5 comments about Leather Braiding.

1. I am new to leather braiding, and this book helped very much, I know I have much to learn. I found some of the illustrations a tad confusing, but all in all it was well worth the price for all the information it gives.



2. With a little of experience in knotting you be able to create beautiful models... I recommend it.



3. .
   
   This is a valuable resource for leather workers an knot tyers. While many of the knots and braids are interchangeable the section on "mystery braiding" is worth the price of the book.
   
   Good information, well presented.



4. I had this book as a kid and now I am back into making braided tack (this time for camels) I purchased this book again. Great book - has numerous knots and braids. Anyone who wants to braid either leather or cord will find this book useful



5. Leather Braiding is a shortened version of Bruce Grant's Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding and is excellent for learning a variety of braiding techniques. His step-by-step written and drawn instructions are invaluable.
   
   I strongly recommend this book.

5 comments about Creative Weaving: Beautiful Fabrics with a Simple Loom.

1. This is an amazing and unique rigid heddle (and small homemade loom) weaving book. It contains a vast amount of information about weaving and also a variety of drawn illustrations and pictures. It also contains many beautiful photographs to help explain how colors create mood in your weaving, a feature that sets it apart from other crafty books. This book is so comprehensive. It discusses yarn types, yarn sizes, yarn calculations, warping methods, plain weave, creative techniques and embellishments like ways to end your weaving project and using a pickup stick to create different textures in your weaving, projects that you can follow exactly or get ideas that you can expand on with your own creativity, explainations of yarn types (like cotton, wool, etc) or recycled materials (like bags, etc) and how they can help your weaving, and an extensive glossary of terms. Being brand new to rigid heddle weaving, this book walked me through the process of making simple projects to creating my own more complicated projects. It's a very exciting book to add to a weaving library!



2. This book was beautiful. The photos were great closeups of a variety of weaves done on a rigid heddle loom. Most weavers seem to think that a rigid heddle loom is too restrictive but the photos here prove different. Yarn and color can be great design tools. Enjoy.



3. This book is a compilation of full page pictures of plain weave using different colors of yarn, some texture changes, some novelty stuff. Chapters are divided by color. 4 reds, 4 blues, etc. There is nothing of substance here and for me, absolutely no inspiration. Save your money. My copy is going straight to auction.



4. I needed this book. I am new at weaving and this has inspired me and helped me through the learning process. There are very few books on the rigid heddle loom and this is a keeper. You need this book if you are considering weaving on a RH Loom. I love it.



5. Very nicely done, but I could have used a little more direction on the projects and more photos of these photos.

3 comments about The Big Book of Weaving: Handweaving in the Swedish Tradition: Techniques, Patterns, Designs and Materials.

1. This book is a must for the library of most weaver's
   especially those with counter march or counter balance looms.
   Doug. 8th April 2008



2. This English translation of the Swedish version of this book makes it possible for more weavers to recreate awesome handwoven pieces. The directions are clear and the photography inspiring.



3. I purchased this book for a very specific reason - to figure out how to make my 4 harness Glimakra into an 8 harness. It did that and so much more. If I were a beginning weaver, this book would be a "must have" in my library. As a more seasoned weaver, I feel much the same way. Every technique has not only a verbal description but good diagrams as well. It covers the basics with good hints for making things easier. It goes beyond the basics with very useful information on patterns and materials. Thank you to the translator for making this available to us in English. A great resource!

5 comments about The Complete Book of Decorative Knots.

1. This book is written by a member of the International Guild of Knot Tiers and is quite extensive. Not only does it give the basics of knot tieing but it moves into the the more advanced portions in later parts of the book. Very good images make tieing the knots very easy, but as always skill comes with practice. Excellent book for the beginner.



2. Clean, easy-to-understand illustrations make this book perfect for those who want to learn to tie these beautiful knots.



3. Very user friendly. For someone just getting into decorative knot tying, this book, although far from "Complete", gives you enough variety to whet your appetite for more. The instructions are easy to follow, and the diagrams are extremely helpful. Practice these knots to get the techniques down, and then you'll be ready for something a bit more comprehensive.



