A User's Guide to Yarn: Everything Knitters, Crocheters & Weavers Need to Know about Yarn to Level Up Your Craft

A User's Guide to Yarn provides crafters with a thorough explanation of yarn, from what it's made of to how it's constructed, and how those two factors interact to influence how yarn behaves when it's knitted, crocheted, and woven.

It's everything you didn't know you didn't know about yarn.

Even if you're a lifelong crafter or fibre artist, you will learn things that will open your mind and your imagination to how you use yarn. If you're a novice or have never thought deeply about how yarn affects the cloth you make, this book will seriously level up your craft.

The book is structured in three parts:

Part One: Making Yarn

How yarn is made and what it's made of:

• Material Considerations: Deep dive into protein fibers (like wool, alpaca, cashmere, and mohair), cellulose fibers (like cotton, linen, and hemp), and synthetic fibers--covering the unique characteristics of each, and how they behave as yarn and when made into cloth
• Spinning Yarn: How yarn is made both by hand and in mills, explaining yarn structures like singles and plied, woollen and worsted spinning styles
• Yarn Structure: Technical details about twist direction, number of plies, and finishing processes that affect how yarn performs when made into cloth

Part Two: Buying Yarn

How to choose the right yarn for your project:

• Reading Labels: Decoding yarn labels, understanding put-ups (skeins, balls, cones), and figuring how much yarn you need
• Technical Measurements: Using tools like wraps-per-inch, understanding gauge and sett, burn testing mystery yarns
• Smart Substitutions: How to successfully substitute yarns based on fibre characteristics and structure, not just on how fine or thick the yarn is
• Storage: Yarn storage best practices to help youmaintain quality and prevent pest damage

Part Three: Using Yarn

How different crafts interact with yarn:

• Tools Matter: How needle/hook material (wood, plastic, metal) and loom type affects your results
• Craft-Specific Guidance: Detailed explanations of how the same yarn behaves differently in knitting vs. crochet vs. weaving
• Finishing: Proper blocking and wet-finishing techniques to achieve optimal results
• Sampling: Why swatching/sampling saves time and money

Each section builds on the last, providing both the "why" behind yarn and practical approaches to make better craft choices.

Michelle Boyd is an internationally recognized fibre-arts writer and educator who has been intrigued by yarn from the moment she first picked up a crochet hook and a ball of acrylic when she was 12 years old. While that project didn't quite turn out, her skills have improved since then. She is a prolific spinner, knitter, weaver, and, yes, occasional crocheter. She received her Master Spinner certifications from Olds College in 2007 and went on to teach for that program, as well as at guilds and conferences across North America. Her writing has been published in PLY Magazine, Spin-Off, and on Digits & Threads, and her first book, Twist, was published in late 2024.