Many knitters get really inspired by the fibers they get to play with as knitters, and that obsession leads pretty naturally into a desire to spin your own yarn.

While spinning is a little bit beyond the scope of this website, so many knitters do it -- or have an interest in learning more about it -- that it makes sense to me to take a closer look.

Start Spinning by Maggie Casey. Interweave Press.

Spinning is probably easiest to learn from another person or a video, but just like knitting it can be learned from a book as well. And there are a lot of great resources out there for new spinners and those with more experience, several of which we'll be taking a look at this week.

One of the books that falls into the "for new spinners" category is Maggie Casey's Start Spinning. The book looks at how to spin both with a spindle and a spinning wheel, so you can explore both options, and it really is great for beginners. As this book and others remind us, spinning great yarn takes practice (practice I've either been unwilling or unable to put in so far!) but getting the yarn of your dreams at the end is certainly worth the effort.

We're wrapping up our look at knitting and crochet with what's probably my favorite book of crocheted edgings, Nicky Epstein's Crocheting on the Edge. If you remember her On, Over and Beyond the Edge knitting books you'll recognize the format of this book, and many of the patterns are inspired by designs in that book.

Crocheting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein. Nicky Epstein Books.

This is a great book because not only does it include more than 200 different patterns for ribs, bobbles, ruffles, flora, fringes, points and scallops, it also has a half dozen patterns designed just for knitters to use on their projects -- which isn't at all to say that the others can't be, just that these are actually worked on a base of knitting so you'll know what the two look like together.

Like those other books, this one includes a few full projects, but really the fun of this book is just looking through and seeing how the trims might inspire you to design a whole garment around them.

Here's another quick and easy way to add a bit of crochet to a knitting pattern: by adding an edge to a sock. These basic Crocheted Edge Baby Tube Socks are so quick to knit you can finish one in an evening, and because they lack a heel they're easy to put on baby's foot and to fit a wide variety of baby sizes (they just get shorter as baby's feet grow).

Crochet Edge Tube Socks, (c) Sarah E. White.

The addition of crocheted picots gives them a little girly flair, which of course can be omitted if knitting these socks for a boy. Crocheting picots is great because it's actually faster than knitting them, which usually also involves sewing a seam.

These would work in any sort of medium weight yarn you like, but the one I used, Patons Baby Bamboo, is a soft bamboo acrylic blend that's easy to work with and machine washable -- always a good idea for baby things.

If all this talk about crochet has inspired you to want to learn more about how to add a bit of crochet to a knitting design, check out Interweave Presents The Harmony Guides Crochet Edging & Trims, edited by Kate Haxell. This book contains 150 different crocheted edgings, from basic picots to waves, bobbles, loops, flowers and much more.

Crochet Edgings & Trims, edited by Kate Haxell. Interweave Press.

These designs might all be simple to attach right to the edge of your knitting, but they're sure to give you plenty of ideas about how you can go about adding crochet to a knitting project -- or fancying up a crochet project if you're already a person who likes to crochet.

If you're not a fan of crochet, looking at a book like this might just inspire you to give it a try, even though some of the designs certainly aren't for beginning crocheters. And if you've already got a mind that likes to play with combining crafts, looking at these edgings might just help you dream up a design you'd never thought of before.