Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World

by Clara Parkes

Knitting aficionado and notable artisan Clara Parkes delves into her storied travels with this inspiring and witty memoir on a creative life enriched by her adventures around the world.
 
Building on the success of The Yarn Whisperer, Parkes’s rich personal essays invite readers and devoted crafters on excursions to be savored, from a guide who quickly comes to feel like a trusted confidante. In Knitlandia, she takes readers along on 17 of her most memorable journeys across the globe over the last 15 years, with stories spanning from the fjords of Iceland to a cozy yarn shop in Paris’s 13th arrondissement.
 
Also known for her PBS television appearances and hugely popular line of small-batch handcrafted yarns, Parkes weaves her personal blend of wisdom and humor into this eloquently down-to-earth guide that is part personal travel narrative and part cultural history, touching the heart of what it means to live creatively. Join Parkes as she ventures to locales both foreign and familiar in chapters like:
 
Chasing a Legend in Taos
Glass, Grass, and the Power of Place: Tacoma, Washington
A Thing for Socks and a Very Big Plan: Portland, Oregon
Autumn on the Hudson: The New York Sheep & Wool Festival
Cashmere Dreams and British Breeds: A Last-Minute Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland
 
Fans of travel writing, as well as knitters, crocheters, designers, and fiber artists alike, will enjoy the masterful narrative in these intimate tales from a life well crafted. Whether you’ve committed to exploring your own wanderlust or are an armchair traveler curled up in your coziest slippers, Knitlandia is sure to inspire laughter, tears, and maybe some travel plans of your own.

Genres: Knitting, Nonfiction, Travel, Memoir, Essays, Crafts, Audiobook

160 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2016

About the author

CLARA PARKES left her career in the booming high-tech industry to pursue her love of knitting. She lives on the coast of Maine in a farmhouse full of yarn. She is the publisher of KnittersReview.com and a contributor to Interweave Knits."

Reviews

[Sarah Shoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really expected to like this. I'm a Knitter (with a captial K), and I've devoured and referenced Parkes' previous books over and over. But this one just wasn't engaging. It read more like a "who's who" of knitting rather than a travelogue/memoir of her knitting travels, and the voice just wasn't engaging. I'd stick to Parkes for her reference works, but turn to Stephanie Pearl McPhee for creative nonfiction.

ARC copy

[Bruce Gargoyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a digital copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.

Ten Second Synopsis:
A fairly self-indulgent lark around various knitting hotspots aimed at those who are deeply embedded in the US and International “Knitting Scene”.

The book is replete with vignettes of Parkes’ time in various places around the world, for reasons related to knitting conferences, teaching and general knitting-based travel. If you’re not a hardcore knitter, if you cringe at name-dropping, if you don’t want to read excessively wordy descriptions of various hotel foyers or if you don’t particularly care about “famous” people in the knitting scene and Parkes’ deep and abiding friendships with them, I am afraid to say that this book may not be for you.

I was really hoping that this was going to be the perfect contender for a Utopirama post. Knitting and travel – what else could one want in life? Well, plenty, if you don’t enjoy any of the factors I’ve just mentioned above. While there were plenty of chapter headings to draw me in here, I found the writing overall to be such that it seemed to specifically aim to alienate readers who are not knowledgeable about the movers and shakers in the knitting and design world. As a friend of a crocheter, I had very little knowledge, or indeed, interest, in Parkes’ name-dropping. The first story relates how Parkes came to know a particularly well-known (to everyone but me apparently) hand-spinner and dyer, which I would have found interesting if Parkes hadn’t insisted on ramming home HOW famous and HOW selective this lady was with her friendships. There was a section on a trip to Iceland that was reasonably interesting, but I suspect this is because Iceland is an interesting place, not because Parkes’ writing made it so.

Despite my early misgivings, I soldiered on and was unimpressed to discover that the name-dropping and self-indulgent “I’m more into the knitting scene than you” tone continued.

Shame really.

Approach with caution.

[Louise Waugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, more of a list of very cool events Clara Parkes has attended because she is so superior to the rest of the world, with plenty of snark. I suspect her other books might contain useful information abut wool/yarn, but the same information is available elsewhere if one doesn't feel like giving her any money.

[BookishStitcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me super nostalgic for knitting events I have been to. It also made me really sad for ones that I will never get to experience because they no longer exist. I'm looking at you Sock Summit yarn flash mob. :(

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clara Parkes, whose first subject as a professional writer was travel, takes us on a tour of knitting and fiber festivals. Some of her adventures as a yarn evangelist are set in venues that thousands of knitters have shared -- Rhinebeck, Taos, Scotland, Portland, Maryland. Some tell background stories of festivals and events we dream of attending - Squam, TNNA, Vogue Knitting Live, Madrona. We are there at Sock Summit for the first knitting flash mob, we are in Denver to film "Knitting Daily" (as she is encased in makeup that makes her feel "like Ronald MacDonald in drag"), and we go along on a tour of sheep-intensive Iceland. Always, there is pho, her comfort food, and yarn, in all of its incarnations and manifestations.

