The Intentional Spinner by Judith MacKenzie McCuin

Attention spinners! If you are interested in exploring the infinite possibilities of making your own yarns, veteran spinner and teacher Judith MacKenzie McCuin offers insight, understanding, and invaluable information about your craft in The Intentional Spinner.The Intentional Spinner is a compendium of spinning wisdom, with a fun blend of technical knowledge, history, tips, and gently opinionated narrative. Yarn making is approached in three fundamental areas.

Understanding Fibers: Compare the rich historic traditions of plant and animal fibers with the fascinating scientific advances in synthesizing fibers.
Managing Yarn Structure: step-by-step instructions and photographs demonstrate the range of possibilities in yarn, from sturdy plied yarns to playful novelty yarns.
Practical Uses: learn how to make yarns that precisely match your needs with decision making and planning to create the exact project you want from the beginning.

The Intentional Spinner also includes four projects that demonstrate how handspun can be used in weaving and knitting. The projects explain how to choose material, techniques, and finish the processes.

Blending technical expertise and fascinating lore, The Intentional Spinner is a must-read for every spinner.

Who wants this book? I’ve got one copy to give away, leave a comment telling me why you wanted to start spinning!

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Human brains are pretty amazing, allowing us to think, feel, create, communicate, move and more. But humans aren’t the only animals with cool brains, as Crab Museum explains in the book The No-Brainer Brain Explainer (illustrated by Bruno Valasse).

This book, aimed at kids in grades 1-4, is colorful and silly but also educational about how brains actually work, with billions of neurons sending electrical and chemical signals around the body.

“Everything we think, feel and experience comes from an electrical relay race, with neurons passing chemical batons to each other,” the book says. “The constant chatter of billions of brain cells creates your entire world.”

The book compares the brains of mammals to those of crabs (the book is “written” by a crab after all) and notes that crabs have fewer neurons and of course are much smaller, but they have separate parts of their brains that control their eyes and their legs. Crabs are also capable of remembering things, using tools and solving puzzles.

Some animals’ brains allow them to know more about their world in different ways from humans, such as spiders being sensitive to vibrations in their webs and catfish having an amazing sense of taste, with taste sensors all over their bodies.

It notes that 95 percent of brain activity goes toward things we do unconsciously, like breathing, walking and catching a ball flying toward us. It also talks about dreams, memory, how our emotions try to predict the future, where brains came from and fun facts about brains. For example, did you know a sperm whale is believed to have the biggest brain of any creature that’s even lived? Their brains weigh 18 pounds, compared to just 2.5 pounds for humans.

Information on what creatures have the smallest brains, the toughest brains, the most brains and those who actually eat their own brains will delight kids (and maybe gross them out a little bit). They’ll also enjoy learning about the mycelium network of fungi, which is like a brain without a body, and slime molds, which are like a brain without a brain.

It ends talking about why human brains are so special because we’ve found ways to work together, communicate and build communities on a scale bigger than any other animal.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this colorful, silly and informational book about brains!

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $19.99.

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