Sometimes I just want to pick up a knitting book just to drool over the designs, colors, textures rather than attempt something. The patterns appear rather well written and easy to follow-it's just that I am a basic, basic, basic knitter and have not reached this "Zen" level of knitting. This book TOTALLY inspired me to keep going. I WANT to be able to knit like this and use these yarns. I saw one review that said she couldn't find the yarn. Concidentally, the other day I was in AC Moore craft store and picked up a magazine titled Interweave Knits. Almost every one of the yarns were listed in this magazine! I will always reach for this book for inspiration.

This book is beautiful beyond belief. The photographs are beautiful and it's interesting to compare and contrast the different views of handpainting yarn and design sensibilities presented here. I also liked the insights provided into running small yarn companies coupled with the sense of craft in different parts of the US. The big pages can inspire dreams about knitting and the book is a great spur to the imagination.Some of the designs are not to my taste but there are many tastes presented here and I'm sure most readers would find plenty of things they like.
I would also recommend this book to people who handpaint their own yarn as I do - seeing the excellent photographs of many different styles of handpainted yarn was a real eye opener to me.
That said, I regret that it's hard to find out where to buy many of the yarns so tantalizingly presented here. I have been knitting for over thirty years and never follow a pattern exactly; I wouldn't recommend this book to neophytes.

As a handspinner, I'm always curious about what other spinners and dyers are doing. Handpaint Country was impossible to put down. The photos are beautiful and I was enchanted by the stories of the women who spin and dye in the book. Their yarns are gorgeous! i thought some of the projects in the book were a little odd, but other than that, it's a great book.