Lifestyle Book Reviews

Book Review: Spin to Knit by Shannon Okey

By Sandy Amazeen Oct 15, 2006, 2:01 GMT

The creative knitter dreams of making a truly distinctive garment created from just the right yarn and that’s where this book comes in as it provides all the basic information and inspiration needed to begin spinning your own beautiful fibers. By showing how easy it is to make and use a drop spindle from found materials, Okey dispels the myth that spinning requires an expensive wheel or infinite patience. Everything from cleaning and carding raw fleece to an unusual dye technique utilizing the dishwasher is covered in enough detail to guide yet not overwhelm the new spinner. The close-up photography is especially nice as it enables knitters to see what the stitches actually look like in a knit swatch.

A well-rounded assortment of patterns, the bulk of which are for smaller projects addresses the question of what to do with all the new yarn you’re sure to have on hand while providing a nice introduction to knitting with handspun yarns. Okey addresses overtwist or energized yarns, working with singles and plyed yarns along with adding embellishments. Of particular interest are the artist profiles showcasing a variety of spinning knitters across Canada and the United States. Each artist explains a bit about what inspires their work, how they got interested in spinning and fun tips of the trade to spin and knit with panache.

This is a lighthearted introduction to an ancient craft that is sure to have knitters searching through their music collections for a cast-off CD from which to fashion a drop spindle (honestly!) while surfing for a fleece to play with.