VANISHING FLEECE: ADVENTURES IN AMERICAN WOOL
Named one of Editors’ Fall Picks by Library Journal
Join Clara Parkes on a fast-paced, cross-country adventure to transform a 676-pound bale of wool into four different kinds of yarn—and discover a vanishing domestic wool industry. Along the way, you meet a cast of characters that includes the shepherds, dyers, and countless workers without whom our knitting needles would be empty, our mills idle, and our feet woefully cold.
Find at your local bookseller, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon. Also available in audiobook.
“Through her woolly peregrinations, Parkes has become an unapologetic advocate for wool, a digital Cassandra in Allbirds, tweeting about the loss of this mill or that business, enjoining those of us who love the stuff — and can afford it — to not just consider the ‘food that goes into our bodies’ but also become ‘more mindful of what we put on them,’ because behind every skein of yarn there are dozens of stories.”
A STASH OF ONE’S OWN: KNITTERS ON LOVING, LIVING WITH, AND LETTING GO OF YARN
Named one of the top 10 lifestyle books for fall 2017 by Publisher’s Weekly
Whether the yarn stash is muse, memento, creative companion, career guide, or lifeline in tough times, these deeply engaging stories take a surprising and fascinating look at why we collect, what we cherish, and how we let go.
Featuring stories by (in order of appearance) Meg Swansen, Lela Nargi, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Amy Herzog, Ann Shayne, Gudrun Johnston, Kay Gardiner, Rachel Atkinson, Franklin Habit, Anna Maltz, Sue Shankle, Amy Christoffers, Clara Parkes, Jillian Moreno, Susan B. Anderson, Lilith Green, Rachael Herron, Kristine Vejar, Eugene Wyatt, Aimée Osbourn-Gille, Kim McBrien Evans, Adrienne Martini, and Debbie Stoller.
Find at your local bookseller, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
KNITLANDIA, A KNITTER SEES THE WORLD
New York Times Best Seller
Named one of the 50 best summer reads of all by Reader’s Digest
Now available in Russian
Part personal travel narrative and part cultural history, this inspiring and witty memoir touches the heart of what it means to live creatively.
Clara takes readers along on 17 of her most memorable journeys across the globe over the last 15 years, with stories spanning from the fjords of Iceland to a cozy yarn shop in Paris’s 13th arrondissement.
Find at your local bookseller, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
THE YARN WHISPERER: MY UNEXPECTED LIFE IN KNITTING
Now available in Russian
“Stockinette, ribbing, cables, even the humble yarn over can instantly evoke places, times, people, conversations, all those poignant moments that we’ve tucked away in our memory banks. Over time, those stitches form a map of our lives.”
―From the preface
In 22 captivating, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny essays, Parkes ponders the roles knitting plays in her life. Through stitches and techniques, she recounts tales of childhood and adulthood, family, friends, adventure, privacy, disappointment, love, and celebration, hitting upon the myriad ways in which our knitting serves as a metaphor for life.
Find it at your local bookseller, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
THE KNITTER’S BOOK OF YARN: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHOOSING, USING, AND ENJOYING YARN
The essential reference book for all knitters!
Become a smarter knitter and unleash your inner yarn whisperer. Clara’s first book offers in-depth insight into a vast selection of yarns, giving you the inside stories behind the most common fiber types, preparations, spins, and ply combinations used by large-scale manufacturers, medium-sized companies, boutique dye shops, community spinneries, and old-fashioned sheep farms.
You’ll learn everything you need to know about yarn: How it’s made, who makes it, how it gets to you, and what it longs to become. The next time you pick up a skein, you won’t have to wonder what to do with it. You’ll just know-the way any yarn whisperer would.
Find it at your local bookseller, Bookshop.org, Penguin Random House, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
THE KNITTER’S BOOK OF SOCKS: THE YARN LOVER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CREATING SOCKS THAT FIT WELL, FEEL GREAT, AND LAST A LIFETIME
Named “an essential addition” by Library Journal
No other knitted garment has as many structural demands or endures as much wear and tear as the humble sock. In The Knitter’s Book of Socks, Clara Parkes shows you how to knit socks from yarn up. By understanding a sock’s basic needs, you’ll learn how to play with these tools like building blocks, confidently combining fiber, twist, ply, pattern, and clever stitch tricks to construct your perfect pair of socks.
Featuring 20 fresh, original patterns from sock-design luminaries including Cat Bordhi, Ann Budd, Nancy Bush, Anne Hanson, and Melissa Morgan-Oakes.
Find it at your local bookseller, Bookshop.org, Penguin Random House, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
THE KNITTER’S BOOK OF WOOL: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING, USING, AND LOVING THIS MOST FABULOUS FIBER
In this complete guide to wool, passionate wool expert Clara Parkes translates the vast world of sheep and their varied coats into the language and context of knitting.
You’ll follow wool on its journey from pasture to pullover and meet the most popular sheep breeds for hand knitting yarn—and learn what each kind of wool longs to become on your needles.
Find it at Penguin Random House, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.