4. Not quite what I expected. Some of the diagrams were difficult to follow. Some of the animated on-line knot sites were more useful.



5. I purchased this book to go along with the others I had owned previously. This book has many step by step pictures in large enough size you can clearly see hos the knots are tied. Even though I just got this book today, I am very well pleased with the purchase and can reccomend this book especially for the beginner knottier.

5 comments about Folk Shawls (Folk Knitting series).

1. I bought this book as an introduction to knitting lace shawls. I want to learn the basic increase/decrease and shaping techniques so that I can design my own patterns. For me, this book was the perfect place to start.
   
   In the current printing of this book, it appears the pattern errors have been eliminated. I went to the Interweave Press website to print the errata for the pattern I'm working on, and found that all of the mistakes had been corrected. If you have an older copy of the book, you can print the corrections from PDF files at the IP website.
   
   This book was highly recommended to me by other knitters when I asked what pattern books to purchase to learn lace knitting. The instructions are concise, and the charts are easy to read. The variety of patterns makes it a perfect book for experimenting with yarn substitution, and different lengths and shapes for shawls.



2. This book contains the absolute best collection of gorgeous shawl patterns I've ever seen in one volume. If you like making shawls, this is the book at the top of the list. I can't wait till I finish current projects and can start something from the Folk Shawls book.



3. This was the first shawl book I ever bought. I read it cover to cover a few times before ever picking up yarn and needles. The shawls are diverse, beautiful and the stories are captivating.
   
   Kristin Omdahl
   www.StyledByKristin.com



4. I am a fan of the "Folk" books and have several. The Folk Shawl book is easy to read, easy to understand, and gave me my first introduction to lace knitting. I was instantly hooked. I've knitted several of the shawls from this book and highly recommend it to anyone exploring lace knitting for the first time and as a tool to introduce newer knitters to this art. I've had great fun with Folk Shawls and have become a wearer of my shawls preferring them to sweaters.....they easily slip on and off and are a comfort in the cold weather. I even knitted a heavier version of the larger Stora shawl out of worsted weight wool and wore it as a substitute for a coat over an alpaca sweater!
   
   Thank you Cheryl Oberle for a wonderful book!



5. A friend of mine loaned me a copy of her book when she found out that I was looking for something new and different from the afghans I had been knitting with old left over yarns. After looking thru the book and trying one of the patterns, I realized that I want to try ALL of the patterns in this book. If your looking at this book and thinking about getting it, I recommend getting the book, if your new to these kinds of things, like me, you can always start using scrap yarns and then move up to the more sophisticated yarns if you are comfortable with reading the pattern. There are patterns here that are easy to do and some that are a bit more challenging but all worth the time and effort. I'm still working up the courage to try a couple of these but I will get there eventually.

5 comments about Beginner's Guide to Braiding: The craft of Kumihimo (Beginner's Guide to Series).

1. This is an excellent guide to braiding. the illustrations are very clear and the instructions easy to follow. I strongly recommend it.



2. This is an excellent resource for kumihimo. Condition was as stated, shipping was speedy. A great transaction. Thanks!



3. I'm very pleased with this book. It has all the braiding patterns I'll need for a good while, and the instructions are easy to follow and the illustrations are clear. This is not a book about the history and all that; it's just patterns, which is what I was after.



4. This was the first book I purchased on this subject. I have to admit it was not easy getting started, but the book became my "bible". I am now creating leads for show dogs using this skill. They are selling very well and I can hardly keep up with my orders. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wishing to gain a good background in working with Kumihimo.



5. Was a little too much for a beginner. But gave me lots of good ideas that I will try when I become more experienced in Kumihimo. Beautiful pictures in the book. Great as a reference text, but do not use if you are trying to learn.

5 comments about Learning to Weave, Revised Edition.

1. This book was very helpful and in great condition. A great purchase!



2. Deborah Chandler is a great teacher and it shows in her writing of this book. If I was to buy only 1 book on beginning handweaving with a floor loom THIS book would be the one!



3. This book is a excellent teaching tool for beginner weavers and a solid resource for experienced weavers. I highly recommend it (and so does the expert weaver who is teaching me).



