Dyes from garden and hedgerow plants.

Thinking that there were probably very good reasons why a certain range of natural dyes were used in industry (madder, weld, indigo, cutch... etc) I was a bit dubious about the idea of trying other plants in the dye pot. I thought the colours might be rather boring and might fade very fast.

I'm glad that a workshop run by members of the Online Guild of Weaver's Spinners and Dyers this summer has pushed me into trying a wider variety of plants. The results were more colourful and less boring than I expected - and the dyeing process itself was unpredictable and fun. The photo above shows a range of interesting shades obtained on superwashed merino wool, mostly with "Hedgerow" plants, many of them generally called "weeds".

I was surprised to realise that they are similar shades to those in a commercial knitting yarn I am currently knitting into a jumper. It's a yarn by Twilleys of Stamford called "Freedom Spirit" which is two ply DK. Half the yarn is shades of orange through to brown, this is plied with another yarn of pale to deep green (shade 505). So I can already see the potential in my dyed wool. Another possibility is to spin a mixed colour yarn to use for weft in weaving, probably using a commercially produced worsted in a single dark shade for warp.

Here's some of the best results. In all cases the wool wash pre-mordanted with alum (potassium aluminium sulphate) and cream of tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate). Firstly, the common stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and then my dyed samples.


The colours shown, left to right, are first a yellow green on wool with only the pre-mordant, in the centre an olive green produced by adding a pinch (about 1/16th teaspoon) of iron (ferrous sulphate) to the dyebath as an after-mordant, and on the right, a gold-brown from using a pinch of tin (stannous chloride) as an after mordant.




The following pictures show Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium; syn. Chrysanthemum parthenium) firstly the plant in our garden, then in the dye pot, and in the third picture you can see the results of dyeing. This time the pre-mordant only sample is in the centre, on the left is a gold obtained by after-mordant of tin, and on the right a deep green obtained with iron as after-mordant.




I was very pleased with the results of using Feverfew, and look forward to finding out from a light-fastness test how they behave over time with exposure to sunlight. I expect fading of the colours, but how much, how fast, and what will the faded shades look like? The answers to these questions will inform my future use of this dyeplant.

Dock also gave excellent results, and has the reputation of being reasonably light fast. I dyed both with chopped up roots and with the leaves of the Broad Leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius). I only have photos of the samples dyed with leaves to hand. However, the root produced excellent results with a gold-brown and a dark greenish-brown.

The first picture is of the plant in our garden, the second shows results of dyeing.

There's something quite curious about these results. On the left of the picture are two samples dyed in June, before the plant flowered. The first with iron after-mordant, the second dyed in the same bath but removed before the iron was added.

On the right of the picture are samples from July, when the plant was in flower. The right-of-centre sample is the equivalent of the left-of-centre sample - the result of an hour's dyeing with dock leaves of wool pre-mordanted with alum and cream of tartar. But instead of a yellow-olive shade, here is a soft pale yellow with only the faintest hint of green. Why? Is some dye chemical that was in the leaves before not there once the flower spike is produced? The relative quantities of plant to wool were similar, so it wasn't a weaker dye bath. Possibly there is a difference from the fact that in June the leaves were soaked in cold water for a few days before dyeing, but there didn't seem to be much colour in the cold water before the dyebath was made. On the right of the picture, the strong gold shade was obtained from wool of this soft yellow when a pinch of tin went in the dyebath as after-mordant.

I am keeping record cards of my dye experiments, these are very useful already when I go to the tray of samples and wonder which one is from which plant!

Today's reading: The Yarn Handbook

It's a wet weekend, so while trying to persuade myself that I'd enjoy doing some gardening in spite of the weather, and well aware that if I wait for a sunny day it might be next year before I get some serious gardening done, I've been reading.

My local county library service has recently got a new computer system and I am able to sit at home and search a revised online catalogue. This I have dived into, as the old catalogue was badly out of date and I had developed the art of requesting books that were still listed but "missing". This was particularly frustrating because many of these missing books were classics on weaving, spinning and dyeing subjects from the 1970s and 1980s and difficult to get hold of without the library. Out of county requests are rather more expensive, so I either tracked down 2nd hand copies or just gave up on some titles.

