A New Year

The holidays have been busy. Busy enough to keep me from blogging but not too busy that I couldn’t get some knitting done. I was able to complete the other Salt and Basalt glove and get the pattern done as well.

Like almost every other knitter in the universe, knitting gloves and socks are a problem for me because once I do one of them, I get bored and have a hard time finishing the other. But I was inspired by my recent trip out to the Spiral Jetty with some co-workers. The incredible salt beds with the basalt jetty were beautiful.

And, I wished I had some gloves that could be used with my phone, which I used as a camera. It was cold trying to take pictures with bare hands. Now that I have finished these gloves, I can wear them next time I go out in the winter and want to take pictures.  

Here are some images of the finished gloves. They are warm and functional, and a bit random like the beautiful salt and basalt of the Great Salt Lake.

Next up…. I was inspired by the incredible winter colors of Rozel Point, where we were on the Great Salt Lake. I want to create something using browns, yellow, grays, and whites.

One down…

and one more to go. My sister says that I should have done the random levels of the silverspun differently because it looks like I am trying to flip someone off. I didn’t mean it that way so I will definitely have to be careful with the right hand.

Geometric Basalt

For the back of the gloves I am designing, I want to have a random geometric pattern to simulate basalt. This is what I came up with:

I then think I am going to have the fingers be the white of the Silver Spun yarn but at random levels. Like this:

I am trying to capture the geometric beauty of the basalt but also show the contrast of the salt. We will see if they turn out.

Shores of the Great Salt Lake

I have been to the shores of the Great Salt Lake many times. One of the most beautiful visits was last December when I went to see the Spiral Jetty again with my family. It was a cold, gray and windy day but that meant that we were the only ones there. It was beautiful and serene and, not to sound cliché, awe-inspiring. The black basalt rocks on the shore were starkly set against the salt-crusted basalt of the Jetty. Truly beautiful!

I am going to the Jetty again in a couple weeks. I work for a museum that is the custodian of that artwork and I get to create fun programming for families who want to visit the Jetty. And yes, I have the best job in the world.

So, more pictures of all that wonderful salt and basalt in a couple weeks. Which brings me to why I am talking about this. I am inspired to knit something with a stark contrast of black and white. I recently bought some amazing yarn called Silver Spun. It is spun silver with cotton, molecularly bonded so that the silver will not wash out.

In addition to this yarn being beautiful and soft, it is conductive so can be used on gloves for any touch-screen device. I have been needing gloves that can be used with my phone, so I am going to design some graphic gloves that mimic the stark salt and basalt of the Great Salt Lake.