The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn [Hardcover]

Clara Parkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2007

Not all yarns are alike. Some make our hearts and hands sing, some get the job done without much fanfare, and some cause nothing but frustration and disappointment. The gorgeous pair of socks that emerged from their first bath twice as long as when they went in. The delicate baby sweater that started pilling before it even came off the needles. The stunning colorwork scarf that you can’t wear because the yarn feels like sandpaper against your neck. If only there were a way to read a skein and know how it would behave and what it wanted to become before you invested your time, energy, and money in it. Now there is! With The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, you’ll learn how to unleash your inner yarn whisperer.

In these pages, Clara Parkes provides 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 and importers, medium-sized companies, boutique dye shops, community spinneries, and old-fashioned sheep farms. And, because we learn best by doing, Parkes went to some of the most creative and inquisitive design minds of the knitting world to provide a wide assortment of patterns created to highlight the qualities (and minimize the drawbacks) of specific types of yarns.

The Knitter’s Book of Yarn will teach you 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Un. Real. There is no other way to describe...well, that’s a lie because I'll come up with more. But my first impression of The Knitter's Book of Yarn? Un. Real. I open the hardcover to reveal a fiber family tree. Smitten. Smitten on the spot. This book is, without a doubt, everything you ever wanted to know not just about fiber but were afraid to ask….This is absolutely a MUST HAVE book, and I don't say that often.”
—MelissaKnits, blog

About the Author

CLARA PARKES left her career in the booming high-tech industry to pursue her love of knitting. She lives on the coast of Maine in a farm house full of yarn. She is the publisher of KnittersReview.com and a contributing editor to Interweave Knits.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Potter Craft (October 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307352161
• ISBN-13: 978-0307352163
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clara Parkes is the bestselling author of The Knitter's Book of Yarn and The Knitter's Book of Wool. Her latest, The Knitter's Book of Socks, has already received a starred review from Library Journal.

Parkes is also the founder and publisher of KnittersReview.com, a weekly email newsletter described by Folio Magazine as to knitters "what Cook's Illustrated is to foodies." Named by Vogue Knitting as one of knitting's "New Wave" along with Debbie Stoller and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Clara is also a regular columnist in Interweave Knits and Twist Collective.

A decade ago she abandoned San Francisco's high-tech swirl for the coast of Maine, where she now resides a stone's throw from the saltwater farm where E.B. White wrote Charlotte's Web.

When not playing with yarn, Clara loves to putter in the kitchen and is a huge fan of butter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you ever wanted to know about yarn, by the most wonderful Queen Bee, October 22, 2007

By 

R. MISKIN (Kennedale, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn (Hardcover)

If you are familiar with the Knittersreview.com, then you know how great Ms. Clara is (and the depth of her knowledge of yarns) , and have probably preordered your copy already. If you haven't visited KR yet, this is a great introduction to yarn design, and a wonderful reference work, as well as a great set of easy and fun projects. Ms. Parkes just makes it easy to understand the "how and why" of which yarn to use for what.

I was lucky enough to score a copy of "The Knitters Book of Yarn" at the NY Sheep and Wool festival this weekend, and managed to make it cover to cover in about 10 hours. Ms. Parkes is one of this countries top experts on all types of knitting yarns, and this is a wealth of yarn construction knowledge with some really useful tips and tricks about selecting the correct yarn for your project. The projects included are also range from the beginners washcloth to some great vests and the "Maine Morning Mitts" are truly excellent. I can't say enough about how well it is written, and how facinating Ms. Clara makes all the details of twist, balance, and fiber selection.

If you are a knitter, know a knitter, or want to be a knitter, you can't go wrong here. Fun to read, clearly organized, and quite comprehensive, I know I will be using this as a reference tome for years to come, as well as making a couple of sets of Mitts for Christmas gifts!

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is YARN 101, October 29, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn (Hardcover)

Ever wondered why your experience of knitting is sometimes one of ambivalence? Clara Parkes suggests that it may be the materials you are using. Curious to understand why yarn had such an impact on her knitting, she quite her high-tech job and applied her experience to providing knitters honest and in-depth reviews of yarn. Her search to understand if there was such a thing as "good" and "bad" yarn led to the birth of KnittersReview.com in September 2000.

The Knitter's Book of Yarn: the ultimate guide to choosing, using, and enjoying yarn collects seven years of knowledge that has led Parkes to be considered by some a "yarn whisperer." Her goal is to help knitters avoid "yarn-related errors" and match the right yarn to the right project, "to hold a skein in our hands, look at it, touch it, listen to it, even smell it, and instinctively know what the yarn wants to become."

In The Knitter's Book of Yarn, Parkes explores common fiber types, methods of preparation, spins, and ply combinations. The yarns discussed are meant to serve as examples of type and lead to a better understanding of the yarns in your stash or those found at the local yarn shop. The main body of the volume is called "Ply Me a River," where Parkes explores the qualities of classic single ply, two-ply, three-ply and four-ply (and more) yarns. Within each section are patterns designed to showcase the best qualities of this type of yarn. Each pattern is by designers whom Parkes admires for "their instinctive love and understanding of yarn."

The end of this main body is used to explore "modern" yarns; cabled yarns and textured yarns. Parkes also includes information on the "care and feeding" of yarn; that is, how to wash and care for your garments once they are knit. Additional tips are provided on the special handling each fiber requires when it is wet and for removing odors (especially important if you are sensitive to the smell of wet silk).

Armchair Interviews says: Savvy knitter will reach for The Knitter's Book of Yarn before their next yarn purchase.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All You Ever Wanted to Know about Yarn...a more!, October 25, 2007

By 

Melissa Weaver Dunning "tradweaver" (Shenandoah Valley of Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn (Hardcover)

When I first saw that Clara Parkes was writing a book about knitting yarn, I didn't think that it would be a book I needed to own. But I was first in line to borrow it when our local library got a copy and I have to say that I was wrong. The Knitter's Book of Yarn is a beautiful book with some terrific patterns and it is the best resource book about yarn that there is.

The book is arranged in three main sections. First, she looks at all the different types of fiber in some depth, and you will find some products that you didn't think could be made into yarn, as well as answers to some burning fiber questions you may have had, like what the heck is rayon, anyway? In the second section, she considers the structure of yarn, how it is made and how that affects the use. Finally, Clara addresses the specific qualities of singles, 2, 3, 4 ply yarns, cabled, textured, boucle, brushed and chenille yarns, and includes several patterns for each type of yarn.

I'm quite impressed and will be pleased to add this book to my knitting library. I have already knitted 2 pair of Maine Morning Mitts. This book will appeal to knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers. Bravo, Clara! Well done!

Clara Parkes also publishes a weekly e-newsletter called Knitter's Review, which is very informative, well written and entertaining.