First, the facts:
Title: Knitting Daily TV, Series 300 and Series 400
Produced by: Interweave Press, 2009 and 2010
Length: 13 episodes, 5 hours 48 minutes each
Type: DVDs
The In-Depth Look:
I’ve had the season 3 set of Knitting Daily TV sitting next to my computer for months. First, my DVD player broke, leaaving only my computer for watching DVDs, which made it difficult to do anything else. Then we moved, and that threw me off for weeks, and finding almost 6 hours of time to watch and review these DVDs–even after I bought a replacement DVD player–just wasn’t easy to come by.
Then season 4 arrived, making me seriously overdue, but lucky for me, it arrived just before a monster snowstorm that shut down my day job for a day and a half. Suddenly, I had plenty of time for watching, so that’s what I did. Over three days, I watched all 8 DVDs–almost 12 hours of video–and so you’re getting an all-for-one review.
Series 300 (Season 3)
- 301 Traditional Cables
- 302 Babies and Children
- 303 Make it Reversible
- 304 All About Alpaca
- 305 Charity Projects
- 306 Fun with Color
- 307 Go Global
- 308 You’re the Designer
- 309 Start Spinning
- 310 Blankets and Afghans
- 311 Stripes!
- 312 Gifts for Every Season
- 313 Eco-Friendly and Green
Series 400 (Season 4)
- 401 Fearless Knit and Crochet
- 402 Fashion Forward
- 403 Knit and Purl Magic
- 404 All in the Finish
- 405 Natural Fibers
- 406 Fiber Tech
- 407 Wild About Wool
- 408 Crazy for Cotton
- 409 Creative Scarves
- 410 New England Knits
- 411 Think Thin
- 412 On the Edge
- 413 Trade Secrets
Having just watched all eleven and a half hours, I can tell you without reservation that these DVDs are interesting, useful, and chock-full of great information. I don’t have access to these on television, so I hadn’t had a chance to see them before.
Well, they did not disappoint.
First, go back and look at the titles for each of the episodes. Look at the range of topics they cover! Cables. Color. Spinning. Wool. Thin yarns. Eco-friendly yarns. Charity projects. Handy tips. Demonstrations on various ways to hold your yarn, or how to try crafts you might not be familiar with. There is a vast wealth of information, here.
The show is co-hosted by Eunny Jang, along with Kim Werker, Liz Gipson, Shay Pendray, and Kristin Omdahl. Each show is split into regular segments showing you specific techniques, or bringing in experts to talk about things like sizing, or how to blend colors. The list of guests is like a who’s who of knitting, with designers, authors, and experts from yarn companies and stores, as well as people with specific expertise.
There is lots of good information in here. The video is easy to watch, with helpful camera angles for demonstrations.
The main difference between the two seasons is that season 4 has a regular crochet segment, and more on-the-spot interviews, and some of the regular faces change, but it is still demonstrably the same show from one season to the next, just with a few different faces.
My one real complaint? The credits. I absolutely believe that sponsors deserve full credit for supporting this great little show. They do. But every single episode begins and ends with a minute or two of almost-identical credits–not just a scrolling list of the sponsors, but an announcement of them, spoken over the repeating theme song jingle. Putting in one of these DVDs and hitting “Play All” meant having to hear that same thing 6 or 8 times per disk. Maddening. Not only does the jingle get annoying after the fifth or sixth repeat, but it means that it takes that much longer to get to the good stuff. It’s like calling a friend with a long, slow voice mail message and having to sit and wait when you just want to get to the beep already, and get on with it.
Because, trust me. There is lots of good stuff on here.
The DVDs can be purchased at Interweave.
Want to see bigger pictures? Here are the links:
These review copies were kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!