The latest bundle of books that really do exist, and turned up promptly in response to my requests, includes the one I've been reading today: The Yarn Handbook by Penny Walsh, published by A & C Black, 2006, ISBN-10: 0-7136-6995-1, ISBN-13: 978-07136-6955-8 (£14.99).

I've enjoyed reading this book, it's well written, well illustrated and I learnt a few new things. It's only a small format book though, with 128 pages including many photos (and a good bibliography) and I got to the end of it sooner than anticipated.

It starts with "What is a yarn?" leading into a brief and concise history of spinning, from ancient cultures to use of modern machinery. It is full of interesting details such as a useful little comparison of the characteristics of woolen and worsted yarns, and the fact that when the English started spinning cotton they could not produce good enough yarn for warp, so they wove a cloth called "Fustian" that had a worsted warp.

With an analytical approach, the book moves on to chapters on "The Materials" (i.e. fibres), "Yarn Spinning Mechanisms", "Spinning Techniques" (not a how-to-do-it chapter, but a useful, well illustrated explanation of different yarn construction), finishing up with "Yarn in Fabric" and "Contemporary Yarns".

So do I want a copy in my own book collection? No, it's a lovely, informative book but I already have more detailed books on the things that really interest me, such as constructing hand spun yarns, working with different types of fibre and how different yarns behave when woven.

This little book absolutely fulfills the brief given on the back cover:
"The Textile Handbook series was conceived as an introduction to various topics and techniques relating to textiles. The books are aimed at the student or the practised artist who is experimenting in a new area".

Traditional Natural Dyes

Attending a workshop on natural dyes gave me confidence to have a go at dyeing by myself. It turned out to be a simple process.

You start with undyed fibre or yarn, treat it by heating up with a mordant to improve dye take-up and lightfastness. Next, you heat up plant material to extract dye, and add the fibre or yarn. Different results with the same plant material are obtained by different using mordants, different fibre, different length of dyeing time and possible combining dyestuffs or dyeing the same fibre with two or more different dyes.


These are yarns I dyed last year, using traditional natural dyes purchased from a supplier of dyestuffs. I was impressed to discover what strong colours can be obtained from simmering plant material with wool. I hadn't been aware of natural dyes before I got Jenny Dean's book, and then had a go at dyeing for myself. I didn't expect these bright shades.


Left to right, the dyestuffs are: onion, weld, logwood, tumeric, madder and indigo.

Here's a group of shades from madder:








Blues from Logwood and indigo:













and a group of yellows, two skeins dyed with weld, and on the right, a skein dyed with buddleia flowers from the garden.












Encouraged by these results, I then decided to see what dye plants I could grow in the garden. Here are the results of using my own Dyer's Chamomile:

The wool (superwashed merino combed tops) was pre-mordanted by simmering for an hour with 10% alum (potassium aluminium sulphate) and 8% cream of tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate). This percentage is calculated in relation to the weight of wool, e.g. with 100g wool, I use 10g alum and 8 of cream of tartar.

I picked a bowl full of flowers from the garden (do you remember the picture of my dye garden? there's no shortage of these flowers) and simmered them for one hour. Then I removed the flowers from the bowl and added the wool.

The sample to the left had a pinch of tin (stannous chloride) added at the end of the dyeing time, and was given another 10 minutes dyeing time. The green sample on the right was given a pinch of iron (ferrous sulphate) as after-mordant and also given just 10 minutes extra.

Now here's something I love about playing with the chemistry of natural dyes. One moment there is a pan containing pale yellow wool in a clear yellow water, add that pinch of tin and there is suddenly a swirling cloudy, orange developing and spreading in the pan. It happens fast! The wool is now orange.

Likewise, the pinch of iron. As it drops into the water and starts to dissolve, a deep green appears and spreads through the pan. Dramatic change! The wool takes the colour almost immediately, but a few extra minutes simmering gives stronger colouration.

Natural dyeing - how I got started.

Long before I knew about spinning wool, or that people wove cloth on handlooms, I was in a book shop and found a book called "The Craft of Natural Dyeing", by Jenny Dean, and I was mesmerised by the lovely colourful pictures. This was something I wanted to try. My mother is a botanist and I grew up with endless curiosity for and love of plants.

