Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62223 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
"Comprehensive info on knitting with alternatives [to wool]. . . .  The book is also filled with beautiful knitting patterns; you'll find yourself drooling over the variety of projects you can knit."  —Craft

"Amy R. Singer . . . has made a non-wool believer out of me."  —All Info About Knitting.com

"Amy celebrates what these fibers are good at, is deadly honest about what they can and can't do, and delightfully releases them from their hollow place in the shadow of my beloved wool. It's a good book, even to a resister like me."  — Stephanie Pearl McPhee, author, The Yarn Harlot and Knitting Rules!

"Full of wit, wisdom, and answers to questions I never even thought to ask about my favorite fibers. And it's a wonderful pattern book. Some are ingenious solutions to the non-wool knitter's quandary of how to knit a garment that traditionally is wool."  —Kay Gardiner, author, Mason-Dixon Knitting on Knitty.com

"Whether you're allergic to wool or not, No Sheep for You is a fantastic book. The patterns are consistently gorgeous . . . the fiber education alone is invaluable, for beginner and expert alike."  —Cable Gram

"This is a nice, gently humorous take on non-wool knitting that, although geared to the intermediate knitter, should have no difficulties [for] beginners utilizing the treasure trove of information presented here."  —Monsters and Critics.com

"Really innovative projects that use all sorts of fiber—linen, silk, bamboo, hemp, but not wool."  —The News & Observer

About the Author
Amy R. Singer is the founder of Knitty.com, an online knitting magazine that has attracted 15 million visitors, and a columnist for Interweave Knits magazine. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Customer Reviews

A Gem!
I have over twenty knitting books, and none can hold a candle to this one! The prose is engaging and fun. Other books may have one or two projects I like, and so-so writing, obvious a goodly portion of "filler," both text and pictures, but No Sheep danced me through one fabulous, colorful, inspiring project after another. I want to do them all! Unlike the humdrum projects in my other books, I love every unique, colorful work of art--the fibers, the colors, the patterns!--the book might be renamed No Boredom for You. I highly recommend this book for all people interested in knitting, those who enjoy wonderful writing, and those who wish to be creatively inspired!

Written for People With Wool Allergies, Not Vegans
I'm a new knitter and don't want to use wool because of the cruel practices (including mulesling, the cutting without anesthesia of part of the tail and surrounding skin of lambs and sheep) of the wool industry. I was therefore delighted to find this book. At first I thought it was written by a vegan, but then noticed the word "silk" on the cover. I purchased it anyway because it seemed like a great reference for working with non-wool yarns. And there is a lot to recommend it. The author goes into some detail about the history of the different yarns and how they're produced (all quite interesting) and provides guides comparing the qualities of the different yarns to wool. Further, most of the designs, to my eye, are hip and attractive.

However, for such a well-researched book, I find the absence of any concern for animals extremely annoying. Although the book promises to show you how to "knit happy" without wool, there is a section entitled, "Are You Really Allergic to Wool?" apparently to root out any poor souls who may be denying themselves the "pleasures" of wool due to misdiagnosis. Despite her claims to the contrary, this implies non-wool yarns are a mere second-rate substitution for wool. Can she really be unaware that many of us who are not allergic to wool choose to avoid it because we love animals and don't wish to support the industries that exploit them and cause them to suffer? Further, her favorite of all non-wool yarns is silk yarn, and even though she writes about the availability of "ahimsa" (Sanskrit for "reverence for life") silk--silk made without cruelly killing the silk worms--she prefers the cruel stuff because it's the "shimmeriest." She describes the production of this type of silk in a rather glib manner - "The moth has its short life ended a few days earlier than normal, before it has a chance to break through the cocoon. The common word for this is `stifling.' It's done with either dry heat or steam, and what's left is an undamaged cocoon with a little deceased bug inside. RIP." I realize many readers of this review may not care about silk worms. However, I'll never forget, more than 20 years ago, a colleague returning to the office after a trip to China. This woman was a typical meat-eating American who had never heard of animal rights and who would of thought it crazy if she had. Yet she had been traumatized by a visit to a silk factory and seeing thousands of worms wriggling in the boiling water, to her mind, clearly in pain. The fact that someone like her---a bleeding heart by no means--found the boiling of live worms so horrifying has stayed with me, and I haven't worn silk since. And it irritates me that author Amy R. Singer, who proves herself so knowledgeable about yarn production, seems so blatantly unconcerned with the humane treatment of animals. I'd like this book much better if it had been written by an ethical vegan.

No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp Bamboo and Other Delights
No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights
Finally, a book for non-wool knitters that offers more than just patterns for alternates. The author explains how you can substitute alternate fibers to conventional patterns by explaining their properties and best applications. She also has some very nice non-wool patterns included in the book. A book for the creative knitter who wants to have more freedom in putting together yarns and patterns.