taught myself how to Navajo ply (I found this video to be the most helpful).  For my readers who don’t yet spin, Navajo ply is a 3-ply technique that actually creates a chained yarn rather than a plied yarn.  You make it from one single (not singles from 3 different bobbins), which makes it great for using up every last bit of single on the bobbin.  It is also used when spinners want to preserve the color changes in a painted roving so that the resulting yarn moves from one color to another (rather than showing a barber pole type stripe).  I WAY overplied my Navajo ply bit – it relaxed a little in a hot bath but is still twisting like crazy.  Clearly I need to work on this technique some more.  Let’s end with another good photo, shall we?

Another Pink Sock

My latest office project has been a new pair of socks for Katie, whose pair from last Christmas is getting too snug.  I decided to use that single skein of girl-y purple and pink Koigu that has been languishing in stash and pepperknits’ Anastasia Socks pattern.  (Katie is nearly 4, so pink and purple could not be more perfect.)  It features a lacy spiral motif that helps break up plain stockinette without being too fancy for a handpainted yarn.  Here is Sock #1:The proportions look kind of off to me.  This is partly because I don’t have Katie’s foot here to fit, and partly because these aren’t blocked (I don’t have child-sized blockers).  I decided not to worry about it too much.  I think Katie wears her handknit socks to sleep in, so perfect foot fit isn’t critical.  I’d rather make them a little too long than too short.

I ended up making the pattern a little more difficult than it actually is.  I knit these cuff-down, and I wanted the spiral motif to swirl seamlessly around the leg.  The pattern does not do this – it’s written to be knit on 2 circular needles, and when the stripe runs out on one end, it just stops.  I kept moving the stitches around so that the spirals could continue uninterrupted on the leg.

Here’s the top view. One more to go.  This should knit up pretty quickly.