Hands on Spinning

by Lee Raven, Ann Sabin (Illustrator)

Understanding how spinning works, choosing a wheel, building a simple spindle, spinning on a treadle wheel, preparing fibers, carding, twisting, and plying.

Genres: Knitting, Crafts, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1987

Reviews

[Becky]

I want to own this book. It's by far the best instructional I have found for spinning, and I wish I had known it existed when I started out.

[Cookie M.]

Years ago I won a spinning class at a charity auction. As a knitter, I thought it would be instructive to help me understand the mechanics of yarn construction.
Wouldn't you know it, I got hooked and now own 4 spinning wheels including a fully functional antique one.
Lee Raven's book was the first one I bought, at the recommendation of the teacher of that first class. I never mastered spinning on a drop spindle, so I can't speak to that section of the book.
I can't recommend trying to learn spinning by yourself with this or any other spinning book, as I don't know anyone who has done it. My spinning world is a very social one, although I am sure people have taught themselves from books. That being said, "Hands On Spinning" kept me from dissolving in tears as I progressed from the awful beginning spinner I was to the relaxed, joyful, mediocre spinner (at least I'm honest) I am today.

[Laura]

Re-read.

[Beth]

This book may be an oldie (you won't find any top-whorl spindles or double-treadle wheels inside) but it's still a goodie. It manages to be both thorough and concise (which isn't an easy trick to perform!) and it offers useful advice on ancillary topics like how to evaluate a fleece or a secondhand spinning wheel.

[Shaunda]

Excellent breakdown of process, materials, equipment, and jargon. Covers multiple spinning techniques- stick, drop spindle, and wheel. Covers selecting fleeces and processing wool. Covers fiber options. An excellent beginners guide.

[Caryn Vainio]

Great introductory book to both drop spindle spinning and spinning on a wheel. This was the first book I used when teaching myself the slightly-more-than-basics of spinning after a friend gave me one lesson on a spindle and with it I was able to learn what I needed to improve my beginner skills.

If you find yourself getting into spinning enough that you grow beyond the skills of a beginner, you're going to need a more robust book than "Hands On Spinning". But this book will get you going with information that ranges from the very early basics of cleaning and preparing fiber to actually drafting and spinning yarn, along with some sample basic knitting patterns that you can make with your handspun yarn.

And speaking of those patterns, they did something in this book I haven't seen before that should make spinning very approachable to new spinners and knitters alike: instead of just telling you what gauge your yarn should be, they put an actual-size sketch of the yarn in the corner of the page so that you can see about how thick your yarn should be. Very handy!

[Suzanne Singman]

Hard to learn a technique like this from a book. It was informative, but i am just going to have to get my hands on a spindle and wool to learn how to spin. I have all the tools, i just need the time and get over my fear of not being good at something (which i know is part of learning, but I want to be good at things without having to go through that uncomfortable stage).

[Audra]

excellent book for basics and beyond.

[Danielle]

1st spinning

[Martine]

Some spinning books don't make much sense to the newbie but all make sense to the reader after they have been spinning. This book is a great example of that concept. Good one to have in your library!