4. This book is the most concise, understandable learn-to-weave book we have found. The author shares her obviously extensive knowledge of weaving in a way that is clear and not the least bit intimidating. The quantity and quality of photo illustrations is excellent. The text and photos make sense together and are extremely helpful. It is obvious that the author not only knows weaving, but has extensive, successful experience at teaching people to weave.
   
   She starts you weaving from the start, and explains the design elements later, after you understand the physical process of weaving.
   
   If you want to learn the basics of weaving, this is the book to own.



5. Having never woven in my life, I bought a 4-shaft table loom and with this book, in two days successfully warped my loom and wove a 5' sampler and a nice placemat. Although I had a little trouble initially understanding all the new-to-me weaving terminology, I was able to follow the book step by step with wonderful results. By the time I got to the end, I was very comfortable using my loom, understood the concepts taught in weaving the sampler, and feel ready to try more techniques. Great book!

5 comments about A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns.

1. I bought this book because of the spinning angle, but I also really love it for the patterns. I've already picked out three sweaters I want to knit, and that's just for starters. I found the photos to be OK as far as they go, but would have appreciated multiple views of more of the sweaters.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. 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.



5. 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?

5 comments about The Handweaver's Pattern Directory: Over 600 Weaves for 4-shaft Looms.

1. THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY SKILL LEVEL WEAVER OUT THERE. IT HAS FULL COLOR PICTURES, AND CLEAR AND CONCISE DIRECTIONS. THIS BOOK CAN MAKE THE MOST CHALLENGING WEAVE PATTERNS, SO EASY. I BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR A FELLOW WEAVERS BIRTHDAY BUT I AM GOING TO PURCHASE IT FOR MY FIBER LIBRARY AS WELL. YOU WON'T BE DISAPOINTED WITH THIS BOOK!



2. Excellent pictures, with close-ups and so many different new patterns! Great for "many" shaft peoples to experiment on only four.



3. An excellent guide to weaving and 600 patterns. The first part of the book is dedicated to weaving terms and techniques, with illustrations. The bulk of the book is treadle and heddle diagrams and color photos of the patterns created. A beautiful, lush and textural book.



4. An excellent book, for all stages, for weavers using 4-shafts.
   Clear diagrams with photographs of the actual weaving item.
   A must-have book at one's elbow when weaving.



5. A must have for all weavers using 4-shaft loom patterns. It has all the patterns in color which allows you to see the beauty in the different patterns. Easy pattern instructions. If you are buying only one book, THIS IS THE BOOK!! Great Price.

5 comments about Start Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn.

1. This book is great for anyone who is thinking about spinning. Every page has color photos which clearly describe the step by step process. The author shows you every step on both a wheel and hand spindle. Very helpful. I would recommend to anyone who was curious about making yarn.



2. Great book. I just need to get a wheel so I can try everything.



3. The photos were helpful, although when I began spindle spinning, I did not have a top whorl as pictured in the book. I then purchased a spinning wheel and the photos and descriptions in the book were very adequate.



4. I feel like there is enough information in this book to actually begin spinning. It is very well illustrated, and explains many things that a beginner needs to know. The tone is not patronizing, and the book is easy to read. I am still a beginner, so I have read very few spinning books, but so far I think this is the one I will have by my side as I start.



5. I'm a new spinner and felt overwhelmed with the technical aspects of it when I decided to learn. What I needed was a "just the facts" kind of guide that would let me get started and not overwhelm me with nerdy technical stuff that passionate and experienced practitioners love to talk about. Start Spinning is definitely it!
   
   Based on the reviews here, I bought a copy and agree completely with the 5-stars that most of the reviewers gave it.
   
   It's like a teacher in a box. Great illustrations. Clear definitions of terms that you really need to know Does not overwhelm you with jargon that you will pick up later if you get seduced by the craft. Covers everything from basic spinning, plying and using your handspun to choosing a wheel, planning a project, buying and evaluating fleece for spinning. SIMPLE and CLEAR. And not too much information.
   
   I love this book and would recommend it to anyone curious about the craft of spinning and wanting a good reference guide.