Books

Learn how to make colorful, gorgeously patterned rugs using the 200-year-old techniques of the Shakers. The author researched and analyzed textiles at five historic Shaker village sites before developing a method to create new versions of these classics. You’ll learn how ten original rugs were woven and then get detailed instructions on how to make ten reproduction rugs, with full explanations of the dyeing, the warp material, the weft materials, and how to weave, as well as instructions for weaving Shaker tapes. Learn about the history of the Shakers in America and the impact of their craftsmanship on our arts tradition. Like all items used in daily Shaker life, these rugs have three outstanding characteristics: they are unusual in their design, they are perfect for the purpose they are meant to serve, and they are beautiful in quality.

Size: 8.5in x 11.0in  |  Pages: 144  |  89 color photos
Binding: Paperback / softback
ISBN: 9780764349072

Sakiori is an approach to rag weaving used by Japanese peasants to cope with the scarcity of new cloth for clothing and household textiles. In modern times, there is instead an overabundance of cloth filling up thrift stores and being discarded. Weavers can use this source of “rags” to make useful and surprising new cloth. Depending on the fabric used, results can be rugged and utilitarian (like cotton rugs) or fashionable and delicate (like silk scarves).
The book begins with an overview of the history and context of sakiori in Japan, followed by methods and tips for successful rag weaving with a variety of materials and looms, including rigid heddle looms as well as floor looms. Charts and worksheets make it easy to find the information weavers need to get started, and 21 projects with instructions and drafts provide inspiration and ideas.

Weave with wire and fiber to produce metal fabric—an entirely new art material that can be used for jewelry, sculpture, basketry, and more.

Use a four- or eight-harness loom to weave an entirely new art material that you may never before have considered—metal!

By using a wire warp and fiber weft, intermediate- to advanced-level weavers can create a woven metal fabric that is strong, malleable, and sculptural.

Expert weaver Christine K. Miller has been weaving with wire for 30 years, and her online and in-person workshops are highly sought after. She's the only weaver teaching this amazing technique.

Learn about

the materials and supplies needed for this metal fiber technique
planning your project
preparing and beaming the warp
and choosing the weft
Christine then takes readers step by step through a "Foundation Project," a basic woven wire fabric serving as the basis for creating their own metal fabric crafts.

Readers can be inspired by Christine's work and what she has made with woven wire—baskets, jewelry, sculptures, and more—with detailed information on how she made them. They can then re-create these pieces or use them as a foundation to craft their own metal fabric creations.

In addition, Christine includes a fascinating chapter on using the principles of art and design to let the reader's imagination soar when crafting with woven wire fabric.

Modern weaving projects like you’ve never seen—within easy reach of anyone.

Weaving is a satisfying hobby for making home or clothing accessories that look plucked from your favorite stores. Here are Pinterest-worthy projects for creating earrings, clutches, pillows, wall hangings, and more, all organized by skill level. From complete beginner to intermediate, Weaving Within Reach allows you to craft at your comfort level, even if you don’t yet know the difference between the warp and the weft.

Lacking a loom? Most of the materials can be woven on found objects—such as an embroidery hoop or cardboard box—or achieved with a simple over-under pattern using no loom at all. As you progress, there are plenty of exciting designs for a frame loom to keep you inspired. With a detailed introduction, stunning lifestyle and step-by-step photographs, and a helpful resource section, Weaving Within Reach unravels the possibilities of the beautiful things you can make with your hands.

Paperback, 190 pages. 

Zero waste is key to Maria Sigma's renowned weaving designs, and here she shows beginners—and more-accomplished weavers too—how that philosophy can transform what you weave. Enjoy learning the basics of both heddle loom and frame loom weaving and succeed at six guided projects you'll enjoy adding to your home and wardrobe, while also learning how Sigma has built her practice on sustainability. "Without our attention on the materials and process and how they relate to the world, no design is at its best." She  shows how to consider the environmental impact at every stage of the design and making process, as well as within your daily work environment and studio space. Learn ways to decrease yarn waste and avoid unnecessary cuts, as well as how to consider carbon footprints in terms of your use of machines, water, and petroleum-sourced energy. With this guide, you can make handweaving an even more sustainable craft.

