What book should I buy to learn entrelac knitting?

There are three main books available to learn entrelac knitting.  One of the books, "Enjoy Entrelac Knitting" (copyright 1993) is out of print and available for between $45 (used) and $208 (new) online.  I'll not include it in this analysis, although it does look like a fine book to learn entrelac knitting.

I would recommend BOTH of these two books as very good books, but let's talk about them.  They're both in print  and readily available.

First, "Entrelac:  The  Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting" by Rosemary Drysdale. Retail: $24.95, Sixth & Spring Books, Hardcover, copyright 2010, 160 pages.



Benefit for the Beginner knitter: This book has detailed pictures showing how to knit the basic entrelac pieces.

A lot of the time involved in entrelac is, according to both book authors, wasted in repeated turning of the fabric as it is knit, so they show you how to knit backwards, with detailed instructions and pictures.  If you're not interested in freaking yourself out by trying to learn entrelac AT THE SAME TIME as trying to learn to knit backwards, feel free to take one thing at a time.  I did, and haven't tackled the knitting backwards thing yet.  The important concept that most authors seem to neglect is explaining the concept of "turn."  You'll see it in all entrelac patterns.  I freaked out, and thought "Geez, I haven't seen this stitch before, which way to turn, what's it mean?"

Actually, it just really means:  TURN.  Turn the knitting around and go the other way. 

There are 25 project patterns in Drysdale's book, most using a variation of the relatively easy stockinette entrelac, often with a special stitch from the included dictionary of more than 65 knitting stitch patterns.

Online reviews of this book are all 4 and 5 star, with one 3 star exception that takes entrelac knitting itself to task rather than the author or the book.

The second book is "Entree to Entrelac Knitting" by Gwen Bortner.  From XRX Books, retail $19.95, copyright 2010.  Softcover, 160 pages.

 

This is the book that, leafing through, made me want to learn entrelac knitting.   Gwen Bortner is a big fan of entrelac, and definitely an expert.  She has a lot of enthusiasm for entrelac knitting, and conveys  much information in this book.  It's a very informative book with beautiful patterns. 

Bortner's book has a more holistic, mathematical approach.  That means if you just skim it you may be intimidated.  Pictures and instructions are detailed and well done.  As the book progresses, the patterns get more difficult.  So again, if you're skimming or looking for a first entrelac project, some of the latter patterns may intimidate.  Don't lose heart if you choose this one.

One reviewer likes the way Bortner takes the drape and swing of entrelac patterns into account in the clothing designs.  If you're an an advanced knitter and enjoy math and puzzles, you may very well love Bortner's book.  

Online book reviews indicate that some people LOVE this book and some people HATE it...so you would probably benefit from reading the reviews to see if it fits your learning style.  You know where they would be, the big online bookstore.

One last thought:  if you want to give entrelac knitting a try before committing yourself to a $20 purchase for a book, do a search for "free entrelac scarf pattern."  You should see the one from Lion Brand.   You'll need to register with them and log in, but it's a marvelous source of free patterns.   I learned entrelac from this pattern.  Do a few sets of squares and entrelac really does become second nature And then either one of these books will take you to the next level.

An Experiment Making Lavender Vodka

 I decided to experiment with making lavender vodka.  Here's how this came about:  I found some food grade lavender oil on ebay from Faerie's Finest, a cool company that sells teas, herbs, spices and oils.

Had this stuff sitting on my desk at work--to do some cleaning--someday--and out of the corner of my eye it looked like Gatorade G2 grape, but smelled like lavender.  You don't want to drink this.  But I reached for it several times thinking it was G2.  But it spawned the idea of drinking something lavender.

A friend of a friend made some sort of Cherry Liqueur from tart cherries, vodka and sugar.  Then let it sit for a month or so, and voila, Cherry Bounce.  I could never remember the name, though, so I called it Cherry Bop (probably a Little Bunny Foo Foo short circuit in my brain.) 

Found this in an antique shop...

My brother Tony says "they" ran a taste test and the cheapest vodka available, run through coffee filters, will beat expensive vodka.  And I didn't want to waste good vodka if it didn't work out. 

1/2 cup of raw sugar, 1 oz food grade lavender and five coffee filters.

Cheapest vodka I could find, about $8 a fifth at the Hy-Vee.

The jar is washed out well.  Okay, maybe not that well, but I figure the alcohol will kill bacteria.  Five filters installed.

Otie wants to help, but doesn't get too close.

Dripping, dripping, dripping.

1/2 cup raw sugar (and yes that is a plastic cat food bowl)

Raw sugar is added.

You'd think coffee filters saturated with alcohol would burn really well...

The lavender oil is added, clouding it up.  Now I just need to shake it every few days to dissolve the sugar.

And those stupid filters didn't burn well at all.  Dang cheap vodka.  Had to wait until they dried out before they'd burn in our charcoal grill.

Here's the end product...It's mostly clear, a little cloudy from the lavender oil, and isn't really as yellow as it looks in this picture.  I was a bit worried shaking it every day...the little bits of oil collected together at the top...it almost looked like mold growing, and I wondered if there would be poisoning involved.  But it is just fine.  (Won't guarantee yours, though, if you try this at home...)


Taste tests:
#1: Took about half a shot on an empty stomach.  Bad idea.  If you associate lavender with soap, it may taste soapy to you.  But it actually reminded me of some Franciscan made Amaro liqueur, sort of an herbal disgestif (or bitters) that I had in Italy. Probably better as an after dinner drink.