My favorite moments are in Paris, where she breaks a promise (no yarn! just family!) and visits a petting zoo of a shop" that offers yarn and tea. Years before, she tells us, she fell in love with fountain pens in Paris. How can anyone not be delighted with this book?

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for a fair review.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun tour through the knitting world with Parkes, one of the few people who makes her living knitting, not designing patterns or selling yarn. I loved hearing about the places she visited (and am even more excited to attend a sheep & wool festival someday!), but her attitude was frequently unwelcoming to anyone who doesn't share her type of love for knitting. At some points, it seems she regrets how much the knitting world has boomed since the millennium. As someone who couldn't read in the year 2000 but now has been knitting more than half her life, it felt like she was gatekeeping me out of my favorite hobby. (Not the first, and won't be the last, time folks older than myself try to gatekeep me out of my old-lady hobbies.) Overall, enjoyable enough but I was glad when it was over.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be a book about a knitter that travels and visits yarn shops. That we learn about the shop owners, that we read about travels on the road. What I took away from this was that the author is a snob, and this book was NOT what I expected. I kept trying to give the book a chance, but it kept getting worse. Life is too short to waste on books you don't want to finish. I love travel books, I love yarn, and crocheting. I dabble in knitting. So I really thought I'd like this book. The author comes across as an elitist & above the rest of us mere mortals.

[Linden · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads like a compilation of blog posts, aimed at an audience of hardcore knitters who might follow such a blog. Although the name dropping (people from knitting shows and publications) might be impressive to these individuals, it is meaningless to the general reader. The writing isn't evocative or compelling enough to interest readers outside of this niche market. As a long time knitter, I recognized the names but found the book a disappointingly tedious read.

[mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a knitter and familiar with the names of designers and authors mentioned in this book. Some of the places Clara Parkes travels to are places I have been and seen or heard of.

It's so much fun to read this travel log of a knitter, designer going to conventions and retreats I remember hearing about and wishing I could go to.

This book is definitely written for knitters. If you are a knitter you will love it.
If you are not a knitter, you probably just won't understand.

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, crud. I was writing a really heartfelt review, and I accidentally deleted it.

So, I will just say this book takes me back to the days when I had the resources to be an active part of the knitting community, attending events, taking workshops, meeting other fiber artists, etc. I miss that world. Clara Parkes wakes it up for me again. I lived it through the experience of a student. Clara teaches at these events.

[Leslie (updates on SG) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Clara Parkes' website Knitter's Review, but this travelogue is disappointing. Parkes has some comical insights, like this one:

A funny thing happens when more than one knitter gathers in a public place. A solo knitter, presuming she is a woman, quickly fades into the backdrop like a potted palm or a quietly nursing mother. We are a cultural metaphor for invisibility - something Agatha Christie knew quite well when she gave Miss Marple her needles and yarn. What better cloak of invisibility from which to observe the evil-doings of the world? A single knitter is shorthand for "nothing to see here, move on."

But when knitters gather, we become incongruously conspicuous. We are a species that other people aren't used to seeing in flocks, like a cluster of Corgis, a dozen Elvis impersonators waiting for the elevator.

For the most part, however, the essays feature a lot of famous names and not a lot of depth. I'm also not fond of the tiny font.

Dates read: 22-24 Mar 2016

[Mandy Dejonghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite everything I expected it to be. I guess I expected to be taken on a journey with a fellow knitter and see how yarn implements itself in various travels. While this was somewhat what happened in the book, it felt a little like the author was above the reader. I didn't know who Clara Parkes was before this, but turns out she is a successful writer about knitting. Often because of this she had a different experience at events then say someone like me would have. This could be considered nice because it means that she would tell stories about behind the scenes situations, and things I would likely never experience, but the way it came off in the novel was just strange and un-enjoyable.
There were chapters that I found very intriguing and cool, but overall it wasn't a very captivating book, and the stories lacked something I can't quite explain. Entertaining but only at times. The one thing that I gained was a list of festivals that I want to attend.

[Camille DeAngelis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozied up with this one (knitting and travel! two of my favorite things in life!!!), but I was very disappointed. There is not much heart or insight in these pages, which becomes most obvious towards the end when Parkes quotes Paul Theroux, a travel writer who *isn't* preoccupied with name dropping and superficial descriptions. Through Theroux's words she touches on the transformative power of travel, but gives us no substantive indication of how her journeys have allowed her to evolve, personally or creatively or spiritually. Even the knitting-celebrity cameos aren't all that compelling; I've met several of the people mentioned in these pages, and Parkes shortchanges most of them.

If anybody can recommend another knitting travelogue by a more talented and insightful writer, I'd love to hear it!

(Also, Parkes's copyeditor was clearly out to lunch on this entire project. The errors in this otherwise-beautiful hardcover drove me crazy.)