Size: 9.0in x 9.0in  |  Pages: 176  |  200 color photos

Make the most of that stash of yarn that so many of us have lurking in a cupboard or drawer with this exciting collection of patterns.

Each fun project uses between 2 and 4 balls of yarn to create something delightful for your home, to give as a gift or to enjoy yourself.
Suitable for different levels of knitting expertise, there's something to suit every knitter and every stash.
Projects include: beanie hat, baby booties, blanket, mug hug, scarf and hot water bottle cover.

A comprehensive guide to weft-faced pattern weaving for beginning and experienced weavers alike— Includes 53 projects and directions, patterns, and tips.

Travel beyond the traditional limits of boundweave with this comprehensive guide to weft-faced pattern weaves. Beginning and experienced weavers alike will learn how to plan, predict, and weave colorful, rhythmical patterns, charming folk figures, and geometric designs in fabrics that are decorative and durable.

Fifty-three projects are included, ranging from simple to complex weaves. Directions, patterns, and tips are provided for the plain weave, twill, point twill, rosepath, overshot, taqueté, and samitum. It also features Coptic taquete and samitum re-creations and patterns from the Tunic of Tutankhamun. Engaging and informative text accompanies diagrams, illustrated samplers, and drafts with threading, tie-up, treadling, and drawdowns.

This is the definitive work on weft-faced pattern weaves and is a must-have reference and resource guide for weavers and crafters alike.

Size: 8.5in x 11.0in  |  Pages: 352  |  526 b/w & color images

A complete guide to the amazing art of wet felting with wool fibre.

Wet felting is an incredible textile art form that offers enormous opportunity for genuine creativity and innovation. This beautiful book is a complete guide to the process, from the basic techniques through to using embellishment materials to decorate your felt and resists to structure it. There are step-by-step instructions to nine projects, plus ideas for variations and an introduction to an innovative felting ball to create fully 3D-felted forms. Packed with practical advice throughout, this is truly a book to inspire your creativity and to guide you in the potential of this wonderful art form.

Publisher: The Crowood Press
ISBN13: 9780719840395
Binding: Paperback / softback
Page Count: pp. Pages
Discount Code: S01
Pub Date: Apr 13, 2022

Step out in a brand-new look with this collection of creative stitches and stylish crochet patterns for cute tops, fun accessories, and more!

This is not your grandma’s crochet book! This craft book is inspired by today’s hot trends—the bold, bright, and colorful that will bring life to your yarn. With step-by-step instructions and easy-to-follow tips and tricks, this comprehensive handbook will introduce newcomers and bring lifelong crafters to the unique and versatile world of crochet. Learn how to choose and substitute materials, read a crochet pattern with ease, and create a project with confidence based on your body measurements. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced crocheter, What About Yarn will teach you how to take crochet to the next level. Patterns include:
Bright and colorful tops
Cool patchwork cardigans
Playful matching sets
Funky bucket hats
Cute minidresses
And so much more!

So grab your favorite yarns and your crochet hook and get ready to turn your ideas into fashionable, modern-day outfits.

Publisher: Ulysses Press (May 23, 2023)
Length: 128 pages
ISBN13: 9781646044573

The best resource on natural dyeing is back, updated to make your colorful hobby even more beautiful and rewarding.

A practical and inspiring guide to creating and using natural dyes from plants, Wild Color, Revised and Updated Edition, offers the latest information on current environmentally friendly dyeing techniques and more than 65 species of plants and natural dyestuffs.

This comprehensive book outlines all the necessary equipment, how to select fibers and plant parts, choose the right methods for mordanting and dyeing, test color modifiers and the fastness of dyed colors, and obtain a range of gorgeous colors from every plant, from alter to woad, shown in more than 250 swatches.

Wild Color, Revised and Updated Edition, is the all-in-one resource for fiber enthusiasts, including knitters, sewers, and weavers; gardeners who are interested in new uses for traditional dye plants; and eco-conscious DIYers who want authoritative information about the natural dyeing process and the plants that are essential to it. 

