The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing
by Linda La Belle

Published by: Potter Craft (Random House)

Available: November 13, 2007

I’ve been sitting on this book review for a couple of weeks now, trying to decide what to say.

I have been eagerly awaiting The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing for some time. I’ve dabbled a little in hand dyeing myself, on a very amateur level, using Kool-Aid and food colors. To have a book that would help me explore the wider world of hand dye options and processes would be marvelous.

I sat down a few days before the release of this title to go through my review copy. I was generally pleased with what I saw. The book begins with a section covering techniques, dyes, types of yarn, safety, color theory, and more. Everything you’d need to know.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Chapter one, “unsweetened kool-aid and food coloring,” promises to be an easy start in the concept of dyeing. The introductory text talks about how simple and safe it is, how you can do it with your children as a fun project. And it specifically states, “The only other ingredient you need is distilled white vinegar.”

Why, then, when I turned to the next page, does the very first recipe call for Synthrapol? And what is Synthrapol?

I flipped back to the front of the book, thinking I had missed a section. Nothing there. I scoured the index. No mention of Synthrapol. Puzzled, I went back to the dye recipes, and continued reading through the book.

Every recipe is presented clearly, with a careful listing of materials, and good instructions for how dye is applied with the method used. Each recipe is followed by a knitting pattern designed to highlight the colors and features of the dye technique.

But every recipe also called for one or more chemicals that were not explained anywhere in the book. Synthrapol, Polycell, urea. For those experienced with the world of hand dyeing, these may be familiar substances, but for a newbie? Not so much.

Before posting a review, I decided to give my contact at Potter Craft a chance to comment. Here’s the reply I received:

Jenny,

Once again, your eagle-eye has come in handy. We’ve checked with the author, Linda, and she confirmed that Synthrapol is a mild soap that is used to remove excess dye. When used in the presoak it helps to remove the spinning grease that is on the yarn/fiber, and when used in the washing/rinsing process the Synthrapol suspends the excess dye and carries it from the yarn/fiber.

We will add this to the front matter of the book for reprints and apoligize for the omission! I don’t know how we all missed that. A quick google search does yield a site that says it’s a “must have” for dyers and other helpful information.

The question of the Polycell and urea had not yet been addressed, so I wrote once again, receiving this response:

We will be adding a new section to the book in reprints called “The Chemicals”. In the meantime, here is the missing info:

Polycell is a wallpaper paste that contains Sodium Alginate, a natural thickener made from seaweed. The stock paste can be stored in the refrigerator for several months. Thickeners such as Polycell, Sodium Alginate, Gum Tragacanth and Jacquard SuperClear are added to the dyestock. Thickening the dyestock slows the spreading of the dye, giving you more control while you are painting on the yarn. When the Polycell is used in the Ashford Cold Pad method of dyeing the “padding” supports the dye, prevents it from drying out and extends teh fixing time.

Urea is a humectant–it attracts moisture from the air, helping to keep the fiber damp longer. The dye is suspended allowing for a greater reaction time for the dye to fix. It can be used in conjunction with a thickener when painting on the yarn with Procion dyes.

At this point, I felt a little lost with regards to writing my usual full review of the book. The book I had in my hand, hardbound, fully finished, and ready to hit the bookstore shelves, was mostly well written, with well-explained projects, interesting interviews with people who are in the business of selling hand dyed yarns, and otherwise good information about the techniques. But no book about hand dyeing yarn could really be considered complete without an explanation of the chemicals involved in the process, could it?

You see my dilemma, I’m sure.

Potter Craft has promised that future printings of The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing will contain the information that is missing from this one. That’s a good and appropriate response on their part. (I won’t address the issue of how the final copy could have been signed off on without the chemical information.)

In the meantime, they’ve got thousands of copies of The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing out there that are missing data about the chemicals used. Are they totally worthless?

Not totally. A person well versed in fiber work, even if they’ve never dyed yarn, will be able to find the missing information with a few quick searches at Google. Aside from this known error, the book does cover its subject fairly well, considering we’re presented with how-to’s for seven different types of dyes, using six different application methods.