I think that was in 2001, as I find that is the date of the edition I have. It seems like longer ago than that. For ages I had this book, I kept looking at the pictures, reading the strange words, and got no further than feeling a bit puzzled. I couldn't understand the book. It was full of terms I didn't know, like "mordant" and "dyestuff" and I had to keep turning back and forward because the information was not well ordered for someone as ignorant as me.

In 2001, I was doing other things. Working as a company lawyer full-time while starting a Post Graduate Diploma in Law and learning to read legal case records (written in another strange language!). So, the book went on the shelf, and although I looked at the pictures from time to time and wondered, that's as far as I got.

In 2004, I had finished my legal studies, with a couple of good qualifications, was unemployed, working hard at mentally "keeping my chin above water", and then, at the Manifold Country Show, I met some ladies from the North Staffordshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. They had spinning wheels and were using them to turn fluffy sheeps' wool into yarn. This was in itself amazing to me. But, what is more, they had a small display that included a child's yellow jumper and I discovered it was yellow because the wool had been dyed with onion skin. My first question was "how long does it take to spin enough wool to knit a jumper?" and after some careful thought the lady I asked said about a fortnight. So that was it, I went home, googled "spinning wheels" in the UK, found Chris' Spindizzy site, then the Loom Exchange, saw an advert for an "Ashford Traditional Spinning Wheel", looked up the Ashford web site and found it quite respectable, rang the phone number and.... on the next day, my birthday, went and bought my first spinning wheel.

O.K., so now I had a book on dyeing, a spinning wheel, and with it... not much idea of what to do next.

With the wheel came a pair of handcarders and a small bag of washed Ryeland fleece. On the back of the carders was a sticker saying "Wingham Woolworks" and a phone number. On the Monday morning, I rang the phone number. I visited the shop the next weekend, and went back at the end of the following week for a spinning lesson. This was the best thing that could have happened to me. I found myself a good teacher, learnt to spin, bought supplies of superwash merino wool (suitable for spinning and dyeing) and met a couple of other spinners who were there to learn fancy yarn techniques.

One of these spinners was Janet from the Alsager Guild and I was invited along to meet the Guild, and to join in a day course in natural dyeing. Yippee! at last... I was going to learn what that book was going on about!

More to follow - with pictures next time...!

(No Leigh, I haven't upgraded, yet, I can get to the library on Thursday evening or Saturday morning....)

Dye plants - in photographs.

Here's a photo of my dye plant patch. As you can see, the Dyers Chamomile (yellow flowers) is thriving. It flowered most of the winter and after a brief rest, it's madly flowering again. I've had lovely bright clear yellow dye from this plant on wool pre-mordanted with alum (potassium aluminium sulphate)and cream of tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate). I have heard a good green can be obtained by adding iron (ferrous sulphate) as an after mordant, but not tried this yet. As you can see, it's also a cheerful addition to the garden and lasts for a week or so as a cut flower.

I forget how many Dyers Chamomile plants you're looking at in that picture, we planted most of the seed packet, and they all grew. They were tidy little plants when they went into the garden, but a year on they are wonderfully large and straggly, tumbling about everywhere and needing trimming back from other plants. I've learnt that they are biennial, so I should collect seed this summer.

Also flowering nicely are the foxgloves. Trying them in the dyebath is a project for the weekend ahead, I've delayed because the bumblebees were enjoying them so much. I've been taking part in a survey of bumblebees in the garden this year through the British Trust for Ornithology's Garden Bird Watch, so I wanted the bees to have some benefit before I gathered the flowers in!

Between the Dyers Chamomile and the foxgloves is Golden Rod, not flowering yet, and at the front of the view there's a little group of Weld plants, too small to see. Hidden in the Dyers Chamomile are bronze fennel, rosemary and agrimony, while beyond it are madder, woad, more weld and broad leaf dock. If you look at the picture closely you might catch a glimpse of the towering teasel plants at the far end of the bed.

I understand that teasel's will give a yellow dye, but I'm growing them because of historical use in raising the nap on woollen cloth - and because they have a special geometrical beauty that has always fascinated me.

Here's a close up of that charming Dyers Chamomile:

I have learnt that many other plants around the garden that are useful for dyeing, some of them more often called "weeds". Now I've found I can get photos on my blog I shall take some more photos so you can share the results of my wool-dyeing experiments.

