Ashford Book of Carding
A handspinner’s guide to fibre preparation
by Jo Reeve

This is a practical and inspirational guide to carding fleece, slivers and exotic fibers. Written for the handspinner and felter, and everyone who loves fibre, there are sections on using flick, hand, and drum carders, fibre and colour blending, and colour theory, as well as instructions for four innovative projects.

Our thanks to Mary Bentley for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Clothing is one of the most personal expressions of who we are. In her landmark investigation Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Elizabeth L. Cline first revealed fast fashion’s hidden toll on the environment, garment workers, and even our own satisfaction with our clothes. The Conscious Closet shows exactly what we can do about it.

This book is not just a style guide. It is a call to action to transform one of the most polluting industries on earth—fashion—into a force for good. Readers will learn where our clothes are made and how they’re made, before connecting to a global and impassioned community of stylish fashion revolutionaries. In The Conscious Closet, Elizabeth shows us how we can start to truly love and understand our clothes again—without sacrificing the environment, our morals, or our style in the process.

Our thanks to Ann Harmer for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Dyes from Lichens and Plants
by Judy Waldner McGrath

Published in 1977, this classic book begins with the author’s description of her time with the Indigenous people of a community in Canada’s far north, from who she learned the process of obtaining colour from lichens and plants found in the Arctic. She then provides details of the process, followed by descriptions and black-and-white drawings, complete with the Inuit name of each one.

Our thanks to Mary Bentley for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles
by India Flint

In Eco Colour, artistic dyer and colorist India Flint teaches how to harvest and use this gentle and ecologically sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes. India explores the fascinating and infinitely variable world of plant colour, using a wide variety of techniques and recipes. She uses renewable resources and shows how to do the least possible harm to the dyer, the end user of the object, and the environment.

Our thanks to Heather Apple for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Felting
by Marlie Claessen

This classic book, published in 1981, provides all the basic details for making clothing and other objects through the process of felting wool.

Our thanks to Mary Bentley for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Fibershed
Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activitists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy
by Rebecca Burgess

In Fibershed, readers will learn how natural plant dyes and fibres can be grown and processed as part of a scalable, restorative agricultural system. They will also learn about milling and other technical systems needed to make regional textile production possible. Fibershed is a resource for fibre farmers, ranchers, contract grazers, weavers, knitters, slow-fashion entrepreneurs, soil activists, and conscious consumers who want to join or create their own fibreshed and topple outdated and toxic systems of exploitation.

This encyclopedia of fibres shines a spotlight on more than 200 animals and their wondrous fleece. It profiles a worldwide array of fibre animals, including such rarities as the northern African dromedary camel, the Navajo churro, and the Tasmanian merino. Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson include photographs of each animal’s fleece at every stage of the handcrafting process, from raw to cleaned, spun, and woven. The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook is an artist’s handbook, travel guide, and spinning enthusiast’s ultimate reference source all in one.

This book is available for loan, but note that we use it as a reference source at our public events and may call it in if needed.

Handspinner’s Handbook
by Bette Hochberg

This book, published in 1980, is a classic. It contains all the basic information: how to adjust your spinning wheel, tie a drive band, draft your fibre, skein and ply it. It also includes chapters on sheep breeds, selecting fleece, sorting and storing fleece, washing, and carding, as well as evaluating spinning wheels.

Bette Hochberg has long been recognized for helping to bring spinning into popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.

Harvesting Color
How to find plants and make natural dyes
by Rebecca Burgess

As more and more crafters are discovering, dyeing your own fabric can yield gorgeous colors. In Harvesting Color, master dyer Rebecca Burgess identifies 36 plants that will yield beautiful natural shades and shows how easy it is to make the dyes. The book explains where to find these plants in the wild and describes the simple equipment needed and provides a master dye recipe. The book is organized seasonally; each section contains a knitting project using wools coloured with dyes from plants harvested during that time of the year. Harvesting Color is an essential guide to this growing field, for crafters and DIYers; ecologists and botanists; and for artists, textile designers, and art students.

Indigo:
From Seed to Dye
by Dorothy Miller

Dorothy Miller encountered indigo dyeing while living in Japan in the 1950s. In 1973 she returned to get seeds and to research the art herself, growing and harvesting the indigo plants, making the dye, dyeing the fibers, and weaving the indigo-dyed yarn.

This book, published in 1984, encourages others to explore the possibility of growing and processing indigo, and to appreciate the beauty of fabrics dyed with this ancient method.

Our thanks to Mary Bentley for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

“It Itches”
A stash of knitting cartoons
by Franklin Habit

Magic in the Dyepot
by Ann Harmer

Fungi are relative newcomers to the world of natural dyes and yield a surprising variety of colours. In Magic in the Dyepot, Ann Harmer explores every aspect of dyeing with mushrooms: what to look for, where to find them, and how to process them for glorious results. In this entertaining and informative book, Ann punctuates her detailed instructions about mushroom dyeing with anecdotes that reveal her dry sense of humour. Learn about this art form and join her in a few chuckles as she shares the triumphs and pitfalls of her quest to produce magic in the dyepot.

Our thanks to Ann Harmer for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Mending Matters
Stitch, Patch, and Repair Your Favorite Denim and more
by Katrina Rodabaugh

Mending Matters explores sewing on two levels: first, it includes more than twenty hands-on projects that showcase current trends in visible mending—edgy, modern, and bold—that draw on traditional stitching. The book also addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship with fashion and overall wellbeing. Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves, and she examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence.

Respect the Spindle
by Abby Franquemont

This is a fascinating and wide-ranging book, containing everything from how to start spinning to the physics of twist, via comprehensive trouble-shooting, international spindles, various types of fibre, the history of spinning, and more. Published in 2009.

Our thanks to Mary Bentley for donating this book to the Fibreshed library.

Electric Drum Carder

The drum carder is available to members for a fee of $1/day. A demonstration will be given before the carder is signed out; the borrower is responsible for picking up and returning the carder, which will be returned clean and ready for the next user. Availability will depend on demand, and a wait list will be used if necessary.

Blending Board

Fibreshed now has an Ashford blending board, 12” x 12”. It comes with two dowels, two brushes, and a keel (adjustable stand).

A blending board can be used to make rolags for spinning or a batt for felting. Ashford has videos about each technique. Please be aware that this board is to be used only with Fibreshed fibre—locally sourced (currently meaning from anywhere in BC) and dyed with local materials.

Skirting Table

Thanks to George Smith for making and donating a wooden frame, 32” x 24”, with wire mesh in the centre. This sits on two plastic sawhorses, 30″ high.

This is very useful when skirting a sheared fleece. Just lay over on the screen and skirt the outer layer. The wire allows unwanted VM bits (vegetable matter) to fall through.