Knitters and non-knitters alike can find something to like about Clara Parkes's memoir, The Yarn Whisperer. In 22 essays, she blends personal anecdotes with insight about the bigger picture of life in a way that will make readers laugh out loud. Even those who don't know anything about knitting can appreciate her assertion that all knitting stitches should be named after pastries or her observation that many knitter's yarn baskets are as colorful and overflowing as an English garden.
Parkes's stories range from childhood to the present, and show how knitting has shaped her life. We hear about her aunts and college roommates, her life in France and her parents' divorce, her love of mystery novels and how she fixed up a falling-apart farmhouse and made it a home.
Most of her stories relate to a particular knitting stitch, and Parkes shows how that stitch is an example of life, from the introverted purling to how each stitch has to work together to create a cohesive whole. Buying yarn can be as out-of-hand as buying plants in the spring, and a bad stitch can be as disastrous as a bad driver. On the other hand, knitting can bring people together and create an instant bond between strangers.
Parkes's memoir is a humorous look at how yarn can create community and how something you love can apply to everyday life. Her stories have something that everyone can relate to, not matter how much or little one knows about knitting. --Kalee Youngquist, intern, Shelf Awareness