Having read this far you'll be thinking that I've fixed my problem with uploading photos - well, no, not exactly. I have established that I can't upload from my home computer to anywhere I tried - blogger, flickr, photobucket, yahoo groups. Whichever, I get messages about the connection being reset. It's probably because I use an unusual combination of operating system and web browser (Suse 9.1 plus Firefox 2.0.0.4). I know lots of other people have similar problems as I've been through the blogger help pages and support group. I suspect a CGI script problem. I'm thoroughly fed up with sitting at computers this week, I have that bashing my head against a wall feeling.

What I've done is take the easiest route around the problem. I loaded my photos on a floppy disk and have called in to the local library to use one of their computers. As the old saying goes, where there's a will there's a way! Thank you to everyone who left encouraging comments after my first post. Having proved I can do this, I can concentrate on getting some interesting content prepared for next time.

Here's where I start... but no photos yet!

This is not how I intended to start my blog... but there's a hiccup in my plans. I can't upload photos today. I don't know why - as the BBC might say, there's temporary technical failure and I'm working to resolve it.

I thought I'd start with a photo of my workshop. Or my favorite spinning wheel... well, these things shall follow in due course.

I suppose this brings us to a point about my character - when I've made up my mind I want to do something, I feel a commitment to it. I recall at various points in my life people describing me as quietly confident and determined, tenacious, loyal, obstinate. These comments are not always in the form of compliment!

But no, I don't give in easily. So, after a few months deliberation I have decided that, yes, I will have a blog, and the technical issues will not discourage me for now. This is not a blog about me, not about all the things that interest me, but concentrating on what I'm up to in the "fibre to fabrics" line and what I've been learning.

I have enjoyed the benefit myself of the generous blog and web site postings of other people involved in the weaving, spinning, dyeing and knitting crafts. So, it's my turn to share.

But no photos? Here's a challenge. How boring it could be! Sigh. I shall have to sort the pics, but for now, I'd better make sure my words are interesting enough to stand unillustrated. Hmm. Let me know...

This is where I'm at today, content for a pics free blog:

I got a package of second hand books in the post today. Many hours of reading here, much of interest. The books are:

Mabel Ross,
A Handspinner's Workbook
I already have her "Essentials of Handspinning" and "Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners", both excellent, so I knew this was likely to be a very useful book - I'm not disappointed. Chapters detail technique for producing different fancy yarns. I was introduced to Mabel's works by Ruth Gough, of Wingham Woolworks, an excellent spinning teacher who taught me the basics. I'm sure you'll hear more about this book as I work through the projects.

Ann Sutton & Diane Sheehan,
Ideas in Weaving
This book is still in print, but I wasn't sure if it was for me, so didn't want to buy new. I have seen it well recommended as a source of inspiration, but do I need inspiration? I have a head full of ideas. However, I have two other books by Ann Sutton, The Structure of Weaving and Colour and Weave Design. Every time I pick these books up I get something new out of them, they are a thorough coverage of the fundamentals of structure and design. I am not disappointed with this new book. It's a deeper book than just "inspiration", it is strong on design, on what to think about, things to explore, and there's some superb fabric in the photos, some ancient, some modern, all very interesting.

Ann Sutton, Peter Collingwood, and Geraldine St Aubyn Hubbard,
The Craft of the Weaver
This is a book I should have had before now, sub-title "A Practical Guide to Spinning, Dyeing and Weaving". Top quality book, as anyone familiar with Peter Collingwood and Ann Sutton's works would expect. Published in 1982 by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the days when they were to be respected for high quality programmes, one of which I expect was the series this book accompanied . 150 pages packed with concise information, and fascinating details, top quality pics. Chapters cover, as well as the basics of the subtitle, plain weave possibilties, rug weaving, cloth design, backstrap, inkle and tablet weaving, woven hangings, historical textiles. Who'd have thought a basic book like this would fit in dressing the loom, calculating yarn quantities, finishing cloth?

Three less exciting but valuable additions to my library from this package are:

Vivienne Bateson,
Woven Chic
Featuring garments made from weaving with knitting yarns. Photos of the garments, fabric close ups, weaving details and sewing patterns. Dated styles, but good information.

