A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns | 
 enlarge | Author: Lisa Lloyd
Publisher: Potter Craft
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy New: $17.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 9514
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0307346838
Dewey Decimal Number: 746.12
EAN: 9780307346834
ASIN: 0307346838
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
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Product Description
The pleasure of knitting can be that much greater when you know you’re using the perfect yarn. In A Fine Fleece, designer, knitter, and spinner Lisa Lloyd explores the different qualities of handspun yarn and presents projects that show them to their best advantage. There is valuable information here for every knitter, even if you’ve never considered learning to spin (though you may find inspiration in this book to do just that).
While educating you on the differences in fibers (like Alpaca, Merino, Cormo, Rambouillet, and Suffolk) and the characteristics you can achieve in a handspun yarn by combining fibers according to certain recipes, Lisa Lloyd also shares the three important concepts that enlighten her designs: the use of contrasting color and fiber; scale and perspective (chunky yarns with chunky cable stitches versus chunky yarns with delicate ones); and the creation of “poetic” sweaters that try to capture an emotion.
Each of the 26 projects in A Fine Fleece shows the finished project knitted in both a handspun yarn and a commercial yarn so that you can train your eye to understand how fiber and texture can truly transform a piece.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 gorgeous textured knitting patterns, fine book indeed! July 20, 2008
This book is a treasury of magnificent textured knitting patterns for women(many shaped hourglass, with a few more unisex)...mainly sweaters/ cardigans, although there are a few knock-out scarves and socks, and a bit of colorwork/lace as well.
Most are knit on size 5 to 8 needles, so the yarns aren't ultra-fine (as the book's title may suggest), and are presented in both handspun and commercial natural yarn equivalents, a nice comparison.
The photography leaves a lot to be desired as for seeing the clear patterning of the textured knitting. And the models are often posed holding large items in front of them (which obscures the whole front of their sweater), or are sitting such that you can't see the hem/ waist, or cuff finish of the garment...
A Fine Book June 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I first saw this book, I thought "Ho hum, another knitting book".
Closer examination proved how wrong that assessment was.
Yes, it is a knitting book. But it is also a spinning book. Each of the projects included is shown in both commercially spun yarn and in handspun yarn. Since knitting books usually do not include handspun projects, this concept is unique.
The patterns cover a range of classic designs in highly textured knits. There are cabled sweaters, cabled socks, and a cabled scarf. A bit of lace makes an appearance in a couple of the sweater and scarf patterns.
In the text portion, the author discusses the breeds of sheep and other fiber producing animals that produced the fleece she used to create the blends of handspun she used to spin the yarn for the handspun garments shown in the book. There are also notes on spinning, determining knitting gauge for handspun, preparing handspun for knitting, and how to figure out if you have enough fiber for your project. There is much useful information here for the handspinner.
The patterns are well written, the charts are good sized, clear and easy to read, and the garments are beautifully photographed with commemrcial yarn and handpsun versions shown side by side.
I seldom buy knitting books in this price range as there is usually only one or two patterns that interest me. Not the case with this book - I want to spin the yarn and knit almost every single pattern!
If I have one criticism, it is that there is little information given on the specific handspun yarns used in the patterns. For example, tpi and wpi for the handspun yarns is not given.
And, one question: Why is that spindle (pg.16) in a jar with what appears to be some sort of liquid?
 cables, cables, cables June 15, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm a huge Lisa Lloyd fan and have been for a long time, so this book is never going to make it to the shelf, it's going to stay in the pile next to my knitting chair. I want to make every pattern in this book. The patterns are classic, this book will be just as valuable in your knitting library in 30 years as it is today. Everyone always wants The Perfect Sweater, the one to wear on your autumn walk to go kick leaves, and there are a dozen of them in this collection. There are patterns for a variety of yarn grists, and patterns typically go up to about 52".
The beginning section on spinning and wool characteristics is a good intro to new spinners, or wannabe spinners. It was good information to get new spinners thinking about spinning for a big project. I've been spinning for years and it didn't have any new information for me, but reading it got me whipped up to start spinning with one of these projects in mind.
However. The photographs, while beautiful and artsy and fun to look at, leave a lot to the imagination - not a great thing in a knitting pattern book. They're teaser photos - look good in the picture, but if you come to a question in your knitting you won't be able to figure out what you're doing by looking at the picture. I don't think there are more than a couple of patterns with good photos you can really tell what the pattern looks like. I'd expect this would be a struggle for a person who hasn't had a lot of experience knitting cables. I've been knitting them for years and I still need to refer to pictures, it's really a shame they aren't more available. "Harriet" has a diamond lace pattern, but you would never know that the bottom third of the sweater has an entirely different lace pattern. They've pinned sweaters to make them look shaped (a BIG, BIG NO!), but almost all of the sweaters have straight sides. The publisher wants this to be a fashion layout, with fuzzy pictures and beautiful settings, but they don't seem to get that it's an instruction manual and clear pictures of the designs need to be included. And they need to know their audience - spinners like microscopic closeups of yarn!
So overall, I love the book. I am excited to have this collection of Lisa Lloyd's patterns and I expect to wear this book out. A big finger-wagging to the publisher on the photography and thankfully I have the internet available to see some other pictures.
When's the next book coming out. Can't wait. June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love, love, love this book. I'm presently working on two sweaters and planning on knitting 85-90% of the rest. It would be 100% but I don't do hats and scarves. This is the best knitting pattern book I've bought in all of my 66 years. Love it! Can't wait for your next book.
Classic, versatile May 11, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Beautiful patterns, juxtapositioning of commercial and handspun yarns is a unique format. It's very useful to the knitter, or the knitter/spinner in taking the next step to designing yarns to knit more complex patterns.
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