What do you think?
Rate this book
Spinning in the Old Way: How (and Why) To Make Your Own Yarn With A High-Whorl Handspindle
Knitters are discovering the pleasure and satisfaction of spinning their own yarns. Master craftsman Priscilla Gibson-Roberts guides readers in the fast-track, low-cost, high-quality approach to spinning. No spinning wheel required.
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2006
20 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 16, 2015
There's a lot of good information on hand spindling to be found in this book, but at times I found the author's insistence that a high-whorl spindle is the best of all possible spindles to be a bit frustrating. Not surprising--the book's subtitle makes it clear the focus of the text will be on high-whorl spindles--but still a bit frustrating.
The illustrations contained within this book are, without exception, drawings. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can make a book less accessible to modern audiences than one that uses photographs to illustrate various concepts.
The illustrations contained within this book are, without exception, drawings. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can make a book less accessible to modern audiences than one that uses photographs to illustrate various concepts.
June 19, 2017
Priscilla Gibson-Roberts is an excellent instructor and is knowledgeable about the topic of high-whorl spinning. Her descriptions are clear and concise and the illustrations, though basic, do a good job to explain the process of spinning. This book is a great resource for an individual who has no access to an in-person instructor.
February 17, 2018
As a practical guide for spinning with a top whirl spindle, this book is thorough and useful. If that were the whole of my expectations for this book, the star rating would be a four. My review, however, is a solid two for two key reasons and both are related to expectations that are hinted at by the description and failed in delivery.
First, it should be noted that I already am a proficient spinner of wool using both the top and bottom whorl spindle. For that reason, I can attest personally to hell effective the authors methods are for the mechanics or the operation of the spindle. It’s very thorough in that regard. But what drew me to this book in particular was the suggestion in the title and the description that it was somehow more than just a set of lessons on how to spin wool and, instead, a historical, cultural, anthropological, domestic, contextual, narrative of what it means to spin and what the old ways of spinning actually are. That isn’t even a topic in this book. Apart from the other expressing in the introduction her interest in studying the history of socks, there really isn’t anything in this book that offers anything whatsoever about spinning in the old way.
That’s a major failure on the part of the author because it tells me that she failed to recognize her audience by failing to offer a clear understanding of what it was she was targeting in the construction of this book. Because it is far from what I expected. This failure is reiterated by the number of tiny biases in her writing. I was in another itself is not a problem in writing. I personally think that the narrative form for any instructional text is a better approach, even if that narrative form comes with bias (which is a natural feature of narrative writing; after all, narratives are usually personally invested stories with first and third person accounts and people are people so bias is part of the story. THAT isn’t the issue.) No, the problem that I have with this particular book is that it is neither an effective narrative door and effective narrative instructional device because of that bias, Which clearly fevers very specific cultural method of spinning and reinforces that more than once. I will grant you that the other does it tend to recognize this, but also shies way from taking a full stance when she iterates the importance of recognizing this is her way and not “the” way of spinning. In other words, if this book had been marketed well, and described well, as an operational manual for spinning with a drop spindle, or is the author refers to it is suspended spindle, then this book would be fabulous. But that narrative style with all of its biases would be problematic unless tempered by a few other perspectives of cultural spinning. Likewise, if this book had been what I actually expected it to be, and wills in to its context a cultural and historical perspective as well as an anthropological relevance along side of the operations and mechanics of spinning wool, then her narrative style with all of the devices would have been beautifully, elegantly welcomed.
The short version is, I wanted this book to be much more than it is, and it didn’t deliver what I expected. As a result, I hope that someone else will pick up the distaff and spin a yarn about the cultural and operational aspects of spinning wool... Someday… And from another author… Or perhaps this author if she is paired with a very good editor or co-author.
First, it should be noted that I already am a proficient spinner of wool using both the top and bottom whorl spindle. For that reason, I can attest personally to hell effective the authors methods are for the mechanics or the operation of the spindle. It’s very thorough in that regard. But what drew me to this book in particular was the suggestion in the title and the description that it was somehow more than just a set of lessons on how to spin wool and, instead, a historical, cultural, anthropological, domestic, contextual, narrative of what it means to spin and what the old ways of spinning actually are. That isn’t even a topic in this book. Apart from the other expressing in the introduction her interest in studying the history of socks, there really isn’t anything in this book that offers anything whatsoever about spinning in the old way.
