Monday, March 10, 2014

REVIEW: The Field Guide to Fleece

The Field Guide to Fleece

by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius

Paperback: 232 Pages

Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (August 27, 2013)


9781612121789


Ever wondered just where the skein of wool you're knitting with came from, or rather who... as in the adorable sheep the fleece came off of?

With The Field Guide to Fleece, knitters, spinners and weavers can learn about the fleece from 100 different sheep breeds - including origin, fleece weights, staple lengths, fiber diameter, natural colors, effects of dye and best uses.  At a mere 5" x 7" and just half an inch thick, the little guide book is packed full of useful information and it's portable!  Toss a copy in your bag and head off to the fiber festival or yarn shop!

Sheep are listed alphabetically, making it easy to put your finger on what you're looking for.  The information is exactly what you need - not too much, not too little - and the photographs throughout are beautiful.  Not only will you get adorable sheep photos, but close ups of their fiber as well. 

In addition to the sheep and fleece specific information, The Field Guide to Fleece also includes a few pages to teach you how to use that information.  Additionally, they've left us some blank space on each profile to track our own "Field Notes."

While I do not spin, I do love to knit with handspun yarns and good quality wools.  Sure, we can all find great wool that is mass produced, but there's something extra special about those hanks I can pick up at my local Sheep & Wool Festival or one of the many farms in New England.  The Field Guide to Fleece is an excellent resource for me as a knitter and lover of wool, and an indispensable resource for those of you who spin. 

About the Authors:
Deborah Robson is coauthor of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook and Knitting in the Old Way.  She is a former editor of Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot and Spin-Off magazines.  Deborah is also an artist, working in textiles, printmaking, and oils.  She lives in Colorado.
Carol Ekarius is coauthor of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook and the author of several books including Small-Scale Livestock Farming and two of Storey's Illustrated Guides - Poultry Breeds and Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs.  Carol lives in Colorado with her four-legged and winged family.

Disclaimer: Storey Publishing, LLC sent a complimentary copy of The Field Guide to Fleece to Lapdog Creations for review purposes. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions expressed in the review are my own.

3 comments:

Marjie said...

When I saw the title, I thought of sweatshirt type material and wondered why it mattered. Now I've been educated!

Kathy R said...

I also didn't immediately think sheep. I was thinking of North Face or Patagonia jackets. Totally wrong!

I bet the sheep photos are cute.

WonderWhyGal said...

I saw this book and wondered if I should get it. I have the Complete Fleece to Fiber book and Beth Smith has her book coming out this next year. Grrrr Is it new information?

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