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clara Parks offers short chapters describing some of her trips to various sheep, yarn, and knitting meet ups to teach workshops and publicize her books and line of yarns. Clara, who reviews yarns online and has been on knitting tv series, interacts with the upper echelon of the knitting world. Her exclusive focus on dropping names is a little annoying. And even though Clara has been a travel writer she lacks the travel gene. Every place she goes stinks of urine, mildew, or feet. I thought I'd like to travel to Iceland or Edinburgh, but after Clara's descriptions maybe not. She reminds me of the reluctant traveler in Anne Tyler's novel. But all in all this book has some charm and a fresh perspective on the world of knitting.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the midst of reading all these biographies about strong women, I picked up this book hoping that it would be a memoir with more of the same. Instead, it was a wandering commentary on various trips and adventures of the author without much of a connecting storyline. I suppose that may have been the point, but it was rather disappointing and not at all what I expected. Each chapter reads like it's own little story - and while those on their own are decent, they don't tie together very well as a whole. I'm a knitter, so could identify with some of scenes and the feeling of community around a shared interest, but this book felt more about big deal places and people than anything else, and that's not what my experience has been, nor what I think Parkes was trying to communicate.

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. What a colossal disappointment. I picked this book up with the promise of adventure and conversations with kindred spirits, but what I got left a sour taste in my mouth. Ms. Parkes wrote with no warmth, finding a way to criticize at least one person, location, or festival attribute in each essay. Some criticisms seemed to come from the author's obvious (and offputting) sense of superiority while other things were outright untrue, like the "rule" that the only protein served at MD Sheep and Wool is lamb. I had such high hopes for this but it seems other reviewers were correct. I would not recommend this book, especially not to someone who loves these festivals.

[Tui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. At first when the book was published I thought it wouldn't be my thing since all the happenings are so far from me. But I was so wrong and I do suggest this book to all knitters.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excuse me while I go and try to figure out the logistics of spending the rest of my life traveling the world from one fiber festival to another.

[Bev Hollars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good light read for a yarn and fiber type. Brought back memories of early Black Sheep days when Sarah, Katie, Zack and Jessie walked everywhere with angora bunnies in their arms.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book found me at the right time, but I wish I'd read it a week earlier so I would have known to keep an eye out for Clara at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Don't be fooled by this slim tome; it is densely packed with charming essays that will inspire intense wanderlust and make you eager to find obscure breed-specific wool. Some reviews have pointed out that this feels like a who's who of the knitting world, but that was my favorite part -- I have a wealth of new Instagram feeds, knitting blogs and pattern designers to get to know, which is the same reason I eagerly await each week's episode of the Woolful podcast.

Clara felt like a friend by the time I'd finished, so I almost wasn't surprised when she commented with kind words on an Instagram post where I thanked her for keeping me company during a week when I couldn't knit due to stitches. Almost.

[Abby D'Ambruoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid knitter, I knew most of the names mentioned in the book. Having never attended most of the festivals described, it was an amusing window into places I may never get to. The stories did seem at times to be exclusive and cliquish, which is the opposite of the what Parkes seems to value in the knitting world. Knitters tend to be a friendly bunch, and the times she is not welcomed into a group (where she eats alone after teaching a class or told there was no room for her at a table), come across as a strong indictment against those groups. By writing about all the "cool kids" in the knitting world, Parkes places herself in the "in-crowd", but seems to attempt, sometimes successfully, to open the table to the rest of us.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

Five Stars! I totally enjoyed this witty, interesting memoir from Clara Parkes.
It tells of her travels to knitting events around the country plus Iceland and
Edinburgh. This is definitely a books for a niche market - knitters. There are
lots and lots of those so the book should get lots of support. Unlike some
reviewers, I did not find this book to be all about Clara or thought that she was name
dropping. I learned things I did not know about events I have attended or want o
attend and people whom I may or may not know. It was interesting and engaging
and I would recommend it to knitters everywhere.

[Rachel B · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The first few essays were alright, but I slogged through most of this book. I was hoping it would impart some creative inspiration to readers, even non-knitting ones, but sadly, it didn't.

The main focus is yarn; all the festivals and marketplaces mentioned blended into one; there was a lot of name-dropping of those in the knitting world, of whom I know nothing; no stories were particularly memorable.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed this more if I actually was a knitter; but even then, I can't see myself giving more than three stars for the book.

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry-- I really like Clara Parkes' writing & her previous books, but this one is underwhelming. It's a series of short snapshots of the author's visits to knitting conferences in places like Denver, Tacoma, Minnetonka & Taos. In the end I did not find it very interesting, informative or entertaining. The best chapter in my opinion is the one about Iceland, but that's such a wonderfully exotic place she could hardly fail.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Clara Parkes. I've taken classes from her and have read all of her books. This is one of her best.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun for knitters following current trends. Bit too much name dropping: would have liked more on her own thoughts and feelings rather than who else was there.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only for knitters

[Monica Tomasello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an amusing set of essays about the author's travels around the U.S. and the world to various fiber events and festivals.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023 bk 162 An enjoyable book looking at the wide variety of knitting events held before covid hit. I qualify with that because I don't know if any of the events continue. I most enjoyed the stories of her visits to Iceland and Edinburgh, Scotland, but found engaging knitters and knitting stories in all of Parkes' essays. I now know about the ap that will help me in my future knitting endeavors and have downloaded it to my phone. A good read for someone new to the world of knitting - or someone who hasn't connected with other knitters.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick fun read. Inspired me to start working on my lopi sweater… also convinced me that maybe lopi wont be that scratchy…