#2:  I made a small sample of butter cream frosting (okay, about a cup) and added 2 tablespoons of lavender vodka to it, on the theory that VANILLA is just vanilla bean and alcohol, so lavender vodka would be the lavender equivalent of vanilla.  The frosting is a bit strongly flavored...would try about a teaspoon, and then add more lavender to taste.  The first frosting taste is a bit reminiscent of soap, but the second, third, etcetera is really good.  Now if I only had some cookies to frost.  Bad idea to sit and eat a cup of frosting by itself.


(1/2 c confectioners sugar, 2-3 Tablespoons butter, Lavender vodka, dabs of water until it reaches the consistency you want)

Here's a link to a recipe for Lavender Honey Ice Cream 

Experimenting with Golden Artist Medium Coarse Pumice Gel

I'm experimenting with covering some small canvases with acrylic paint and Golden Artist medium coarse pumice gel.  It's intended as a mix with acrylic paint to provide texture.   This is a 2 oz jar, part of a sampler set of six kinds of "mediums" from Golden Artist. 

 

Here's what it looks like in the jar.

Scooping some up, mixing with acrylic paint.  I'm going for a red brick stucco effect.

Mixing it in.

Still a little thin, so I'm adding another scoop.

This is the consistency I'm looking for.  Thick, yet deliciously goopy.

Have WAAAY more paint & gel than I need, so I do a second canvas too.

Here's what it looks like when it's dry.

A close up of the dry canvas.

Screen Printing Experiment with YUDU Card Shop

Screen printing can be intimidating, so the YUDU CardShop in a Box---everything you need to get started, seems like a good idea.  (Initial kit is $59.99, with additional sets of 2 screens at $19.99US).  Here are some photos of my learning experience.  Hope this will give you a good idea as to whether you'd like to start screen printing too..

Picture from the box; shows what is included (except the card)

View from above, with included screen.

View without Screen

View with top open.  The little blue pegs are registration pegs to keep the mat in place.  An adhesive mat adheres to the bottom of the machine and to the card.  It's sticky on both sides.

instructions

Includes Yudu ink, ink pad, dabber.

Hard plastic Squeegee

Taped out "Thank you"

Here's the back side of the screen; it shows where I taped.  The card shop is for 5x7 cards and I really want 4.25 x 5.5 cards.  So I'm already altering the pattern.  Who knew?

Slide the screen into the little notch on the right side of the printer

Above: I'm already dirty from opening the ink bottle.  

A box of soft paper towels or rags will be your best friend.

They say: Put an adequate amount of ink on the screen and pull the squeegee with a sweeping motion toward yourself....this will take some practice...

Here's what the above ink yielded...

and the card after a second swipe to fill in missed areas...obviously ink is still missing in some areas

another try

And another

and another...and time to clean the screen.  The detail is getting worse, and it's goopy in some areas.

New screen...with cupcake...

Back of screen

First attempt...got a little goopy at the bottom where I pressed too hard.  Note that on this one instead of YUDU ink, I'm using Speedball Fabric ink with the same results.  So although they recommend Provocraft ink, it looks to me like any water soluble ink will do.

Second attempt

and third

Here's the ink being rinsed off the screen.  It pills up and washes away.  It doesn't look brand new again, but gentle scrubbing with the fingertips didn't hurt the screen a bit.

Other stuff I've learned:  Acrylic craft paint will not work as screen printing ink.  However, it will wash off the screen when still wet.

Miche Bag Cover Knitted in Entrelac

I grabbed a skein of Schaefer Yarn's new Handpainted Chris yarn in Patsy Mink colorway.  Here's what it looks like in a skein, and then in a center pull ball.  (This is awesome yarn; very nice hand and the colors are gorgeous.)

I started on a 6x6 entrelac pattern similar to the one used here.  And the Knitty Otter blog has a marvelous tutorial for learning entrelac.  

With the handpainted variegations, something weird and magical happened...but I thought, "There's no freakin' way this is gonna be a scarf.  I can either frog it, or do something else with it."  It was too wide at 10.75" unstretched...and it would take 3 skeins to get a scarf of a decent length.  What could I make....hmmm...

Turns out, this is JUST the right size for the magnetic purse cover.  I probably shouldn't mention the name, since Purse Lawyers can be particularly vicious...but let's live dangerously.

Here's the finished fabric...weird, yet wonderful...I don't like the rough edges, so am knitting an I-cord to sew all around the edges.  My sister Jules is an extraordinary seamstress; I gave her an M-Cover and asked her to make me a cover for it in muslin, which we have on hand.  I'm hand sewing the knitted fabric to the muslin.

Here are a couple of pictures of what she came up with:

I'll hand stitch the cover to this side of the muslin (you'll notice this is about 11.5" wide.  But the knitted fabric stretches well. 

Here's the other side of the cover, which shows how it slips on & off.

Knitted i-cord, size 7 dpns, 4 stitches wide, long enough to go around the edges

Stretched out the fabric and clipped it (wrong side out) to the Miche Bag Cover

Blanket stitched the i-cord to the fabric.  I started near the middle of a long side so that when the cover is on, the seam will not be noticeable.

As I go along, I'm straightening out the i-cord so it fits both the fabric and the purse edge.

I took it home to finish stitching over the weekend, and had some help from my cat Sera.

Here it is with the I-cord stitched to the entrelac & right side up. 

Closeup of where the i-cord ends are stitched together.

Otie wants to help too...

Here's the magnetic cover attached to the purse.  I still need to stitch the fabric to the muslin cover.