Bristlecone and Black Locust

In all my hurry and excitement of getting the artwork done for the installation back in Massachusetts I forgot to post about the last two wearable art items I finished. The Bristlecone Stole was finished quite quickly because of the super bulky yarn (Shepherd’s Wool Worsted four strands held together) and I had help from my sister to finish the Black Locust Wrap because time was getting short.

Now that I am finished with the knitting part, I am working on getting all the patterns of the wearable pieces together in both an ebook and a real paper booklet. I have never published anything in the real world so the learning curve is quite high. But I am determined to figure it out because it was one of my goals on this project. I do have all the patterns written for the panels in the exhibition but I won’t be publishing those. I mainly wrote the patterns to help me in making them.

So I hope to have the individual wearable art patterns, the ebook and a real booklet finished in the coming week. I am excited about this project! If anyone is in Sandwich, MA this summer, go to the Heritage Museum and Gardens and then drop me a message on how you liked the installation. I hope to have pictures as soon as they send me some.

Information from the patterns:

Bristlecone Pine: Bristlecone pine is a hardy tree that is highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils and is among the longest-lived life forms on earth. One of the oldest living individual trees, named Methuselah, is almost 5,000 years old. Its location is kept a secret for its protection. The tree's longevity is due in part to the wood's extreme durability. Rather than rot, exposed wood, erodes like stone due to wind, rain, and freezing, which creates its crooked forms and gnarled bark.

Black Locust: One of the heaviest and hardest woods in North America, black locust is a powerhouse of a tree. Early American settlers used black locust to build Jamestown because it is resistant to rot. It burns even when wet and tolerates pollution so well that it is planted along streets and parks in large cities. Although its bark and leaves are toxic, its seeds and pods are edible. Ironically the thoroughly un-American name 'locust' was given by Jesuit missionaries, who fancied that this was the tree that supported St. John in the wilderness, despite it being native only to North America.