Fruita

The historic town of Fruita, within Capitol Reef National Park, is no longer inhabited by pioneers. But visitors can still pick ripe fruit from the lush orchards under the looming orange cliffs of the Waterpocket Fold. I was lucky enough to live there for the month of September and couldn’t get enough of this colorway -- green against the orange cliffs. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.

Rabbitbrush

Rabbitbrush was in spectacular bloom last September in Capitol Reef when I was staying there. The yellow flowers are so beautiful next to the red rock. I knit this piece from a skein of hand spun and hand dyed alpaca that I bought at a shop in Torrey. It is locally grown at Circle Cliff Ranch from an alpaca named Probee and hand spun by Diena. I designed Rabbitbrush specifically for this local yarn. 

From the pattern:

Rabbitbrush is a member of the Aster family with yellow flower heads arranged in dense, rounded or flat-topped clusters at the ends of the branches. Rabbitbrush flowers bloom from August to October as other plants are fading, providing vivid fall color against the red rock canyon walls in Capitol Reef. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.

Sandstone Cliff

The holidays were productive for getting artwork done for my artist-in-residence for Capitol Reef. First one finished was this marathon shawl inspired by the beautiful sandstone cliffs that surrounds the park. I really miss living in the park but luckily I can surround myself with the landscape with this beauty. 

From the pattern:

Nearly 10,000 feet of sedimentary strata were deposited in Capitol Reef National Park. This layer upon layer of sedimentary rock records nearly 200 million years of geologic history. Rock layers in Capitol Reef reveal ancient environments as varied as rivers, swamps, deserts, and shallow oceans. Fossils found in these rocks give clues that these sandstone layers were deposited when the region was at or near sea level, far below the current elevation. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.