Book Review: Vanishing Sheep

Another knitting book is off the list (actually it's a yarn book)! I recently finished Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool by Clara Parkes and it was such a fun, funny, and informative read! I'm a knitter but I had very little knowledge of wool manufacturing and the process it takes to create the fibers that I love! Well, I knew the wool had to be cleaned, carded, and spun but not how any of it is done in a mill. 

The book takes you through the entire process from the sheep shearing, cleaning, spinning, and then dying the yarn. There were a few different manufactures used as well as different dyers, it was a fun look at the different ways your yarn comes about. 

I found Clara to be witty and funny, little bits of detail added to the story made it a quick and engaging read, I did most of my reading before bed and finished it up quickly. The only 'complaint' and its really not a complaint is the I found some of the description for the machinery to be very hard to visualize. This is probably a me thing and not the writing but I decided as I was reading that I still enjoyed the information even if I couldn't visualized it. 

I highly recommend a read for any yarny person, this isn't a book about knitting, this is a book about wool and anyone who uses wool as their art base. 

Happy Reading! -- Sierra 

Book Review: The Power of Knitting

My life is pretty well entrenched with knitting. It's my job, my passion, my friend base, so why not add it to my reading list? Honestly, I haven't read much in the last 5 years. College really burnt me out on reading but I also like/want to keep myself educated and reading is the best and least expensive way to do that. 

The first knitting theme book I read this year is The Power of Knitting: Stitching Together Our Lives in a Fractured World. I thought I would share my thoughts on the book with you so you can check it out if you'd like! So here it goes! 

I really wanted to love this book but felt it fell flat. The main theme is knitting and the authors life falling apart. At the end she discusses selling two houses and then finding herself by going on a round the world trip? What? If you have enough money to buy a plane ticket that expensive I don’t think you’re really in the dire of straits you want your readers to believe. 

The Power of Knitting ended up being hard to relate to, I do think I’ll be using her bibliography page as a stepping stone to find more books to read. I felt that she could have definitely gone more in-depth with some of the side stories and the book would have been more enjoyable. The author just kind of skimmed around topics without actually going in deeply.

She touched on quite a few interesting historical knitting topics and references but didn't really flush them out and draw me in. I definitely felt that I was interested in the topics she was discussing but now need to go and do my own research. So, I would probably give this book 3/5 stars. I'm glad a read it but honestly I think I could have taken the bibliography information and been plenty happy with that as well. 

The link posted above (for the book) is to a website that connects you to indie book shops. If you're thinking of purchasing this book to read please visit your local book shop before purchasing on Amazon. Want to discuss the book more? Head of over to Knitting Joy and chat with me! 

Handmade: Slow Fashion Inspired by Arizona's 5 Cs

I have had the biggest business win this year, I have a pattern in a published book! What?!? I know! I designed a shawl for Less Traveled Yarn's book Handmade: Slow Fashion Inspired by Arizona's 5 Cs (this is a link to my Etsy shop where I have signed copies of the book available for sale) inspired by Copper (one of the 5 Cs). My mom (Susan) is from copper country in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so I grew up with natural copper pieces in our house. When I saw the call for submission I immediately knew this was one I had to apply for. 

Of course I freaked out when I got the email that my submission was accepted! I didn't realize that my shawl was going to be the COVER design until we saw the final proofs of the book right before it went to the printers! 

Yes, I definitely cried and it was 100% perfect. Now that I have the super exciting news out of the way let me tell you a little more about the book and the design. The book has 17 designs featuring sweaters, tops, shawls, hats, cowls, and socks all these different designs are knit, crochet, and Tunisian crochet. 

Oxidation is my shawl and as I said above, inspired by the natural oxidation process of copper. Oxidation is a 3 skein shawl featuring fingering weight yarn. The yarn I used for the main color is a wool/silk blend and the contrast color is a wool/nylon/stellina blend (stellina is a sparkle thread) and I used 2 hanks of the main color and 1 of the contrast. 

Oxidation features stripes, wrap stitches, short rows, and fun bumps; this pattern will keep you very interested! Some of my testers used yarn support while others knit from their stash. You should definitely go and take a look a their projects to get an idea of the diversity of this design. 

For yarn suggestions, there are kits on Less Traveled Yarns website, but if you want to knit from stash or make your purchase elsewhere than any fingering weight yarn you are comfortable wearing around your neck. I wouldn't necessarily suggest a self-striping yarn only because the stripes will not work out evenly with the different short rows and sections. I can't wait to see your shawl! --Sierra