Ica-Forglaget,
Flamskvavnad: Flemish Weaving
A little book on traditional Swedish tapestry weaving. History and technique in Swedish and English.

Ruth Kaufman,
The New American Tapestry
Published 1968, very much designs of that era, lots of interesting texture and structure. The Flemish weaving is all pictorial, this book has nothing pictorial at all. Some of the inspiration from these weavers comes from far more ancient sources. Some is exploration of the limits of structure.


I'm running out of time here, so shall close with the credits:

thanks to Leigh , for prompting me to share what I know more widely,
to Hilary of The Loom Exchange, through whom I found my first wheel, my first loom, and lots of good books,
to Chris Jordan whose Spindizzy site has been a wonderful resource for me,
and also special thanks to Margaret Parker, hardworking and dedicated Convenor of the wonderful Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and all my fellow Guild members who have shared so much with me and been good friends.

Links to weaving topics in this blog

I started this blog partly because when I began weaving - self-taught, me at home with the loom, some books and some friends on the internet - I couldn't find all the information I needed. I wanted to know more about how countermarche looms work, I wanted to see how other people got their looms set up and what their weaving looked like.

If you are also learning to weave, I hope some of the things I have written about will help you.

Note: My floor loom is an 8 shaft Toika Norjanna, my table loom is a Leclerc Voyageur (8 shaft, 24")

TECHNICAL ISSUES - LOOM SET UP ETC.
(see below for weaving structures & samples)

COUNTERMARCHE LOOM

On tying up the treadles / lamms

Treadles again and a few inches woven

A universal tie-up for a countermarch loom

Putting a warp on the loom (this includes pictures of a homemade raddle)
and again here

Making cloth aprons for my loom.


GETTING A WARP SET UP AND WEAVING, including solving problems

Preparing a warp

Winding pirns for an end feed shuttle

Weighting a warp while winding on, sleying the reed, correcting a mis-threading error.

Restraining the warp threads when I had to leave the loom with warp wound on but not threaded, sleyed and tie-on to the front apron.

Supporting lease sticks (and warp) ready for threading the heddles


Sleying the reed - also lashing on technique for attaching warp to front apron. The alternative method of tying on with Larks Head knots (see end).

Fixing threading and treadling errors

Adding in an extra heddle

SELVEDGES

Selvedge problems on the floor loom

Selvedge problems on my table loom


SHUTTLES
About my weaving shuttles - boat shuttles and end feed.

MISCELLANEOUS
Adding extra treadles (but not extra shafts) to my countermarche loom
A repair to my loom

Useful weights - I use these on floating selvedges which I don't beam on with the rest of the warp, I wind them on a bobbin, hung over the back beam, with one of these weights.


WEAVING STRUCTURES & SAMPLES

"COLOUR AND WEAVE" which is creating patterns by the order of different coloured warp and weft threads

Colour and weave (introduction)

Setting up for colour and weave

Close up colour and weave


JANET PHILLIP'S SAMPLE BLANKET a twill sampler from instructions in Janet's book


Designing Woven Fabrics - the sample blanket

Universal tie-up for a countermarch loom

Yarn calculations for the sample blanket

Sample blanket progress report

Cotton Chenille Sampler (woven on the same warp)

Chocolate Scarf - using knowledge gained from the sampler in designing a scarf.


COLOUR SAMPLERS

Cloth of many colours, my first 15 colour sampler.

Second colour sampler

OTHER WEAVING SAMPLES

Twill samples

Advancing twills

Pleats

Last updated on 25/05/09.

List of book reviews.

Band weaving
In alphabetical order:

Baltic - Style Patterns on the Inkle Loom, Anne Dixon, pub. by Anne Dixon, 1995, ISBN 1-899972-09-9
and by the same author / publisher:
Inkle Loom Weaving - the Basics and Design, ISBN 1-899972-08-0
Lettering on the Inkle Loom, ISBN 1-899972-00-5

Very good and inexpensive instruction books.

Bandweben, M.G. van der Schaaf-Broeze, pub. in German in 1976 by Hornemann Verlag, ISBN 3-87-384-201-7.

Lots of band patterns that you can read without knowing much more than names of colours.

Byways in Handweaving, Mary Meigs Atwater, first published Macmillan Company, New York, 1954 (other editions since, still in print).

