Oolitic Madelinetosh

I recently bought some Madelinetosh yarn (big splurge for me). I was taken by the changing colors in her yarn – so beautiful. These same colors remind me of the oolitic sand I have recently been obsessed with. The colors are Badlands and Calligraphy.

I think I want to use them both in something that changes colors like the sand I saw on Antelope Island. I have been wanting to make a short muffler for my husband because he hates scarves. I will sketch something up and see what happens.

Oolitic Sand

Last weekend our family took quick trip out to Antelope Island for the day. It was a lot of fun and we got to spend some time on the beach at Bridger Bay.

Although the views, lake and island were breathtaking, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the sand. It was fascinating how it changed color from browns to whites to blacks.

I think I took more pictures of the sand than my children.

When we got home, I looked up the geology of the area to figure out if the sand was special. It turns out that it is—it’s called oolitic sand.

From the Utah Geological Survey: Oolitic sand is an unusual sediment that is found around the Great Salt Lake. The sand, instead of forming grains of minerals, is formed within the Lake and composed of tiny rounded oolites. An oolite has a shell of concentric layers of calcium carbonate around a central core. The core is usually a tiny brine shrimp fecal pellet or a mineral fragment. Oolites form in shallow, wave-agitated water, rolling along the lake bottom and gradually accumulating more and more layers.

They are fairly rare and only form in a few places like the Great Salt Lake, Baffin Bay, Texas, the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf and in the Bahamas.

Of course I am going to have to make something based on Oolitic sand. Both the changing colors or the shape have seized my imagination so I will contemplate both to create something. 

Beetdigger Wristwarmers

Yay! I love these. This is my new favorite pattern. They were super easy to knit up and both only took less than a day. They also take less than a skein so you can use up what’s in your stash.

I couldn’t resist having my model hold a beet just for effect. She is my niece-in-law and was a real trooper to pose for me.

I am going to try to sell the pattern to see if it works better than my other one. It’s not much, only $3 but I will see if people are willing to buy my patterns or not. So, you can purchase the pattern from Ravelry or follow the link on my pattern page.

  

Beet Motif

Here is my attempt at charting a beet motif. I made a swatch and think it will work. It is a little large so I think for the wristwarmers I will use a smaller needle.

I also want these to just be wristwarmers with no thumb or finger holes because when you are digging beets, you need your whole hand free.

Beetdiggers

In honor of the beets that used to be grown here, a local high school has the Beetdigger as its mascot. I always wanted to have a mascot that was the beetdigger. Instead I was a red devil along with a million other high schools in America.

I want to channel my inner beetdigger and make something that can be worn when digging beets – wristwarmers! I am going to play around with lace to make a beet motif that can go on the wristwarmers. I have always wanted to create a new motif and now is my chance.