2 comments about Fashion and Color.

1. If color had a voice, it would sing praises for this book. Using the language of color Mary Garthe shows us how to play with image, personality, and style. With words and photographs, this book makes a vibrant fashion statement.



2. This book is great if you're looking for some hints on mixing and matching your wardrobe. There is very little text in the book, it consists mostly of pictures of clothing in different colors. This is not a book to read, simply one to look at.

No comments about Pattern Language: Clothing as Communicator.

2 comments about The Woven Coverlets of Norway.

1. there are many publications about american coverlets, this one attracted me because it concerns coverlets from another weaving tradition.
   
   another reviewer has done a first rate job of detailing many of the books historical strengths. i am adding my review to include the patterns and designs.
   
   this is not, as the other reviewer noted, an instruction manual. but it is a superb design resource, for many other fiber arts as well as weaving.
   
   the photos are fantastic. the examples are inspiring--i'm mentally designing a color pattern sweater from one coverlet, and several beaded pr jects from others. some coverlet designs would translate very easily into several kinds of embroidery.
   
   the author notes the similarities in design among scandanavian, russion, other european and mid-eastern weavings. what i found interesting is the similarities between some of the coverlets and american patchwork quilts. all crafts borrowed freely from one another--lace patterns were made into embroidery, and vice versa, weaving patterns were used in knitting, etc., so finding simialr elements is common. but the designs of several coverlets in this selection could pass for patchwork in their arrangement. since morwegian settlers are credited wtih introding the log cabin to american in the colonial era, i wonder is they also influenced the design of 18th and 19th century quilts.
   
   this is a wonderful book, that would be of use and interest to norwegians and non-norwegians, anyone who designs for any textile craft, and the general reader who is interested in how our forbears lived.
   
   i can only hope that another edition will be brought out.



2. A Review in the December issue of the Norwegian-American newspaper, Døtre av Norge, a publication of the Daughters of Norway..

   Let me begin by saying that Katherine Larson is a member of Nina Grieg Lodge #40 of the Daughters of Norway in Poulsbo, Washington.

   Katherine worked with the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa, to develop a major exhibit on woven coverlets from major museums in Norway and the United States that was or will be shown as follows:

   * Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, Washington, September 13-November 11, 2001;
   * The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota, May 16-July 14, 2002;
   * West Vancouver Museum and Archives, West Vancouver, British Columbia, August-October, 2002.

   The first forty pages of Katherine Larson's book are a cultural history of Norway using weaving and coverlets as a unifying theme. Katherine writes extensively and well about the isolation and self sufficiency of rural life in Norway. Although the precise dates that many techniques and technologies arrived in Norway from abroad are not typically known, she does try to frame such introductions in terms of centuries. More importantly, she discusses why weaving was so important to the development of the culture.

   My favorite chapter in the first section of the book is titled, "More Than Just a Cover for the Bed," in which she describes the arrangement of farm households, the psychological boost from colorful additions during the long winter months and the cradle to grave use of coverlets, including baptisms and funerals.

   Katherine uses historical photographs of women and their equipment; color prints from paintings in the National Gallery and line art of plants used for dying wool, of weaving techniques and of weaving patterns. She presents about 130 high-quality color photographs of finished coverlets, either flat so you can see the entire design or a close up section or in use on a bed. In addition there are many, many black and white photographs of more whole coverlets. Some of the detail drawings would also be useful for embroidery and knitting.

   The later chapters of the book are devoted one each to the various types of Norwegian woven coverlets. Some of these are pan-Scandinavian and others even pan-European, but the essence always comes back to what Norwegian women had, wanted to have and were willing to create for their homes from roughly the middle ages to modern times.

   Each valley or district in the country had a favorite technique and pattern for its coverlets, providing a rich visual texture to the book. The weaving styles and techniques covered include tapestry/billedvev, square-weave/rutevev, bound-weave/krokbragd, other weft-faced styles, knotted pile/rye, (reversible) double-weave/dobeltvev, and overshot/tavlebragd or skillbragd.
   
   The appendices and closing words include a brief afterword about her family's immigration experience, a conversational and a literal table of equivalent of weaving terms among English, Norwegian and Swedish; notes; a glossary of textile terms in English; a bibliography; and a proper index.

   This book is NOT a beginner's how-to. It is a highly readable cultural reference book about weaving. It would be a useful addition for anyone making hand-woven textiles, anyone who likes to apply older techniques in modern textile settings (not just weaving), and anyone interested in the cultural history of Norway and for Norwegian-Americans. In short almost everyone interested in Norway.

   I was pleased to find my own family's two dominant weaving styles in the later chapters of the book: Danish weave, common in southeastern Norway, and overshot weave, mostly the Monk's Belt pattern. One of my maiden great, great aunts was a professional weaver and both my grandmother and aunt also wove.

No comments about Clothes of the Medieval World.

3 comments about Textiles.

1. This was an easy textbook to follow when I took my textiles class. It is very informative and interesting.



2. I had been searching through all of the sewing books I could find to learn more about the nature of fabric and fibers...and everything I could possibly want to know was here, and more. Absolutely fascinating. It is a textbook, but was written clearly enough that anyone with an interest in the area can easily understand it. I've been teaching classes to costumers and members of the local American Sewing Guild, who are equally impressed with the knowledge we got from this book.



3. I use this book as the text for teaching a basic textiles course for sophmores. This text provides a sound foundation for students understanding the textiles and the science foundations that are the base for predicting textile performance. Every line is packed with information; there is no fluff in this book. If you want to understand WHY textiles and textile products perform in specific ways, this is the book to buy.

