Spider Hat by Nancy Roberts from All New Homespun Handknit. |
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HOMESPUN HANDKNIT, OLD AND NEW
The original Homespun Handknit came about in a serendipitous way. Spin-Off magazine had a little contest back in 1986: send in your handspun caps, socks, mittens, and gloves. Our readers did, by the score. As we surveyed the lot, we thought, "Let's make a book!" So we did. Creating useful instructions was a challenge, since spinners tend to fudge a lot, and their yarns are decidedly not standard. But the results were so worth it. That little book of fifty-one patterns, ranging from classic to eccentric, from simple to mind-bending, stuck around through many printings—for twenty-two years, in fact. Then it retired.
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Entrelac Socks by Erda Kappeler from All New Homespun Handknit. |
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All New Homespun Handknit came to be in 2009. Compare it to the original and you can see how the crafts of spinning and publishing developed in two-plus decades. More consistent, intentional yarns, more sophisticated knitwear design, cleaner page layout, fresher photography. It was good. That was three years ago.
Now the All New Homespun Handknit has a new life as an electronic book. Already we are taking for granted that a book doesn't have to be made of paper and ink. Already many of us are embracing the convenience and beauty of books delivered on backlit screens, books that arrive in our electronic devices as if by magic. Whoosh! Here's a new book!
Many people bemoan this trend, reluctant to give up the feel, the smell, the tactile reality of those turnable pages. Happily, you can have it both ways. Now handspun caps and mittens, on the other hand—it's hard to imagine an electronic version of those. Makes me cold just to think about it.
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Now in a convenient e-Book and similar to the original,
Homespun, Handknit, this book offers a variety of projects for beginner and advanced knitters and spinners (or fans of handspun yarns). Packed with spinning knowledge and over 25 adorable projects, crafters can create unique gifts and wearables
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Now in a convenient e-Book and similar to the original, Homespun, Handknit, this book offers a variety of projects for beginner and advanced knitters and spinners (or fans of handspun yarns). Packed with spinning knowledge and over 25 adorable projects, crafters can create unique gifts and wearables
Amy Clarke Moore is the editor of Spin-Off magazine and coauthor of Beaded Embellishment (Interweave).
Kathleen Cubley, editor of Knitting Daily, discusses All New Homespun Handknit
I have our new book All New Homespun Handbook in front of me, and I'm really appreciating the blend of community and tradition this book embodies. How's this for knitting tradition: the original Homespun Handknit, edited by Interweave Press founder Linda Ligon, was in print for twenty years, and the editor of All New Homespun Handknit, Amy Clarke Moore, discovered it when she was in college. Amy is now the editor of Spin Off magazine and she was thrilled to put this new collection together.
As for community, there are twenty-three designers represented in this book, all of whom are accomplished spinners, too, and twenty-five designs that span the knitting spectrum from hats to bags to shawls. These designers really understand how yarn works and they've put their precious handspun into the most fabulous patterns.
For the experienced knitter, Faina Letoutchaia presents the Old Garden Scarf, a stunning piece that expertly combines a lace pattern with shaping to create a piece that actually fits around the shoulders without bunching up at the neck. I love it when brilliance meets beauty and they fall in love.
I also love the Spider Hat by Nancy Roberts (photo at right). Nancy designed this hat based on traditional Peruvian weaving patterns depicting spiders. This pattern uses the Fair Isle technique with a twist: you only use two colors of yarn at any one time, but one of the yarns is a variegated yarn, so the color changes are really impressive without being difficult to achieve. The top of the hat is a fabulous webanother beauty + brilliance match-up!
One thing to note is that you don't have to be a spinner to use this book to its fullest potential. Yarn weights are given for each project, which makes it easy for non-spinners to use yarn from their stashes or from their favorite yarn shops. One of my favorite features is a photo that shows each yarn used in the book, which is a great tool to use if you need to substitute yarns.
But if you've never used handspun yarn before, please try it! You'll see what all the fuss is about when you knit up something with handspunthat extra something is the love and care that the spinner put into the yarn as it was being spun and dyed and packaged just for you. The book also provides a nice list of sources for handspun yarn. (Added bonus: most projects use small amounts of yarn, so this is a good source of designs for those super-special-single-skeins of handspun yarn.)
This book has that same feeling as that beautiful skein of handspun: the feeling that Amy put it together just for you.
Cheers,
Kathleen
(Interweave would like to express our gratitude to Lion Brand Yarns for graciously granting us permission to use the term "Homespun" in this book. "Homespun" is a registered trademark of Lion Brand Yarns.)
'Knitting spinners rejoice! This project has been whispered about for years in spinning circles. 25 knitting projects using handspun yarn, and all of the projects request that you please engage your brain.'--Knitty.com
'5 out of 5 stars. Great designs for those of you who want to knit with homespun yarn, either your own or purchased yarn.'--Knitting News
"Staff Pick - Best book for small items."--Knit Today Magazine, January 2010