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A Stash of One’s Own – Clara Parkes

A Stash of One’s Own – Clara Parkes

I like to read essays on knitting – I own several collections and am always keen to read more.

This is a series of designers and knitters (all the usual suspects) writing about what stash means to them.  Some are sad, some are funny and they are all easy to read. And if you have a particular stance on stash someone in this book will be on your side.

Here is the blurb …

This addictive-to-read anthology celebrates yarn—specifically, the knitter’s reputation for acquiring it in large quantities and storing it away in what’s lovingly referred to as a “stash.” Consider contributions from knitting and teaching luminaries, including:
BUST co-founder Debbie Stoller
Meg Swansen, daughter of master knitter Elizabeth Zimmermann
Knitting blogger and author Susan B. Anderson
alongside offerings from knitting greats Amy Herzog, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and Franklin Habit—plus, stories from a romance novelist, an illustrator, a PhD-wielding feminist publisher, a globetrotting textile artist, a licensed clinical social worker, and the people behind the world’s largest collective online stash, Ravelry.com. The pieces range from comical to earnest, lighthearted to deeply philosophical as each seeks to answer the question of how the stash a knitter has accumulated over the years reflects his or her place in universe.
The stories in A Stash of One’s Own represent and provide validation for knitters’ wildly varying perspectives on yarn, from holding zero stash, to stash-busting, to stockpiling masses of it—and even including it in estate plans. These tales are for all fiber artists, spinners, dyers, crafters, crocheters, sheep farmers, shop owners, beginning knitters to yarn experts, and everyone who has ever loved a skein too hard to let it go.

If you are a knitter (or you need to buy a gift for a knitter), then this a great book.

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Book Review – Yarn Whisperer by Clara Parkes

The Yarn Whisperer - Clara Parkes

The Yarn Whisperer – Clara Parkes

I haven’t heard of Clara before, but when I pre-ordered Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting Amazon suggested I might like this one – I do like Amazon’s recommendation system usually I do want it or I already have it.

This book falls into what I call Knitting Lifestyle or Knitting Humour – the Yarn Harlot’s books are in this category too.

This book is a series of essays on various different life experiences using knitting as a metaphor or analogy. For example, there is a chapter ‘A Good Steek’, which is about dramatic life changes and that there is a way to do it safely – like a steek cut things apart once the edges have been reinforced so the whole thing doesn’t unravel.

Occasionally I thought the knitting metaphors were a bit laboured particularly the ones about traffic, but mostly I enjoyed reading about knitting and the place it holds in Ms Parkes’ life.

If you like reading and you like knitting, then I think you will like this book.

More reviews …

http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/institches/2013/09/04/book-review-the-yarn-whisperer-by-clara-parkes/

 

 

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