Card weaving, inkles and the inkle loom, twined weaving, brading and knotting, plaiting, beltweaves, and in Miscellaneous "Scandinavian warp-faced weave".

Inkle Weaving, Lavinia Bradley, pub. in 1982 by Routledge Kegan and Paul Ltd., ISBN 0-415-05091-X

Excellent book on inkle weaving, possibly the best, and includes a chapter on pick-up designs, also lettering and Bolivian Pebble Weave

Ostpreußische Jostenbänder, Irene Burchert, pub. 2007, Husum Druck und Verlagsgellschaft, ISBN 978-3-89876-364-6

Specifically written to record and preserve the patterns and techniques of the narrow pick-up patterned Jostenbands woven in East Prussia, used as skirt and apron ties, an inexpensive and useful book, although written in German (I bought from Amazon.de).

Weaving Bands, Liv Trotzig and Astrid Axelsson, pub. in English by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1974, ISBN 0-442-30032-8 (hardcover) and 0-442-30033-6 (paperback), first published in Swedish with the title "Band", by ICA Forlaget, 1972.

Includes: plain bands, patterned bands using pick-up, tablet woven bands, plaited bands, pillow bands, and over 40 pages of patterns.

Colour theory
In one post Colours - theory and practice:

Colour Matching on Textiles: a manual intended for the use of dyers, calico printers, and textile colour chemists, by David Paterson, published by Scott, Greenwood & Co., London, 1901,
Colour in Woven Design: being a treatise on the science and technology of textile colouring, by Roberts Beaumont, published by Whittaker & Co. of London and New York in 1912.
Principles of the Harmony and Contrast of Colours and Their Application to the Arts, M.E. Chevreul, 2nd edition pub. 1855, Longman & Brown.
William Watson, in Textile Design and Colour, pub. Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd, my 6th edition dated 1954.
The Elements of Color, edited and with a forword and evaluation by Faber Birren, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1970.
Interaction of Color, by Josef Albers, published by Yale University Press, 1963
Dyeing to Knit, by Elaine Eskesen, published by Down East Books, 2005, ISBN 0-89272-667-9 and ISBN 978-089272-667

Eye for Colour, Bernat Klein, 1965

Design - general principles

all in the same post (click here):
Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiders and Textile Artists, by Kay Greenlees, pub. Batsford, 2005, ISBN 0-7134-8957-X
Sketching Made Easy: a complete beginners guide, by Helen Douglas-Cooper, pub. Paragon Book Service Ltd, Great Britain, 1995, ISBN 0-7525-1092-4
Design in Embroidery, by Kathleen Whyte, B.T. Batsford Limited, Great Britain, 1969, ISBN 7134 2633 0
Ideas for Machine Embroidery, by Enid Mason, Mills & Boon, Great Britain, 1961,
designs for machine embroidery, by Ira Lillow, B T Batsford Ltd. Great Britain, 1975, ISBN 0 7134 3023 0



Dyeing books

A Dyers Manual, Jill Goodwin,2nd edition Ashmans Publications 2003, ISBN 0-9544401-0-2, second review
Dyemaking with Eucalypts by Jean K. Carmen, published 1978 by Rigby Ltd
The Craft of Natural Dyeing, by Jenny Dean
Dye Plants and Dyeing, by John & Margaret Cannon, published by A&C Black in association with the The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2003 edition, ISBN 9780713663747, £14.99.
A Dyer's Garden, from plant to pot - growing dyes for natural fibres. By Rita Buchanan, pub. Interweave Press, ISBN 1-883010-07-1, £9.99

Three booklets all reviewed together:
Natural Plant Dyeing, A Handbook, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record Plants & Gardens Vol. 29, No.2, 1973
Dye Plants and Dyeing - a handbook, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record Plants & Gardens Vol. 20, No.3, 1964.
Journal of the Chicago Horticultural Society, Vol. III, no.1, Winter 1976.

Reviewed together:
A Dyer's Garden, subtitle "from plant to pot - growing dyes for natural fibres", by Rita Buchanan, Interweave Press, 1995, ISBN 1-883010.
A Weavers Garden, by Rita Buchanan, in the Dover republication of 1999, ISBN 0-486-40712-8.