Paperback, 144 pages. 

An elegantly designed, practical, and inspirational guide to choosing, blending, and spinning richly textured artisan yarn for weaving, knitting, and other textile art applications.

In this elegantly designed book Imogen Bright Moon reveals the secrets of her practice, explaining:

• How to choose raw fibers for use in your work: the author’s are ethically sourced from various ecologically responsible sources, including a rescue flock of sheep on the South Downs.
• How to put together different types of fibers—raw sheep’s wool, plant fibers such as hemp, soya and wild silk, alpaca hair, and much more—to create richly textured yarn.
• The delicate art of blending naturally occurring pigments, working with shade and tone to create subtle and nuanced colors, a process that Imogen likens to a painter mixing paints on a palette.
• The principles of hand-spinning, from a simple, single-spun thread to more complicated yarns such as triple-chain ply yarn, using a traditional floor spindle.
• Ideas for taking your yarn into finished craft and art projects, with stunning images of the author’s own work.

With an emphasis on engagement with nature, the rhythms of the seasonal craft cycle, ethical making, sustainability, and mindfulness, this book is ideal for weavers, textile artists, and anyone seduced by the joys of yarn.

Imogen Bright Moon is a British Romani textile artist. She creates large textile-based installations, using tapestry weaving and cloth weaving techniques, featuring painterly hand-blended-and-spun yarns. Her practice is founded in material processes, material ethics, and heritage craft processes. She is also a researcher, writer, and textile-crafts historian. In 2022 she was a recipient of Gypsy Maker 5 from the Romani Cultural & Arts Company/Arts Council Wales. She is based in Brighton.

23 vibrant, Scandi-style knitted garments for the whole family, perfect for outdoor adventures in cold climates!

Knitted with Norwegian and Icelandic wool fibers to repel water and cold, and featuring designs and colors inspired by the wild north of Norway, this is the ultimate knitting book for outdoor adventurers.

The 23 timeless designs feature polar bears, the Arctic sun, Hopi dreamcatchers, snowflakes, sled dogs and falling snow, all inspired by the Scandinavian climate and indigenous people of best-selling author Linka Neumann’s native Norway. 

Choose from:

• 12 adult sweaters and cardigans that can be adapted with optional raglan sleeves, roll-necks and hoods, in sizes small to XXL
• 6 matching children’s sweaters for kids aged 1 to 10 years old
• 3 cozy beanie hats
• 2 sets of frostproof mittens

The patterns are suitable for confident knitters, and each contains full written instructions and colorwork charts. Multiple colorways are shown to inspire your own yarn choices, and advice is given on how to measure yourself correctly to select the right size.

Popular knitting designer Linka is dedicated to creating anti-fast fashion sweaters that not only look beautiful, but are robust enough to withstand the toughest of weather. Her wilderness sweaters have kept adventurers warm on trips through forests and up mountains – including a trek to Mount Everest… But even if your own expeditions are a little lower altitude in ambition, you can create your own bespoke garments to last you a lifetime of adventures.

A translation of the latest title by best-selling Norwegian knitting author Linka Neumann.

It is time to get excited for the new 10 Fashion-Forward Knits for Men & Women Pattern Book featuring Jody Long's Ciao Yarn. This incredibly versatile collection will make your imagination run wild with possibilities for using Ciao in your next project. The publication features the following complete knitting patterns: 

• Valentina Jacket with Belt
• Siena Sweater
• Marina Sweater
• Grazia Cowl
• Pia Hat
• Aria Mitts
• Matteo Scarf
• Gino Hat
• Luigi Gloves
• Lucia Cardigan

Softcover
43 pages
Designer: Jody Long
Copyright 2019

More information on individual patterns is available at Knitting Fever. 

