The Yarn Whisperer by Clara Parkes

And this is done!  :)

I finished this book a couple of nights ago and I was sad to see it end.  I had been excited to read this one and hear all about Clara Parkes' adventures in knitting.

I didn't really know much about her or actually even who she was until I started seeing this book pop up on many knitters instagrams and blogposts.

I did enjoy this book but I do agree with many Amazon reviewers who feel that some of the metaphors were a little far stretched.  Sometimes they just felt forced.

This could have been two books... one book about Clara Parkes' life in general (I'd love to hear/read more about this wonderful life in Maine!) , and one book about her knitting life (her life in the knitting industry).  I would be more interested in the latter.

I will say... I do always get something out of reading and I did learn a few things.

I didn't know who Cat Bordhi was or her mobius cast-on.  I'd never heard of the 3-2-1 pie dough ratio (and was glad for that one pre-Thanksgiving, as I am in charge of pie this year).

I would read another book by Clara Parkes and maybe the next one will focus more on knitting.

Next on my reading list is A Life in Stitches by Rachael Herron and I am excited to see how the two compare!

Interesting that both went to Mills College in Oakland!  I love parallels in life!  :)

Definition: Alpaca

So what is Alpaca...

I see it all over in pattern books and knitting mags.

According the wonderful Wiki:

Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an Alpaca. It is light weight or heavy weight, depending on how it is spun, soft, durable, luxurious [1] and silky natural fiber. While similar to sheep’s wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and has no lanolin which makes it hypoallergenic.[1][2] However, this lack of lanolin also prevents Alpaca fiber from being naturally water-repellent. It also has less crimp, thus making it much less elastic.

Yay! Soft and not itchy!

Cute!!! Here's a fluffy guy! (an Alpaca)

He's tooooo cute!!!!