The Natural Knitter: How to Choose, Use, and Knit Natural Fibers from Alpaca to Yak

by Barbara Albright

Book Overview

Albright takes readers on a rich journey through the joys of all-natural fibers - materials that can make an incredible difference, both in your knitting and in the health of our planet. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400053528
• ISBN13: 9781400053520
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Potter Craft
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.9" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

Bitter-Sweet Review

This is a very bittersweet review of Barbara Albright's "The Natural Knitter". Barbara wrote both knitting and cooking books. Sadly she died last fall of a brain tumor at the age of 51. This was her last book, and how sad she missed enjoying her wonderful new book. The world has lost a wonderful person, knitter and author. Barbara's "The Natural Knitter" had to be an enormous task to write and illustrate. This book is like an encyclopedia of yarn all natural all beautiful. You will learn what natural fibers to use from Alpaca to Yak. We are all familiar with the new interest in natural fibers like cotton, flax and hemp and all other fibers that come from plants. Barbara introduces us to a fiber called vicuna and it is softer than cashmere and extremely protective. The vicuna is a rare wild animal which sports hair less than half the diameter of the finest sheep's wool. Its wool is not just for show, however. Because it lives at an elevation of between 12,000 and 18,000 feet on the slopes of the Andes Mountains it needs that insulating coat. Up there, near the snow line the days are beautifully sunny but at night the temperatures plummet to many degrees below zero. I learned that you can spin fibers directly from an Angora rabbit onto a spinning wheel, which is absolutely amazing to me and that angora goats produce mohair, so don't let the name alpaca fool you into thinking that is where alpaca yarn comes from. Did you know cashmere comes from the cashmere goat? You will learn about different qualities of particular fibers, it also provides information about the animals and plants that provide the yarn. You will learn which plants produce fibers for each yarn and which animals yield fiber for other natural yarns. If you are in to eco-friendly knitting then this book is a must have for the conservationist knitter. Did you know that there are yarns made from bison, guanaco and even yarn made from pineapples, I didn't! You certainly see that this book was created by people who are passionate about fiber. In addition to all the great information about the yarns themselves and where they came from, there are also 23 patterns using the different fibers Barbara has introduced us too, helping you be aware of how you can use these fibers to their best advantage. This is a book you will definitely want for your knitting and fiber library. It is a beautiful hardcover book with stunning photography by Alexandra Grablewski. Barbara was a person that adored fiber and in this book has passed that knowledge on to us and I think everyone will appreciate Barbara's efforts in putting this amazing book together for you and me to treasure.

Real tears and laughter

The Natural Knitter is a book for all lovers of natural fibres. I purchased it on the strength of a quick look at my regular knitting group's meeting, and also because it has a wonderful Norah Gaughan pattern in it. On closer perusal it is so much more - not only does the author's love of fibre, colour and the natural world come through, but it is a wonderful testament to a person whom the world could ill afford to be without. This book not only contains a variety of patterns suitable for all members of a family, but a warm and humane account of the author's love of fibre, whether it be alpaca or sheep, llama or qiviut, spinning, natural dyes and organic fleeces. It is NOT a book to exclude those of us whose love of fibre is confined to commercially produced yarns, the text alone will win many friends. This is a book to truly savour and enjoy.

Beautiful and Inspiring

This book is an inspiration in this day and age. I'm always skeptical when I hear of a knitting book focusing on "natural". It usually means the patterns are dowdy, oversized, shapeless and photographed in only neutral colors. Not so with Albright's book. The book is beautifully written, photographed and styled. The patterns are classic and lovely with modern shaping that's enhanced even more by the luxurious fibers. Breathtaking and timeless. Each of the chapters deals with a different natural fiber and is incredibly informative and interesting to read. Gaining understanding of these fibers enables a knitter to choose intelligently between quivit and cashmere before spending a lot of money. With the influx of so many new knitting books on the market, this one is original, and lovely - "the real deal" - and a must-have for any serious knitter's library.

Amazing!

Everything about this book is rich, lush and beautiful. The author did a beautiful job of exploring natural fibers. For me, many of the patterns are challenging with my current "patience to skill" ratio (I consider myself a newly-intermediate-knitter) - but I am inspired to eventually try several patterns. Albright discussed how to define "organic" fibers - there are, I believe, 5 distinctions of organic fibers. Qualities of fibers are thoroughly reviewed. Though I am not a spinner, spinning is discussed in terms that make sense to a knitter. I liked Albrights' general approch, it's very nuturing and informative to knitters and fiber artists of all levels.

as good as it gets

beautifully photographed and personality through and through and patterns that I want to make...almost all of them. wonderful book. she will be missed.