Serene. Inspiring. Beautiful. That’s what a knitter-reader-yarnaholic gets from the opening page to the glossy back cover of “99 Yarns and Counting: More Designs from The Green Mountain Spinnery” by The Green Mountain Spinnery Cooperative. The image of a knitter’s hands illuminated by pure light and others inside this magazine-like paperback meld photography by Marti Stone with a well-told story of how people and vintage machinery craft fiber into yarn.
The cover art of a printer’s tray with tiny colorful yarns and knitted cables and patterns was created by Melissa Johnson. Maureen Clark, Judy “Eric” Robinson, Margaret Atkinson, Melissa Johnson and Catherine “Cap” Sease did the core work, designing and knitting patterns, technical editing and writing the text.
Published by The Countryman Press of Woodstock, Vermont, the book features a solid 34 patterns in 128 pages (plus resources) for $24.95. Designs include adult and children sweaters, hats, socks, an afghan and a cleverly-constructed hat that can also be a bag. A photographic tour of the mill with behind-the-scenes insights into design and yarn-making processes and a visual pattern index are included along with ply, yardage per skein, weight and content ratios. In the acknowledgments, thanks is given to location owners “who helped us showcase our designs and the New England landscape,” a thoughtful touch that seems to pervade nearly every aspect of what the cooperative produces.
The spinnery’s yarns are naturally showcased by real people in an apple orchard, woods, and fields that enhance the beauty of the yarn and garments. And yes, there are a few dogs (and a sheep) to add even more appeal.
Judging from the enthusiastic shoppers at their booth during Stitches East in Hartford, they have a loyal following. Visitors are welcome to tour the spinnery and the store filled with yarns, patterns, and their books. The volume joins “The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book” by Margaret Klein Wilson and the Green Mountain Spinnery, which was published in 2003 (and will also be reviewed).
Editor’s note: We are not alone in loving to tour yarn sources, meet designers, find products, – and yes, bring home more yarn and tools for knitting. Watch for a story about a new effort to link up yarn, wine, a fiber mill and the landscape that connects them all.