That’s a major failure on the part of the author because it tells me that she failed to recognize her audience by failing to offer a clear understanding of what it was she was targeting in the construction of this book. Because it is far from what I expected. This failure is reiterated by the number of tiny biases in her writing. I was in another itself is not a problem in writing. I personally think that the narrative form for any instructional text is a better approach, even if that narrative form comes with bias (which is a natural feature of narrative writing; after all, narratives are usually personally invested stories with first and third person accounts and people are people so bias is part of the story. THAT isn’t the issue.) No, the problem that I have with this particular book is that it is neither an effective narrative door and effective narrative instructional device because of that bias, Which clearly fevers very specific cultural method of spinning and reinforces that more than once. I will grant you that the other does it tend to recognize this, but also shies way from taking a full stance when she iterates the importance of recognizing this is her way and not “the” way of spinning. In other words, if this book had been marketed well, and described well, as an operational manual for spinning with a drop spindle, or is the author refers to it is suspended spindle, then this book would be fabulous. But that narrative style with all of its biases would be problematic unless tempered by a few other perspectives of cultural spinning. Likewise, if this book had been what I actually expected it to be, and wills in to its context a cultural and historical perspective as well as an anthropological relevance along side of the operations and mechanics of spinning wool, then her narrative style with all of the devices would have been beautifully, elegantly welcomed.
The short version is, I wanted this book to be much more than it is, and it didn’t deliver what I expected. As a result, I hope that someone else will pick up the distaff and spin a yarn about the cultural and operational aspects of spinning wool... Someday… And from another author… Or perhaps this author if she is paired with a very good editor or co-author.
December 30, 2022
A skill that you can take with you anywhere
I have several wheels but never know what is going on without approaching after learning to whorl. You can learn from films but do not get the theory and skill that you can learn from “Spinning in the Old Way.”
You get how to choose your spindle and what is available.
I have several wheels but never know what is going on without approaching after learning to whorl. You can learn from films but do not get the theory and skill that you can learn from “Spinning in the Old Way.”
You get how to choose your spindle and what is available.
March 10, 2019
A solid reference for high-whorl spindle spinning.
February 17, 2010
I'm really becoming a fan of Priscilla Gibson-Roberts's straightforward, no-nonsense, yet personal and approachable style. I loved her book on knitting socks, and found
Spinning in the Old Way
even better. She gives step-by-step instruction for practicing the motions of spinning with a spindle, which finally gave me enough confidence to actually TRY it. But only after converting my low-whorl spindle to a high-whorl following her very opinionated advice on spindles (I just added a hook at what used to be the bottom).
Given this is a fairly small book, it's surprising how much information she manages to cover, including types of fiber prep and how to use them, plying, and finishing yarn. I'm only a newbie and a clueless newbie at that, so I can't say how complete this info is. But I found it immensely helpful.
Given this is a fairly small book, it's surprising how much information she manages to cover, including types of fiber prep and how to use them, plying, and finishing yarn. I'm only a newbie and a clueless newbie at that, so I can't say how complete this info is. But I found it immensely helpful.
August 12, 2008
I liked this book, although I didn't like how adamant she is that high-whorl spindles are THE spindle to use... I've enjoyed experimenting with low-whorls and have read other people's opinions on the subject... Anyway, at least she says a few times (both about that and other spinning techniques) that it's her opinion and not the only "correct" way to spin with a spindle.
Overall, there's a lot of good information about spindle spinning. Most of the information is stuff I've read about before, but I've done a lot of reading about spinning. I'd recommend this for beginning/intermediate spinners as a good source of general high-whorl spinning technique.
Overall, there's a lot of good information about spindle spinning. Most of the information is stuff I've read about before, but I've done a lot of reading about spinning. I'd recommend this for beginning/intermediate spinners as a good source of general high-whorl spinning technique.
December 10, 2012
I bought a drop spindle earlier this year at the Farm Show and had about ten minutes of instruction. I promptly put the spindle away to concentrate on revamping and moving our church website to another platform. Fast forward to fall and the interest in using my spindle became stronger. I watched a few online videos, but really felt I needed a beginner's book for reference. This was the book that I found in our library and it was available as a Kindle release. I immediately bought the book because I felt it met my needs as a beginner on how to use my high-whorl spindle and on finishing my yarn.
July 22, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. It has a good combination of technique and history. She is very adamant that the high whorl spindle has advantages over a low whorl but makes it clear that this is her opinion and others have different ones.
I am anxious to try out the techniques and see if her tips help my spindling.
I am anxious to try out the techniques and see if her tips help my spindling.
August 11, 2009
The author's voice is strong and opinionated, yet opens the door for you to experiment and disagree. The instructions are clear, as are the illustrations. The history is inspiring.One of the best how-to/basic instruction books I have ever read. I like to teach myself from books so there have been a few.
October 12, 2007
I liked this book a lot, and learned a bit of history around handspindling around the world.
December 13, 2008
Excellent introduction to spinning, especially for drop-spindling. I need to add this to my library.
January 9, 2016
Inspirational. As I'm reading this book, I'm also becoming more proficient with my spindling and feeling a very deep connection to an ancient web of women.
May 21, 2010
Eye-opening book for me. I assumed spindles were for people interested in historical reenactment. This book turned my head. Fascinating history of spindling plus good advice for a beginner like me.
July 18, 2010
A truly wonderful and detailed description of using a high whorl spindle. This book has been an enormous help as I've been learning to spin.
August 20, 2010
Essential guide for drop spindles
Read
June 28, 2013stopped reading for now.
May 28, 2016
Excellent book; very helpful!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews