What sets this book apart from other books on natural dyeing is the extensive information on where to find the plants (gardens, farmer's markets, fields, forests), and on when and how to harvest the plants. But the book also includes complete, illustrated instructions on how to dye wool fiber and yarn using inexpensive, easy-to-find equipment, and many, many recipes for making natural dyes from specific plants.
The book is divided into two parts: Part One includes a brief historical discussion of gatherers and dyers, describes necessary materials and tools for natural dyeing, and sets out a "master dye bath" and other general recipes for dyeing. In this part, the author cautions that national and state parks have strict no-harvest rules. However, she notes that national forests allow harvesting for personal use, that water and open-space districts will often grant harvesting permits, and that other sources for harvesting plants exist. The author also explains that she has included no recipes for tin, chrome, or copper-powder mordants (mordants bind the dye and fabric tightly), because widespread discarding of the metallic leftover dye water could quickly lead to unhealthy concentrations of these toxic metals in local soil. Clearly, the author is highly dedicated to the cause of environmental preservation, but her informative text is gentle in tone, and neither preaches nor communicates any "eco-politically correct" sense of superiority.
Part Two, which makes up the bulk of the book, describes the individual dye plants, and is organized by the four harvesting seasons. Each plant has its own mini-section, which includes (1) a U.S. map colored in to show where the plant grows, (2) the Latin name, (3) a brief general description of the plant's history and characteristics, (4) specific instructions on finding the plant, (5) instructions on harvesting it, (6) a dye recipe tailored to the plant, (7) a clear photograph of the living plant, and (8) a photograph of a skein of yarn dyed with the plant. The beautiful full-color photographs should enable most people to recognize the plants in the wild, and to be reasonably sure of what colors to expect in the dyed yarn.
The complete list of plants is: Summer (hollyhock, ironweed, Mexican cliffrose, big basin sagebrush, zinnia, desert rhubarb, rabbitbrush, rosea, coyote brush, Japanese indigo, elderberry, goldenrod, tickseed sunflower); Fall (pokeweed, black walnut, trembling aspen, staghorn sumac, mountain mahogany, white sage, curly dock, sorrel); Winter (toyon, coffee berry, madder root, prickly pear cactus, cochineal insects, tansy); Spring (cota, sticky monkey flower, horsetail, fennel, California sagebrush, French broom).
Although I have only a casual interest in actually dyeing my own yarn, this is a book that I'm delighted to own, and to have on my knitting reference shelf. I rate it at 5 stars.
