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Rating: 
Summary: Need inspiration? read this book!
Review: As a handspinner, I'm always curious about what other spinners and dyers are doing. Handpaint Country was impossible to put down. The photos are beautiful and I was enchanted by the stories of the women who spin and dye in the book. Their yarns are gorgeous! i thought some of the projects in the book were a little odd, but other than that, it's a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Need inspiration? read this book!
Review: I am very fussy about my knitting books. Many of them have the same basic sweater patterns over and over (look at the schematics) the change in "look" of a sweater comprising of variations in guage, yarn used, or a different pattern stitch. An experienced knitter can figure most of this out by his/herself. Therefore I look for something new - something different - in a book of knitting patterns. Otherwise I pass on the purchase.This book has lovely, creative designs and they are readily adaptable to substitution yarns, as most of the yarns featured are MUEY EXPENSIVO! (I don't know about you but I consider spending 3 - 500 dollars on yarn for a sweater I may not finish a bit steep!) I still buy the handpaints, but where a solid is shown, i will substitute a more basic yarn. In any case, the patterns are beautiful and inventive - showcasing Top designers best work. The yarns are drool material, and the photography is exceptional, displaying these incredible handyed yarns in all their sensual beauty! This book goes far beyond a "coffee table" book, although it has the same size AND you really want to pick it up and look through it whether you knit or not. You will want to photocopy the patterns before you make them. I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: If you loved "Knitting in America" and have been looking for something similar, this may be what you were looking for. There are projects to knit, but the book goes way beyond that. This is a book first to look at and then to read, full of the stories of people who dye, spin, design, create, and sell the materials spinner, weavers, and knitters use. Here are their reasons for creating "handpainted" yarns and their ways of using them. The photography is exceptional. The book itself is so beautifully designed and the layout so appealing that any booklover with even the smallest knowledge of knitting will want a copy for inspiration and simply to enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book is inspirational
Review: It's a gorgeous book, hands down. I put it right up there with Knitting Across America for sheer inspiration and beauty. The book is organized by geography, much like Knitting Across America, and Cheryl interviews dyers from every area. Mountain Colors, Valentina Devine, La Lana Wools, Fiesta Yarns, Koigu, Great Adirondack, and more. The only area that wasn't covered well is the West, which may mean that there are not a lot of hand dyers in business here. Patterns follow each dyers review, and they are varied and beautiful. Top name designers such as Lily Chin, Sally Melville, Rick Mondragon, and Cheryl Oberle offer a wide range of garments and other items; sweaters, vests, afghans, shawls, hats, etc. Some are deceptively simple; Valentina Devine's Garter Blocks afghan is simplicity itself to make, but it's just beautful in the colors she chose. Of course, the photography is incredible. Alexis Xenakis has outdone himself yet again. Yarns are photographed in natural light, often using the landscape as a backdrop. The book is printed on high quality glossy paper, so the colors really shine. The body text is in a sans serif font, in a size that is quite comfortable to read. There is plenty of white space for your eye to rest after the excitement of texture and color.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!!!!
Review: Sometimes I just want to pick up a knitting book just to drool over the designs, colors, textures rather than attempt something. The patterns appear rather well written and easy to follow-it's just that I am a basic, basic, basic knitter and have not reached this "Zen" level of knitting. This book TOTALLY inspired me to keep going. I WANT to be able to knit like this and use these yarns. I saw one review that said she couldn't find the yarn. Concidentally, the other day I was in AC Moore craft store and picked up a magazine titled Interweave Knits. Almost every one of the yarns were listed in this magazine! I will always reach for this book for inspiration.
Rating: 
Summary: Lavish with Some Practical Problems
Review: This book is beautiful beyond belief. The photographs are beautiful and it's interesting to compare and contrast the different views of handpainting yarn and design sensibilities presented here. I also liked the insights provided into running small yarn companies coupled with the sense of craft in different parts of the US. The big pages can inspire dreams about knitting and the book is a great spur to the imagination.Some of the designs are not to my taste but there are many tastes presented here and I'm sure most readers would find plenty of things they like.
I would also recommend this book to people who handpaint their own yarn as I do - seeing the excellent photographs of many different styles of handpainted yarn was a real eye opener to me.
That said, I regret that it's hard to find out where to buy many of the yarns so tantalizingly presented here. I have been knitting for over thirty years and never follow a pattern exactly; I wouldn't recommend this book to neophytes.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book
Review: This book was worth the...time waiting. I used handpainted yarns for a while, but these ideas ..... Wow!!! The photos are excellent, the stories behind the women who painted and designed with this wonderful yarns are pure inspiration.
The only thing I missed, in times of Internet and as I am a knitter in Europe with no chance to come to one of these wonderful fiber festivals in USA is: the e-mail and internetaddresses of the shops, so that I can mailorder these yarns.
Rating:
Summary: Bedazzled by color
Review: Though I am weaver, I find the ideas and the color-ways extraordinary ! The photos are eye candy for the soul ! The patterns in some cases are quite adaptable for the weaver to use as is, or act as an inspiration. I have contacted a few of the people/shops listed in the book.. and have found them to be wonderful ! Truly a "must have" item !
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