A review by sevenlefts
Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool by Clara Parkes

4.0

I think I'd best convey my feelings about this book by pointing you to Janelle's excellent review of it. She covers all the bases, and much more eloquently than I ever could. Suffice to say, I enjoyed every minute of it, too. I actually set aside knitting so I could focus on this. So there you have it.

Clara Parkes is a most excellent writer who can explain rather complicated concepts and machinery quite well. As a knitter, I was all in on her journey of exploring the history and current status of American wool manufacturing. I was most taken with her call to support this industry in the final chapter. Buy and wear wool, people!

A few format notes. The book wasn't illustrated, so I had to stop and look up pictures of what some of the equipment looked like from time to time. But it's a very well-made book printed on heavy paper and with green chapter running heads and page numbers, which were a nice touch. I found the magazine article-style pull quotes a bit distracting -- they weren't necessary and seemed to be there to take up space (this isn't a very long book).