Knitting books
Knitting - Your own designs for a perfect fit,Montse Stanley, published by David & Charles, England, 1982, ISBN 0-7153 8227 6.
A Fine Fleece: knitting with handspun yarns, by Lisa published by Potter Craft in the U.S., 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-3334683-4.
Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson, pub. Nomad Press, 2004, ISBN 1-800-462-6420.
Cool Socks Warm Feet, Lucy Neatby, Tradewind Knitwear Designs, ISBN 0-9733940-0-05.
Dyeing to Knit, by Elaine Eskesen, published by Down East Books, 2005, ISBN 0-89272-667-9 and ISBN 978-089272-667
The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques, by Margaret Radcliffe, pub. Storey Publishing in the U.S., 2008, ISBN 978-1-60342-040-2

Sewing
Metric Pattern Cutting, Winifred Aldrich, 3rd edition, Blackwell Science 1997, ISBN 0-632-03612-5
Couture Sewing Techniques, by Claire B. Schaeffer, published by The Taunton Press, US, 2007, ISBN 978-156158-497-0.
Cut my Cote,by Dorothy K. Burham, pub. Royal Ontario Museum, 1997, ISBN 0-88854-046-9.
Handwoven, Tailormade, Sharon Alderman & Kathryn Wertenberger, pub. Interweave Press, 1982, ISBN 0-934025-08-4)
Woven Chic, Vivienne Bateson, , published by Bell & Hyman Ltd., London, 1984 ISBN 0-7135-1459-0 (also published in France by Dessain Et Toira, Paris, under the title Vetements Tisses).

Spinning books
A Handspinner's Workbook, Mabel Ross, first reference,
second reference (includes Essentials of Handspining, Essentials of Yarn Design, and Handspinner's Encyclopedia).

Spinning wheel types and history, all together in one post the following books:

Spinning Wheels and Accessories, David A. Pennington and Michael B. Taylor, published 2004 by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
Spinning Wheels: Spinners and Spinning by Patricia Baines, published by Batsford, first in 1977, reprinted 1979
Spinning and Spinning Wheels by Eliza Leadbeater is a booklet from Shire Publications Ltd.,1979
Spinning Wheels (The John Horner Collection) complied by G.B. Thompson, Director, Ulster Folk Museum, published first in 1964 and re-printed several times
Ciba Review of 1939, "The Spinning Wheel"
Spinning and weaving with Wool, by Paula Simmons, first printed in 1977, my book is the 4th re-print from 1982


Weaving - design
Designing Woven Fabrics, Janet Philips, published by Natural Time Out Publications, 2008, ISBN 978-0-9957620-0-0.
The Weaver's Book of Fabric Design, Janet Philips, published by Batsford, 1983.

Ideas in Weaving, Ann Sutton & Diane Sheehan, published by Batsford, London, 1989, ISBN 0-7134-6151-9.
Color and Weave Design - A Practical Reference Book, Ann Sutton, published by Lark Books, 1984, ISBN 0-937274-11-9

Eye for Colour, Bernat Klein, 1965.

Textile Design and Colour, William Watson , first published in 1912 (I have a 6th edition copy, from 1954).

Designing on the Loom, Mary Kirby, The Studio Publications, London & New York, 1955.

Exploring Multishaft Design, Bonnie Innouye, Weavingdance Press, ISBN 0-9678489-0-3.
Weaving as an Art Form, a personal statement, Theo Moorman, published Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1975,
Theo Moorman 1907-1990: her life and work as an artist weaver, edited by Hilary Diaper, published University Gallery Leeds 1992, ISBN 1 874331 01 4 (hardback) and 1 874331 002 2 (softback).