The reader who should be cautious about the current printing of this book is the newbie dyer, especially if they’re not familiar with the fiber resources on the Internet. These are the folks who will eagerly read, pick out a project to make, and then, stumped by the unexplained chemicals, will set the book aside and decide that dyeing must be harder than they thought if it’s such a mystery.

My Recommendations

Experienced fiber artists, or anyone comfortable with researching the chemicals on their own, by all means get this book in the current printing. You’ll be able to make up for the missing information with your Google-fu.

New dyers - if you’re reading here, you’re forewarned, and can prepare yourself with a search or two. I’ll give links at the end of this article, too.

If you were hoping to give this as a gift to someone who will be totally new to dyeing - either find and print out the missing information for them, or consider waiting until a future printing comes out.

Related Links:

• Publisher’s Site: The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing at Random House
• Purchase at Amazon: The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing
• Author’s Site: The Yarn Tree

About the Chemicals:

• Synthrapol
• Urea
• Polycell
  

Posted: November 26th, 2007 under Crafts.
Comments: 3

Winter is coming soon, and I have a problem.

I haven’t had a proper winter coat in a couple of years.

For a long, long time, I wore a leather jacket that I found at an incredible sale at Lane Bryant. A $230 jacket, for something like $60. Classic bomber style, and a little large for me at the time, but come on! Such a deal!

That was about 1991. I loved it to pieces - literally. It was comfortable, and warm enough for me, and served its purpose well.

I finally decided, a little over a year ago, that it was time to retire it. The leather itself was starting to shred in places, the lining had torn out years ago. The knitted cuffs were unraveling.

Last year, I got by with a polar fleece jacket I’d purchased a while back at a Burlington Coat Factory. But it was always a tight fit, and I’ve gained weight since buying it. Add the \/\/\zap!\/\/\ factor of perpetual static electricity generated by polar fleece, and I just don’t consider it an option any more.

So, here’s the problem. I’m a big girl. Even local shops that have plus sizes, don’t have my size - they stop a little short. I’m also hard to please, style-wise - I tend to think most fashion trends look pretty bad. I want a good, basic, functional coat, and if possible, one in a style that I actually like.

Okay, I’m a knitter. What can I do that will work, and be fairly quick?

Enter the Interweave Press book, Knit Kimono, by Vicki Square. This is not a review copy - I actually chose to buy the book from Amazon myself. I’ve been fond of some of Vicki’s other Interweave books - Folk Hats and Folk Bags, for instance - and I’m passionate about Japanese design.

There are 18 patterns for jackets, vests, and kimono in this book, all based on traditional styles. And all knitted. Some of them are even large enough already to accommodate my body, without modification! And those that aren’t will be easily altered, since the essence of kimono is that they’re made from rectangles. How hard would it be, then, to simply add a little width to the parts? Not very!

The issue at hand, then, is a coat for myself. Can I answer that with a kimono? I think so! I’ve got a couple of prime candidates in mind. Sorry for the flare in the photos, I couldn’t take them without flash on this gray, rainy day.

Noragi

Based on a field worker’s garment, this is built from simple garter stitch rectangles. The yarn called for is Plymouth Linen Isle, a cotton/rayon/linen blend, but I could probably use any worsted weight yarn that will give a nice hand to the finished fabric.

Cons:

• The size of the garment in the pattern finishes with a 50″ measurement at the chest. This is at least 8 or 9 inches narrower than what I need.
• The sleeves as designed are impractical for a utilitarian winter coat.*
• Miles of garter stitch could be boring.

Pros:

• The construction of the garment is simple rectangles. It will be easy to add the width that I need without harming the style of the coat.
• I could replace the sleeves with a tapered shape more suitable for a coat.
• Miles of garter stitch is perfect mindless knitting for television watching, or Knitting In Public.
• Garter stitch also can be finished without absolutely requiring blocking.

