When I first saw the book, A Fine Fleece - Knitting with Handspun Yarns by Lisa Lloyd published by Potter House, NY, I thought "Ho hum, another knitting book". Closer examination proved how wrong that assessment was.

Yes, it is a knitting book. But it is also a spinning book. Each of the projects included is shown in both commercially spun yarn and in hand spun yarn. Since knitting books usually do not include hand spun projects or information on how to spin the yarns for a project, this concept is unique.

The patterns cover a range of classic designs in highly textured knits. There are cabled sweaters, cabled socks, and a cabled scarf. A bit of lace makes an appearance in a couple of the sweater and scarf patterns. The patterns cover a wide range of sizes for both men and women. There are no patterns for children’s items included.

In the text portion, the author discusses the breeds of sheep and other fiber producing animals that produced the fleece she used to create the blends of hand spun she used to spin the yarn for the hand spun garments shown in the book. There are also notes on spinning, determining knitting gauge for hand spun, preparing hand spun for knitting, and how to figure out if you have enough fiber for your project. There is much valuable and useful information here for the hand spinner.

The breeds of sheep used to produce the yarns used are:
Blue-faced Leicester
Border Leicester
California Red
Coopworth
Cormo
Corriedale
Icelandic
Merino
Rambouillet
Romney
Suffolk

Rare breeds of sheep are also represented by:
Black Welsh Mountain
Cotswold
Jacob
Karakul
Navajo-Churro
Shetland

But it’s not all about sheep. There are also a few projects using exotic fibers; Alpaca, Llama, and Mohair.

The patterns are well written, the charts are good sized, clear and easy to read, as are the schematics, and the garments are beautifully photographed with commercial yarn and hand spun versions shown side by side.

If I have one criticism, it is that there could be more information given on the specific hand spun yarns used in the patterns. For example, twist per inch and wraps per inch for the hand spun yarns are not given. There is a chart in the back of the book that relates needle sizes and gauge to commercial yarn sizes and information for recommended wraps per inch of the commercial yarns can be found in my article on (Standard Yarn Sizing)
Of course, it is always possible to purchase one skein of the commercial yarn to study and duplicate.

The book is an excellent starting point for anyone wondering what to make with their hand spun yarn or for the spinner looking for more information on what can be done with a specific type of fleece.