04/22/08
Gale Zucker's book Shear Spirit now shipping
Get away from the grind and escape to the fascinating and colorful world of America’s fiber farms
SHEAR SPIRIT
Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn
by Joan Tapper with photography by Connectcut ASMP member Gale Zucker
 For knitters who love luxury fibers, pore over their yarn labels, and flock to fiber festivals, you can’t get much closer to the source than with SHEAR SPIRIT: Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn (POTTER CRAFT; April 15, 2008), which captures the essence and allure of ten fiber farms and ranches across America. This beautiful book provides an inside look at how natural yarns are made and an up-close-and-personal introduction to the people and animals who make it all possible.
Part coffee table book, part inspiration, part pattern collection, SHEAR SPIRIT takes readers on a visual journey to ten different fiber farms and ranches, providing a rich, behind-the-scenes look at the lives of fiber farmers, their homes and studio, and the sheep, alpacas, goats, camels, and other animals from which they create their beautiful yarns. Through intimate profiles and stunning photography, from the Willamette Valley in Oregon to the hills of Massachusetts, readers will get a glimpse into the challenging but rewarding life of raising animals for fiber - the stuff of knitters’ dreams.
Just as people are showing new interest in locally grown food, knitters want the pleasure of knowing exactly where their yarn has come from, down to the barn an animal was raised in. In SHEAR SPIRIT, this curiosity is satisfied, as the profiles offer a rich inside look at a diversity of lifestyles, as well as a variety of fiber: from the Bactrian camel to the alpaca and the yak; from the sheep at Thirteen Mile Farm in Montana, who live a nontraditional coexistence with coyotes, to the Churro sheep on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. What’s more, each of the farms and ranches profiled in SHEAR SPIRIT provides patterns using its yarns or fibers, sharing a little of the farm’s spirit and allowing knitters to connect with the yarn-producing community in a new and intimate way.
Some of the projects featured in SHEAR SPIRIT include:
v “Luna Lace Scarf” from Goat Knoll Farm, Oregon: Named for the newest kid on the farm - literally, Luna, a baby goat - this floaty, beautiful scarf only requires one skein of cashmere yarn, making it an affordable luxury.
v “Sage Brush Hot Pads” from Kai Ranch, Texas: Simple crochet projects of richly hand-dyed chunky mohair become art for your pot rack, or beautiful housewarming gifts.
v “Welsh Traveling Socks” from Autumn House Farm, Pennsylvania: While vacationing in Wales, designer Sheri Franz noticed a fellow tourist in the bus seat next to her knitting a sock with an interesting texture. With permission, she charted the pattern and recreated its rich design at home.
Full of personal touches and captivating photographs, SHEAR SPIRIT is sure to entrance the beginning knitters as well as the more seasoned fiber enthusiasts, allowing them an inside look at the birth of their common obsession: yarn.
Connecticut ASMP photographer Gale Zucker is an award-winning location photographer whose photos have appeared in Smithsonian, Newsweek, and Woman's Day.
Author Joan Tapper was the editor of the award-winning Islands magazine for thirteen years and before that was founding editor of National Geographic Traveler. She is currently a contributing travel editor for Santa Barbara Magazine and writes features about people, arts, and culture for a variety of other national publications.
SHEAR SPIRIT
Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn
by Joan Tapper with photography by Gale Zucker
Potter Craft * April 15 2008
978-0-307-39403-3 * 160 pages * $30.00 Hardcover
www.joantapper.com
www.gzucker.com
www.shearspirit.typepad.com
www.pottercraft.com
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