Weaving - general / historical / different traditions
A Textile Terminology, by Dorothy K. Burnham, published in G.B. by Routledge Kegan & Paul Ltd, 1981, ISBN 0-7100-0955-0 (first published in Canada by The Royal Ontario Museum, 1981).
The Craft of the Weaver, Ann Sutton, Peter Collingwood, and Geraldine St Aubyn Hubbard, published by British Broadcasting Corporation, 1982 (published to accompany a series of T.V. programmes).
Hand-weaving To-day, Traditions and Changes, Ethel Mairet, first published Faber & Faber 1939, my copy is the 4th edition, from 1959.
A Weaver's Life: Ethel Mairet 1872-1952, Margot Coatts, published by the Crafts Council, 1983, ISBN 0 903798 70 0.
Theo Moorman 1907-1990: her life and work as an artist weaver, edited by Hilary Diaper, published University Gallery Leeds 1992, ISBN 1 874331 01 4 (hardback) and 1 874331 002 2 (softback).
Textiles of Central and South America, by Angela Thompson. Published by: The Crowood Press Limited, England, 2006. ISBN 1 86126 826 2, £25.
African Textiles, John Picton and John Mack, published 1989 by The Trustees of the British Museum, ISBN 0-7141-1595-9
The Art of the Loom, Ann Hecht, published 1989, British Museum, ISBN 0-7141-1592-4).
Fine-Art Weaving, by Irene Waller, published by Batsford, 1979, ISBN 0 7134 0412 4

Weaving - structures, drafting
Weave Structures the Swedish Way - volume 1, by Ulla Getzmann, translated by Becky Ashenden, published by Vav Stuga Press, 2006. (No ISBN, sold in UK by Fibrecrafts £25.20, in US by Vavstuga.)
Collapse Weave: creating three-dimensional cloth, by Anne Field, pub A & C Black, London, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4081-0628-0, £19.99.
The Handweaver's Pattern Book, Anne Dixon, published by A&C Black, London, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7136-8411-7 (In the U.S., this was published as "The Handweaver's Pattern Directory".)
Fabrics that Go Bump, one of the "Best of Weaver's" (magazine) series from XRX Books, edited by Madelyn van der Hoogt, pub. 2002, ISBN 1-893762-11-4.
The Best of Weavers - Twill Thrills, ed. Madelyn van der Hoogt, pub. XRX Books, 2004, ISBN-10: 189376219X, ISBN-13: 978-1893762190.
The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers, by Madelyn van der Hoogt, published by Unicorn Books and Crafts Inc., 1993, ISBN 0-916658-51-1.
Handweaving and Cloth Design, by Marianne Straub, published in G.B. by Pelham Books Ltd., 1977, ISBN 0-7207-0968-7.
Eight Shafts a Place to Begin, by Wanda Jean Shelp and Carolyn Wostenberg,
A Weaver's Book of 8 Shaft's Patterns edited by Carol Strickler,
Grammar of Textile Design, Harry Nisbet, (Published 1906, my copy cost me £40)
Advanced Textile Design William Watson,(first published 1912, several re-prints)

Weaving - Tapestry
Flamskvavnad: Flemish Weaving, Ica-Forglaget, Kandby & Lundgrens Boktryckeri, 1961.
The New American Tapestry, Ruth Kaufman, Reinhold Book Corporation, 1968.

Weaving - technique, patterns
The Big Book of Weaving, by Laila Lundell & Elizabeth Windesjo, published by Collins and Brown, in the UK in 2008 (an English translation of a Swedish book published in 2005). ISBN 978-1-84340-456-9, £16.99.

Three books by Peggy Osterkamp:
Book 1: Winding a Warp and Using a Paddle,
Book 2: Warping Your Loom and Tying on New Warps,
Book 3: Weaving and Drafting Your Own Cloth

Handloom Weaving Technology by Allen Fannin, pub. 1979, by Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York
Yarn / fibres - General
Handbook of Textile Fibres, by J Gordon Cook B.Sc.,Ph.D., published by Merrow Publishing Co. Ltd, first published 1959, 2nd ed. 1960.
From Fibres to Fabrics, Elizabeth Gale, Mills & Boon Ltd., London, 1978 edition.
The Yarn Handbook by Penny Walsh, published by A & C Black, 2006, ISBN-10: 0-7136-6995-1, ISBN-13: 978-07136-6955-8 (£14.99).

Yarn / fibres - Silk
A Silk Worker's Notebook, by Cheryl Kolander, pub. Interweave Press 1979, revised edition 1985, ISBN 0-934026-18-1.
Silk, Luther Hooper, Pitman's Common Commodities and Industries Series (1930's? no date given)
Global Silk Industry: A complete source book, by Rajat K Datta and Mahesh Nanavaty, published by Universal Publishers, USA, 2005, ISBN 1-58112-493.
East Cheshire Textile Mills, published in 1993 by the Royal Commission on The Historic Monuments of England.