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: Knitting Yarns

College burnt me out on reading, I was a history major so the majority of my schooling was reading, reading, and more reading. I became a very proficient skimmer and then once I graduated I was 100% burnt out. But, one of my best friends is a voracious reader and I knew I needed to up my game. 

This year my goal is to read 10 books. I'm right on track so far! So another knitting themed book has been added to the pile. Knitting Yarns edited by Ann Hood is an anthology of knitting essays written by writers who knit; and for me it was far from my favorite style. 

Each essay individually was entertaining and pertained to knitting but they were all so different within that theme that I felt the book was a bit disjointed. There were essays by people who had learned to knit as children, who taught their children how to knit, people who knit through grief, and even people who learned to knit for their dogs. 

With all of the different essay I would have preferred a little more of a timeline set up for the book, maybe the people who learned to knit as children, then as adults, then teaching their children, then ending with the one who knit through grief, similar to a life span? Whatever it was, the book was well written but for me, not well formatted. I would give the overall book a 3 out of 5. 

Ann Hood has another anthology of the same style and I do want to give it a try but I think I need a few more books in-between before I start it. My next book isn't a knitting themed book, I'm reading Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Olou, and I'm so looking forward to the education I'm about to receive. 

Book Review: This Long Thread

I finished another fiber book! I purchased This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community, and Connection by Jen Hewett at Stitches West this year and I'm so glad I did. It felt sacred reading everyones stories and their history; stories and histories of only makers of color.

Jen's book is based on women of color in the crafting community who she interviewed and surveyed and learned their personal stories with making. My family doesn't have a deep connection to the fiber community, I learned to knit at 14 and my mom learned with me. We took a class and the rest is kinda history, so reading the deep history so many makers had was heartwarming and induced a longing for a deeper practice with making.

The survey questions were personal but also basic and brought so much of the makers personalities out. I felt like I was learning and meeting each maker and I loved it. The makers were a variety of ages and all had different experiences which made it a very nuanced read and didn't feel like it was geared toward a specific generation. 

I would highly recommend this as a read for every maker so that, for white people, there is a better understanding of how makers of color are treated and how they feel, and to realize there is a deep history of crafting for people of color. Although, this book is not a monolith, each maker of color has their own experiences and story, don't ignore what other people are saying. I've included a link above to purchase but also check out your local book, yarn, or fabric shop and see if they have it in stock.