Respect the Spindle - by Abby Franquemont (Paperback)

About the Book

With step-by-step instructions, this essential manual details the basic steps of using a hand spindle. Combining fascinating historical narratives with vivid photography, this all-encompassing tour of the spindle affirms the tool's enduring legacy.

Book Synopsis

Enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the current trend of DIY crafts, the hand spindle remains one of the most productive, versatile, and convenient tools for creating stunning fiber arts from home, as this beautifully illustrated guide from a veteran spinner and spindle aficionado demonstrates. With step-by-step instructions, this essential manual details the basic steps of spinning and then advances to the more complicated spinning wheel, showing how to use the spindle to make specific types of yarn, explaining traditional spindle spinning techniques, and detailing five simple projects designed to instill confidence in creating a variety of yarns with this simple tool. Combining fascinating historical narratives, traditions, and cultures from around the globe with vivid photography, this all-encompassing tour of the spindle also boasts easy-to-follow, contemporary techniques and styles that affirm the tool's enduring legacy.

Review Quotes

"A good introduction for those beginning to explore spinning, and a comprehensive guide to technique for experienced spindlers." - Library Journal

"I have a decent assortment of spinning books, including some excellent ones that focus on spindles, but this book blows them away." - KnittingScholar.com

"A great choice for those new to spinning and those who might feel cheated because their budget--or their living arrangements--make a wheel an impossibility." - About.com Guide to Knitting

"Be prepared to have cliched thoughts about spindles and spinning on spindles blasted out of the water. Abby Franquemont has given spinners a encyclopedic gift on the topic of spindles. In a single volume, she will change the way you look at, think about and use...spindles." - Knitty.com

"The instructions are very well done, nothing is rushed and there are good photos of everything you need. I'd happily recommend this to a beginner." - YarnMaker

"Respect the Spindle is really lovely. It's perfect if you've always wanted to spin but were intimidated by spinning wheels because it makes the whole process a lot more elemental. Perfect for even the novice spinner!" - The Purl Bee

"Abby Franquemont says spinning with a spindle can get you any kind of yarn you want; a spinning wheel never needs to be in your house if you don't want it. She makes this argument--and proves the point nicely--in her book Respect the Spindle." - About.com

"It's a comprehensive guide to using a drop spindle and it starts at the very beginning, which is perfect for a total novice like me." - Canadian Living craft blog

About the Author

Abby Franquemont was raised in the United States and the Andes, where she was taught to spin on a spindle at the age of five. She has been spinning, knitting, weaving, and crocheting for more than thirty years. She is a fiber artist, teacher, technical editor, and writer whose work has appeared in Spin-Off, Spindlicity, and Twist Collective. She lives in Lebanon, Ohio.