I write about new fiber books for Knitty and on this blog, so every once in a while I get a lovely package of books from a publisher or designer. I love books, my house is filled with books on shelves, library carts, and in pecarious towers.

I especially like books on anything to do with textiles and fiber arts. On occasion there is a book that really thrills me. One of those books hit my desk this week.

I haven't even finished reading it and I want to make sure that it is on your book radar (it is totally a thing!). Journeys in Natural Dyeing:Techniques for Creatng Color at Home by Kristine Vejar and Adrienne Rodriguez with Sarah Ollikkala Jones is a great book.

It is beautiful, it is interesting, and it is useful.

A very short description: Kristine and Adrienne traveled to Iceland, Mexico, Japan, and Indonesia and visited with natural dyers who dye with local materials

They came home and wrote in great and easy to follow (and replicate) detail about how to make dyes out of materials local to Oakland, CA where they live; hundreds of different shades.

I will write more when I finish reading the book, but so far it has helped to transport me out of the blahs I keep sinking into.

Reading about textile arts from around the world written by masters of the craft gives me hope for the future of our crafts.

I have recently discovered you can order books from Blackwell's in Oxford (yes, the Oxford of Lyra, Morse, Lewis and Brideshead Revisited) with free shipping to the US. I may have ordered a signed copy of James Rebanks new book, English Pastoral.