Clara Parkes

Writer · Portland, Maine

In 2000, Clara Parkes launched Knitter’s Review, and the online knitting world we know today sprang to life. Author of the series that started with The Knitter’s Book of Yarn (2007), Clara is the author of Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World (2016) and A Stash of One’s Own: Knitters on Loving, Living with, and Letting Go of Yarn (2017). Her latest book is Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool (2019).

In everything she does, Clara champions knitting and knitters, shepherds and spinners, with a wry, thoughtful approach to all of it. We’ve compared her to MFK Fisher, but it has to be said that MFK never bought 676 pounds of wool.

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Contributions From Clara Parkes

Remembering Cat Bordhi

Snapshots of an extraordinary life, from the album of a loving friend.

Under Cover: An Adventure in Blanketry

Wool blankets: sentimental heirlooms that also just might cure gout.

Dear Clara: The Case of the Patronizing Admirer

Our resident agony aunt teaches a Sensitive Soul how to take a compliment.

Dear Clara: My Drawers Runneth Over!

That feeling when someone you love gives you a handknit that you don't love.

Dear Clara: How Much Touch Is Too Much?

How to handle the friend who loves your knitting so much she nearly felts it.

Dear Clara: Should I Say Something or Not?

A friend wears the hat she was given inside out. What to do?

Dear Clara: How Much Yarn Is Too Much?

A knitter wonders about her stash. Clara Parkes has answers.

Dear Clara: Sweater Pilling! Help!

My softest, best sweater pills like crazy.

Dear Clara: I’m a Horrible Knitter

Letting go of the need for perfection. Dear Clara proposes an experiment to try.

Introducing: Dear Clara

A new column answers your burning questions about knitting, life, or the intersection of knitting and life.