Water & Sky

Water & Sky was inspired by the way that “Japanese architecture harmonizes with the environment, weather, and geography.” Vicki describes the yarn she chose (Classic Elite Fame, a rayon silk blend) as “a blend of pale natural colors that represent the reflection of sunlight as water trickles over a rocky streambed.” The bottom edges have an open-work, ripply stitch pattern to further evoke the sense of water, while the bulk of the garment is knit in stockinette stitch.

This is a roomy piece - the circumference measures as about 73 1/2 inches! That would be perfect for layering. The sleeves are a more practical design for a winter coat, too.

It’s a bit long, though - 42″ shoulder to hem. The model wearing it in other photographs shows it coming down to her knees. I’d probably shorten it.

Cons:

• Miles upon miles of stockinette stitch.
• Uses over twice as much yarn as the Noragi.
• Specialty stitch pattern at hem, coupled with short row shaping to induce curves, takes the beginning of each front piece and the back out of the realm of mindless knitting.
• Blocking will be absolutely essential to prevent curling of the large stockinette pieces.
• Garment is too long as designed. Might even be too wide!

Pros:

• The style of the Water & Sky has somewhat more flare, with the curved hems and the rippling stitch pattern at the hems.
• Altering length is even a little easier than altering width. Just stop knitting sooner.
• After the fancy stitchwork at the hems, this is miles of stockinette stitch. But if I shorten it, not as many miles. The stockinette stitch portions also take this back into the world of mindless knitting, at least for portions big enough to count.
• Garment as designed could be layered for extra warmth.
• Sleeves are perfect style - in fact, if I do the Noragi after all, I’ll probably steal these sleeves!

Of course, anyone who has read here for a while knows that I would be knitting either of these choices in different colors than the designer did. They’re beautiful, mind you, just not me.

Neither garment has provisions for buttons, but it would be easy to either add a frog-type closure, or use a pin. Or just wear them open - I seldom fasten my winter coats anyway.

What will I decide? That may be influenced by the choices of yarn I can find. I doubt I can afford to make these in either of the yarns called for, so substitutions will be in order. Using a wool or wool blend will be warmer anyhow. I’m planning to stop by my LYS today and see what I can come up with. She’ll be having her annual Anniversary Sale a week from Saturday, too, and all yarns will be 20% off that day - maybe if I plan right, this project won’t have to cost much!

Stay tuned for more - I’ll be sure to report on developments as they arise!

As for my overall opinion of the book - let’s just say that in the end, I want to knit all 18 designs offered here. They’re just that gorgeous!

Related Links:

• Interweave Press: Knit Kimono by Vicki Square
• Corrections to Book: Knit Kimono Corrections at Interweave Press
• Buy at Amazon.com: Knit Kimono by Vicki Square

*I have to admit, though - the more I look at the classic kimono-style sleeves on the Noragi, the more I like them anyway…hmm.

Posted: November 15th, 2007 under Crafts.
Comments: none

Veronica Mars: Season Three on DVD

Acquired by: Free copy from marketing firm

Rating: 4 out of 5

About a month ago, I gave a head’s up that I’d be reviewing the DVD set of Veronica Mars: The Complete Third Season. I’m a little overdue to talk about it, but better later than never!

Let’s just start by saying that I felt there’s no need to evaluate the actual episodes contained on these discs. We can take it as a given that Veronica Mars was a quality television program, worth watching, and it’s a sad loss for the fans that it never continued beyond the third season.

My review, then, is based mainly on the bonus content on this six disc set. Discs one through five contain the twenty episodes of season three: disc six is filled with a larger collection of featurettes, commentary, and more than was ever included in the Season One and Two sets.

In fact, this is the first time we have commentary at all, provided by Rob Thomas, Creator and Executive Producer, and Dan Etheridge, Supervising Producer. Rather than offering it as an alternative sound track overlaid on the individual episodes, it’s given as small featurettes, in the section Going Undercover with Rob Thomas.

Divided into featurettes based on topics (such as Rob’s Directing Experience, Favorite Guest Star Moments, and The Politics of Veronica Mars), Rob and Dan talk mostly about experiences and decisions from the Third Season. They do, however, dip back occasionally to Seasons One and Two where appropriate to give more back story behind their stories. Considering this is the first Season’s DVD’s that have had commentary, that was nice to see. They aren’t afraid to shed an unfavorable light on themselves, either. In the section titled Do-Overs?, Rob and Dan show and discuss some scenes that made it to air that they weren’t happy with for one reason or another.

