Fiber Craft Heritage: Easy-to-Learn Textile Techniques from the Stone Age to Today, with 52 Try-It Projects

This deeply researched guide from Fischer, an archaeological field supervisor, explores the history of traditional textile techniques that have largely been forgotten and instructs modern crafters on how to recreate them. Fischer explains methods for working with fibers and threads, like spinning without a wheel, fingerloop braiding, and rope-making. She then outlines processes for creating clothing and accessories, like twining and slip-stitch crocheting. Color photographs illuminate each method, and the projects make use of natural fibers, such as nettle, linden, and flax. Fischer delves into the history of each technique, describing when they were first used and how they evolved. For example, nålbinding, the process of looping yarn together to make flat textiles, dates back to the Stone Age. It creates particularly strong and dense fabric, good for cold-weather use (the Vikings used it to make socks), but it is tedious and time-consuming and was eventually overtaken by knitting and crocheting. In the last section of the book, Fischer shows readers how to build their own textile tools, from crochet hooks and spindles to flax hackles and wooden weaving tablets. The volume is rich with historical anecdotes (“Threads and ropes are among the oldest structures created by humans”) and beautiful imagery, including photos of ornately patterned textiles and handwoven baskets. Fischer breathes new life into lost arts. (Aug.)