It is time to get excited for the new 8 Fashion-Forward Knits for Men & Women Pattern Book featuring Jody Long's brand new yarn Andeamo Lite. This incredibly curated collection has something for everyone to use Andeamo Lite in your next project. The publication features the following complete knitting patterns: 

• Adley Sweater
  
• Dayana Cabled Pullover
• Hunter Men's Cardigan
• Noor Cardigan
  
• Sadie Cardigan
• Talia Cabled Sweater
• Taylor Hat and Cowl
• Whitney Shawl

Softcover
44 pages
Designer: Jody Long
Copyright 2021

More information on pattern requirements are available at Knitting Fever. 

Introducing 8 designs for the delicious yarn Rovesoft by Jody Long. Each design is given in a wide range of 6 sizes from S-3XL. The sizing guide gives several measurements for each garment to make project planning a success! The publication features the following complete knitting patterns: 

• Phoebe Cardigan
• Willow Sweater
• Candace Sweater
• Donna Sweater
• Layla Sweater
• Harlow Cardigan
• Zela V-Neck Pullover
• Greta Cape

Softcover/Magazine Format
48 pages
Designer: Jody Long
Copyright 2022

Discover the rich heritage and incredible diversity of British sheep breeds in this celebration of one of nature's most versatile fibres.

The UK has more ancient breeds than any other country and the rich diversity of breeds and the unique characteristics of British wool are valued worldwide. Perfect for knitters, spinners, weavers, and yarn lovers, this is a guide to the pure breeds of sheep found in the UK, exploring their history, habitat, appearance and, of course, their fleece and the resulting yarn.

Inside, you’ll find:

• A guide to 30 of the the most ‘knittable’ pure British sheep breeds—their history, characteristics, and the unique properties of their fleece.
• 10 exclusive knitting patterns designed by Justine Lee, featuring the softest, most beautiful yarns from diverse sheep breeds.
• Stunning black-and-white photography capturing the beauty and characteristics of these wonderful animals, beloved by fibre enthusiasts worldwide.

Whether you're seeking the perfect yarn or exploring the legacy of sheep farming, The Wonder of Wool is your ultimate guide to celebrating the fibre that connects us all.

Woven Optical Illusions explores a variety of optical effects through the medium of weaving. Suitable for weavers of all experience levels, it explains the basic principles behind the illusions and shows how to create the effects in selected weave structures to give a wide range of examples and possibilities. Projects are taken from concept through weave design and development to a woven result. With over 500 illustrations, including detailed drafts and images, this fascinating book is designed to whet the appetite of anyone who is interested in optical play. Includes Clear step-by-step explanations of the complete design process and describes the science behind the optical effects and some of the history of their discoveries. It also incorporates inspirational images from other weavers working in optical effects and projects range from plain weave through to advancing twills, featuring tied weaves such as summer and winter, taqueté and beiderwand, double cloth, colour-and-weave, shadow weave, and deflected double weave.

Yarn Cake Amigurumi is a collection of 15 adorable amigurumi animals and creatures to crochet using multicolored yarn cakes.

Amigurumi is the art of using crochet to make toys.  The varied and fun creations in this book range from Biscuit, the adorably cute little duckling, and Aggie, the punkish bull, to Garrick, the mythical dragon, and Jasper, the inquisitive puppy.

All the projects are made using ombré yarn cakes, which have seamless fades of color hues, from light to dark and allow the readers to crochet lots of color, without the need to constantly change yarn. These creations will stand out among the sea of solid colored amigurumi designs, with their bold, transitional striping and flair.

Publisher: GMC Publications
Publish Date: November 07, 2023
Dimensions: 8.1 X 9.2 X 0.6 inches | 1.05 pounds
Language: English
Type: Paperback
EAN/UPC: 9781784946678

Create your dream yarn! Discover the pleasures of designing and building custom-made yarn by spinning it yourself, choosing everything from color to feel and gauge. Jillian Morneo leads you through every step of yarn construction, with detailed instructions and step-by-step photos showing you how to select the fiber you want, establish a foundation, and spin a beautiful yarn with the structure, texture, and color pattern that you want. In addition to teaching you the techniques you need for success, Moreno also offers twelve delicious original patterns from prominent designers, each one showcasing hand- spun yarns.