Customer Rating: 
Summary: A big textbook of yarn!
Comment: This is a big ol' honkin' textbook all about yarn...and I love it. While I would recommend this more for hardcore knitters who want to expand their horizons and become "yarn artists," it still has some mighty cute patterns for the casual knitter. (I just knocked my way through some Main Morning Mitts and am eyeing the Cabled Tea Cozy as my next project.)
What I like most about this book is that the author treats yarn as an artistic medium. She describes WHY certain types of yarn are better for some projects than others. Reading this book has made me much more yarn savvy and will help me make smarter (impulsive) yarn purchases.
My only quibbles with this book are that it's big, heavy, and doesn't lie flat. To work a pattern, you've definitely got to make a photocopy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must for Your Knitting Collection
Comment: Clara has done a fabulous job consolidating and clearly presenting yarn and pattern information to the reader. This is the first book I bought yard for the project and finished the project. Usually, I'm attracted to the yarn (touch, feel, color, etc) and have the fun challenge of finding a pattern to suit.
I've knit 3 pair of the Maine Morning Mitts and am planning on 2 more. I love that this pattern calls for a single skein of Noro. The mitts are beautiful, warm and everyone loves them. The pattern has been perfect for holiday gifts as it knits up quickly and burns down my stash.
I used a single skein of bulky brown sheep to create longer mitts. I used a skein of chunky handspun to create a more manly version.
The wonderful thing about this book is that it really teaches you how the yarn should behave as associated to a pattern. Why do you need a somewhat drapey pattern for Alpaca? Why don't you wear the Alpaca sweater much (it's a SUPER warm fiber)? It has also given me a good deal to mull over for my spinning.
I'm very happy that Ms. Parkes has left the techno world for the yarn world. From one techie/crafter to another, Thanks!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not spinning a yarn mate!
Comment: An extremely useful book - has given me a lot of useful background information and been absolutely invaluable helping us out with customer questions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: very good, but I'm still disappointed
Comment: This is a good, well-written book.
My beef is with the description, which led me to expect 256 pages of in-depth information about fiber properties, fiber blending, the effects of bleaching, dye and other processing on the fibers, and the benefits and drawbacks of various yarn constructions. I was very excited about getting such a book.
Which is why I was so disappointed when I got the book to find so much of the space was actually devoted to patterns. The patterns are certainly good, but there are pattern books by the hundreds---that wasn't what I was shopping for here, and space given over to patterns was taken away from the information I had expected and wanted.
The shame of it is that Clara Parkes is a fine writer with wide exposure to yarns and yarn types, and access to the people who create them and the people who use them. As someone who neither creates nor sells fibers or yarns, she is in perhaps an ideal position to synthesize yarn and fiber information in a readable, unbiased way - precisely the book I expected and wanted.
What appears in the book is more of a survey of fibers and yarns for the advanced beginner or intermediate knitter, while I was expecting more of a true fiber-whisperer master class. I would have bought this book anyway had it been more accurately described, but I would have been a much happier owner had my expectations not been raised so high by the description. In Sheep's Clothing: A Handspinner's Guide to Wool by Nola and Jane Fournier is closer to what I expected this to be as far as reviewing specific fibers, although it deals only in wool and does not discuss the issues of chemistry or yarn structure.
I do like this book, but I'm also still waiting for someone (maybe Clara?) to write the book I thought it was going to be.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book for those interested in yarn
Comment: This book is gorgeous. It's well-bound, full-color, and printed on thick paper. Now, I know that how a book looks doesn't really matter, but in this case, the quality of the craftmanship is a definite bonus, as I can see myself using this book for years.
Parkes has written a wonderful book on everything you could ever want to know about yarn. The first part of the book has focuses on natural(both plant and animal) and synthetic fibers, including info such as where it's from, how it's made, what characteristics the fiber has, what it's good for, what its weaknesses are, and so on. After reading this book, you'll be completely prepared to make the appropriate fiber choices for the project at hand. Want to know which fiber would be best for a light but warm scarf? How about a yarn for a sweater that's both easy to care for but knits up without stretching and sagging too much? This book answers these questions and more.
In the second part of the book, Parkes has included a number of patterns that emphasize a particular yarn's highlights. All of these designs are beautiful, classic pieces that will stand the test of time...there's nothing in here that would look dated, so you can be assured that the sweater your worked on for months will, with care, last you many years.
I can't say enough good things about this book. It's chock full of useful information for anyone that works with yarn, it's organized beautifully, the quality of the book is high, and Parkes writes in a conversational tone that makes you feel as if you're being guided by a close friend. It's definitely something that should be on every fiber crafter's bookshelf.
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