In 2000, Clara Parkes launched Knitter’s Review, and the online knitting world we know today sprang to life. While keeping that vibrant community percolating for two decades, Clara has written books that set the standard for depth of knowledge and feeling for yarn and knitting, including The Knitter’s Book of Yarn (2007), The Knitter’s Book of Wool (2009), and The Knitter’s Book of Socks (2011). Clara’s Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World (2016) surprised no one when it climbed onto the New York Times Best Seller list. It was followed by A Stash of One’s Own: Knitters on Loving, Living with, and Letting Go of Yarn (2017).
Clara’s latest book is Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool (2019). It’s the true story of what happens when a woman buys a 676-pound bale of Saxon Merino wool, and an education about the people, places, and things that turn fleece into yarn.
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.
