Teach Yourself VISUALLY Handspinning [Paperback]

This book had a lot of potential - great spinning teacher, big publisher, professional layout and photographer - but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The overall impression I had was that of a spinning class for beginners where the teacher says "Spinning is a great hobby, you can do this, and this, and this, and this, it's really great - well, sorry, I don't have the time to explain HOW you do it, but you'll figure it out". There's supposedly a little bit of everything, but for a beginner the explanations are just not detailed enough (and even for me, with some years of experience, the "rainbow pot" didn't work out). Now, that's just the general impression, but there's also a number of specific points to criticize.

First of all, pictures are not very good. The "closeup" shots of yarn and fibre are not close enough and the pictures don't always go very well with the text: The different types of spinning wheel (bobbin-lead, scotch tension, double drive) are illustrated with full frontal shots of the wheels - you can see pedals and drivewheel, but not even guess how drive band and brake band are running - which is the only important thing. The only picture (in this chapter) that does show the drive/brake band arrangement is that of a scotch tension wheel right next to the headline "bobbin-driven wheels". Page 77: "The hooks on most flyers are offset, which makes it easier to fill the bobbins evenly. You move the yarn from the hood on the right side to the hook on the left side, from one end of the flyer to the other" - for that to work the hooks need to be on opposite sides of the flyer arms (so that both rows of hooks are visible - or invisible - at the same time when the flyer is horizontal) and this is NOT the case on the wheel that's shown on this page. On page 140 we have a picture of a skein of angora yarn and the text says "Do you see how much bigger the yarn is now that it's fulled?" No, we don't - there's no "before" picture.

So, don't buy the book for the pictures. Well, normally I wouldn't anyway - but the title is "Teach yourself visually..." - and the motto "Read less - learn more". Which implies that you are supposed to learn from the pictures...

Textwise, the technical information on spinning wheels is unclear, incomplete or just plain wrong. Examples: Page 15: "A bobbin-driven wheel is the fastest of the wheel types, but it doesn't offer you much control" - what's that supposed to mean? Spinning wheel speed is a function of the transmission ratio between drive wheel and whorl (a concept that's never mentioned anywhere), and incidentally the bobbin-driven wheels I know are all on the slow side. Page 16: "You have more control on a double-drive wheel than you do on a bobbin-driven wheel, but less speed" and finally the flyer-driven wheel is "the slowest of the three types". What is that supposed to mean?

Then, what are we supposed to learn from sentences like this one: "If you have the wheel-maker's instructions, it should tell you how to replace the bobbin. If you do not have the instructions, every wheel should have some way to take the flyer off so that you can replace the bobbin" (page 70). By the way, nowhere is mentioned that the whorl on the double-drive wheel usually unscrews clockwise - that might have been a piece of useful information. Regarding information that's just plain wrong, here's one example: "Remember to put the drive band on the big end of the bobbin if you are using a scotch brake and on the small end if you are using a double drive" (page 71) - wrong! for scotch brake operation you put the drive band on the FLYER whorl and the brake band on the bobbin whorl!

Another peeve: Judith McKenzie McCuin mostly avoids traditional spinning terminology and anything that might make spinning seem technical. Instead of "drafting" she uses mostly "stretching", instead of "S- and Z-twist" "left and right twist (and I like her explanation with the thumb - but would it really have hurt to mention that other sources use S and Z?), there's no mention of spinning wheel ratios, twists per inch or wraps per inch...

I've given the two stars only because the book does seem nice, with an easy to read layout and lots of color pictures, and might create some interest in spinning - I just hope that beginning spinners will then take a class or get another book before being too discouraged by this one. Books I'd recommend are: For explaining how a spinning wheel works: Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning. For learning how to spin: Lee Raven's Hands on Spinning (spindle and wheel) or Connie Delaney's Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert, or Patsy Zawitoski's videos. For novelty yarns Diane Varney's Spinning Designer Yarns (includes a chapter on chemical dyeing) and/or Patsy Zawitoski's video, for natural dyeing Jenny Dean's Wild Color.

I found this is a great book for the beginning spinner. It covers both wheel & spindle spinning which is very helpful. It allows you to get a feeling for the basics.

The pictures help to illustrate the text in the book. Though as always, I wish there were more images as I find I learn best visually.

It certainly can't replace having someone to help you learn. But if you can't find a spinning group in your area, this is a great way to start.

I also found that because it goes over different fibers and how to spin them, it will be useful beyond just the beginner.

Given the amount of space devoted to pictures, do not expect this to cover everything. But I found that is was the best purchase I could have made as a beginner. I reference it again and again.

I've been a spinner for a couple of years now and yet learned quite a bit from Judith MacKenzie's book. It is as complete an introduction and review of handspinning as you can get in the written/photograhed medium. She ought to do a DVD as an accompaniment. Thanks Ms. MacKenzie.

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