Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool

A deeply reported, often humorous, and quietly urgent look at the true cost of what we wear and the value of knowing where it comes from. 

What does it really take to turn a sheep’s fleece into the yarn in your hands? In Vanishing Fleece, textile expert and bestselling author Clara Parkes sets out to answer that question by following a single 676-pound bale of wool from farm to finished skein.

This is a portrait of a disappearing domestic industry, told through the people fighting to preserve it. As mills close and infrastructure erodes, Parkes uncovers the economic and cultural forces reshaping American wool—and asks what it would take to bring it back.

What begins as a personal experiment quickly becomes a vivid, cross-country journey through the hidden world of American wool—one that is as complex, fragile, and human as any global industry.

Traveling from sheep farms in upstate New York to milling operations in Texas, Wisconsin, and Maine, Parkes introduces readers to the shepherds, processors, dyers, and innovators who keep this supply chain alive. Along the way, she demystifies every step of the process—shearing, sorting, scouring, spinning, dyeing—revealing both the craft and the machinery behind something most consumers never think twice about. 

Blending memoir, travel writing, and narrative nonfiction, Vanishing Fleece offers readers a rare, behind-the-scenes view of the journey from raw material to finished product.

Whether you're a knitter, a maker, or simply someone curious about how things are made, this is an engaging and eye-opening exploration of craftsmanship, sustainability, and the stories woven into everyday objects.