Unaired Scenes are offered with introductions by Rob Thomas explaining why they didn’t make it to the aired version of the show. In most cases they were cut for time, of course. There were occasions where he had a difficult choice to make, however, and he tells us why, perhaps, one scene was kept in preference over another.

Ultimately, however, the best - and most poignant - bonus features on these discs for any of us fans have to be the Season 4 Presentation and Pitching Season 4. Here, at last, we see the direction that the series could have taken if only the CW had been wise enough to pick it up. It’s a new Veronica, dated several years after the events of Season Three, a Veronica who has gone through the FBI Academy at Quantico and is now ready to embark on her life as a Special Agent.

There is enough of the old Veronica Mars flavor - voice overs, interactions with people around her, her snappy wit - to feel a continuity with where the show had been in the first three years. And at the same time, there’s a sense of a new, grown-up Veronica, dealing with more serious villains, but finding that even though her peers are “grown-up,” too, people still often behave in a very high-schoolish way to get what they want.

Ultimately, probably the best compliment I can pay to the bonus features on this set is this - the Season 4 pitch and background information made me long for the series to return, and the commentary by Rob Thomas made me want to go back and watch Seasons One through Three all over again.

If you’re a Veronica Mars fan, and haven’t got this set yet, I’d heartily recommend you pick it up.

Related Links:

• Order at Official Site: Veronica Mars at Warner Bros. Online Store
• Order at Amazon: Veronica Mars/Season Three on DVD

Posted: November 7th, 2007 under DVD Television.
Comments: 1

My most recent order arrived from Amazon yesterday. I first saw this book over at Grumperina’s blog; she, in turn, had learned about it at the purl bee. It’s Knitting New Scarves: 27 Distinctly Modern Designs, and I’m finding it endlessly fascinating.

I haven’t studied the details of this book in as much depth as I normally do for a review, so let’s call this a mini-review. I will tell you this - even with the quick look I’ve had, I highly recommend this for any knitter who wants to stretch their imagination, and learn to take their knitting in new directions.

Knitting New Scarves: 27 Distinctly Modern Designs

Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.)

Acquired by: online purchase from Amazon.com

Purchase Price: $14.93

Cover Price: $21.95

The author and designer, Lynne Barr, has done the sort of thing that always makes my toes tingle. Diving in headfirst, she took the basic techniques of knits and purls, and then threw the rules out the window. She uses dpns, circular and flat knitting, short rows, picking up stitches, and more, in unconventional ways to create three-dimensional scarves that really wow me.

I am already itching to cast on for a large number of the patterns in this book. Some of them would be great as stash-busters, some simply manipulate the spatial reality of knitting in such tantalizing ways that I can’t wait to see these twists, turns, and shapes coming from my needles.

Here’s a small sampling of the many designs that caught my eye. As always, click on any image for a larger view.

That last scarf shows that there are even patterns for the rawest of new knitters here - it’s a simple garter stitch scarf that derives its curves from short rows. Some of the other patterns involve using double point needles in ways I never dreamed of - not just knitting around in a circle, but knitting to create lobes and wings and flaps. The wavy scarf is entirely created by knitting a flat tube with larger needls on one side, smaller on the other - then swapping the sizes at regular intervals.

I am unbelievably excited by this book, and eager to dig in. I love the idea of sculptural knitting, and I want to master these techniques so I can then play with them myself. The only question that remains - where to begin? There are 27 patterns in this book, and I think I want to knit every one of them!

Related Links:

• Listing at Stewart, Tabori & Chang (Harry N. Abrams): Knitting New Scarves
• Buy at Amazon: Knitting New Scarves, 27 Distinctly Modern Designs
• (added 11-12-07) Knitalong Blog: Knitting New Scarves Knitalong
• (added 11-12-07) Publisher’s Blog: STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books

Posted: November 2nd, 2007 under Crafts.
Comments: 2