Washing wool: in this case, Florida Cracker

If you are on my mailing list, you’ve already seen this, because it is, in essence, the newsletter I e-mailed out this morning—but one reader has asked whether there’s a way to post it elsewhere, and this is the best option I can think of it for responding to that request. Another reader asked about … Read more

Fourth of July: Thinking about knitting and historiography

Cover of Never Caught by Dunbar

I’m knitting a shawl using natural white and indigo-dyed Finnsheep wool. It’s an exceptionally simple pattern with garter stitch stripes and an edging of an extremely simple lace: *yo, k2tog* across in one row, followed by three plain garter rows. There are some increases at each end of two of the plain rows. On the … Read more

Comfort and joy: Lots of wool, and Clara Parkes’ new book

I have here Clara Parkes' new The Knitter's Book of Wool: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Using, and Loving This Most Fabulous Fiber. I've been wanting to write about it for weeks—and actually have been making notes in this file for that long—but life got in the way. This is not a book I wanted … Read more