No comments about The Machine Knitter's Guide to Double Jacquard.

5 comments about The Souls of Black Folk (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics).

1. In 1903, two years after Booker T. Washington's autobiography, "Up from Slavery", W.E.B. Du Bois published "The Souls of Black Folk", a series of essays which today most consider a seminal work in African-American Sociology literature. Du Bois view of race relations in American at the dawn of the 20th century was clear, critical and deeply profound.
   
   Throughout the fourteen chapters Du Bois uses a metaphor, the veil, with considerable deftness:
   "...the Negro...born with a veil...gifted with second sight...double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others."
   
   Du Bois shares his thoughts on Emancipation & the Post-Emancipation era, "...there was scarcely a white man in the South who did not honestly regard Emancipation as a crime and its practical nullification as a duty." In other chapters he covers: the education of the Negro, Negro suffrage, tenant farming, and Negro spirituals a.k.a Sorrow Songs. In the chapter, "Of the Black Belt", we take a journey with him as he travels through the Black Belt of Georgia - which is not a reference to the large number of people of color in the area but to the color of the soil. In "The Coming of John", the lone fictional chapter, Du Bois relates a short story of two Johns, one white and one Negro, both coming home to the South after attaining an education in the North.
   
   I could go on and on but this one relevant text that you must read for yourself.



2. Mr. DuBois gave a harsh reality on the struggles of the African American people. He left no stone unturned and no points missed.



3. I love this book. It is part of the best of the works of the great W.E.B. DUBOIS. My active reading of this book expanded my knowledge more on what it takes to be a blackman in America. It is a piece of identification that everyblack person in America is looking to verify about their race in the U.S.
   It's a great book.



4. "The Soul Of Black Folk" Is a book I think everyone should read regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, color, or creed simply because there's something in it for all. W.E.B. Dubois' engaging book falls more inline with the panorama of all American experiences, not just the Black experiences alone: if that makes any sense?
   This fine book was originally published in 1903 and is still a significant piece of literature today. The anecdotes that are shared in this book belong in the lexicon of American history, but what's most striking are Dubois' references to Negro music called the sorrow songs, which of course spanned through hundreds of years of sanguineous slavery. And it was these same songs that set the foundation of Gospel, the Blues, Rock n Roll, and the American dream.
   The reason I'm using this terminology is because in-spite of the torture blacks suffered they still managed to sing amazing songs such as "Steal Away," and "Poor Rosy." (Some songs were in reference to allegorical content).
   Furthermore, the British rock-band Led Zeppelin is a fine example of individual intellectualism insofar as embracing American Negro culture considering they were influenced by this book because in 1968, Led Zeppelin's first album debuted and not only did they cover blues favorites written by Willie Dixon, but they also covered Negro spirituals, which Du Bois referred to as the "Sorrow Songs."
   Led Zeppelin's song "How Many More Times" is an opus of Negro "Sorrow Songs." It's amazing that it took the bluesy cadence of an English rock band to pay homage to the very people whose hardship and strife inspired them to borrow the lyrics and the music from this book. It's a wonderful sight to see when people like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant take the time to learn about Black Americanism and about themselves. It just goes to show that all Americans should embrace their African heritage because without acknowledging the Black experience it's impossible to be a true American.
   It's upsetting to note that in today's America racism is so rampant that the subject of Rock n Roll history can't even be encroached upon like it was in the 1960's civil rights movement, due to the fact that the political language has significantly changed.
   (In layman's terms we can't be honest with ourselves and discuss the sheer fact that racism still dictates our everyday lives simply because the corporate world creates the phony left/right paradigm and ad-hominems through the media, which leaves America with an erroneous history).
   Anyway, music played a major role during the 1960's. It helped people prosper through the horrific struggle for independence. The poetry that the slaves introduced over two-hundred years ago would yet again set the recalcitrant atmosphere that was needed when Blacks won the right to vote in 1965. And it was that moment in history that systemic change began. It was almost like an ancestral eidolon cascading over America with the strength and perseverance of a god in love with his people.
   
   Moreover, Dubois elaborates on many subject matter with a linguistic style coming across as the perfect salubrious prolepsis for today's readers.
   
   Sorry to digress, but another high point in the book was Dubois' rebuttal to Booker T. Washington's bourgeois attitude. Even today many Black scholars quote Booker T, but the inquiry was...is that wise? Well, according to Dubois, promulgating Booker T's message was rather pernicious and would only lead to more draconian virulence. Booker T's stance on waiting for White America to become simpatico to the needs of the Negro, while hoping for acceptance to proliferate from them in due time was not realistic at all.
   Dubois strongly felt that Booker T's ideas were a depravity, a mummery, and an insult. Waiting for the bully to stop picking on you never works; for some reason Booker T couldn't contemplate that this scenario he was promulgating was ambiguous. If the powers that be are unwilling to negotiate with you then you have no other recourse but recalcitrancy. Booker T was in favor of slow progression, but just imagine what America would be like if Blacks took on Booker T's mindset? Life would be very different that's for sure.
   Dubois hits on many touching moments in his memoirs and the personal lives of his students, which everyone reading this will enjoy. "The Soul Of Black Folk" is required reading for all. Give this book a chance! Dubois' writings are an inspirational experience!



5. was worthless...was not the correct match for my class book requirement. Never used it...if someone wants it you can have it for free

No comments about Kabuki Costume.

No comments about International Modeling Guide -5th Ed..

No comments about Four Victorian Girls Sticker Paper Dolls.