Finished the Epic Shawl

Finished my circular shawl for my artist-in-residency and will get better pictures soon but wanted to document that I finally finished!

Yarn Chicken

Gah! Played yarn chicken with one of the pieces I am making for Great Basin and lost. This is “Dropping a Stone in Stella Lake” and is inspired by a hike I took last September to the Alpine Lakes in Great Basin National Park. It will be beautiful once I can figure out my yarn problem. Frogging is not an option as it is a pi shawl with almost 700 stitches at the edges with an edging of 1400 rows. So, I am ordering new yarn and hoping for a color match!

I’m Back!

It’s been awhile, but I haven’t meant to be gone from the blog so long. I had a sort of knitting slump and creative block, which happens often in late winter and early spring with me. I slowed down and took a breather from the break-neck knitting I have been doing for so long so I haven’t much to show. But I have been knitting slowly, inconsistently, and with less stress than in the past. Which I guess is a healthy hiatus to have.

The picture above is me knitting on a break during a workshop I was presenting with the Humanities Council on Museum interpretation. We were in Leeds at the Silver Reef Museum – such a lovely invigorating spot.

I hope to post more as I pick up my knitting pace as well as show some more pieces from Great Basin Artist in Residency. I only have a few more months to create before choosing a piece to give to the Park.

In the meantime, enjoy a piece I have posted before but has recently been accepted in a local exhibition. Great Basin Sky is in the Spring Salon at the Springville Museum of Art. If you are in the area, you can drop in and see it!

Tundra Swan

I took a break from doing the many pieces I have in the works for my Great Basin Artist in Residency to create a lacy shawl patterned after tundra swans. They are beginning to migrate again through northern Utah and are so beautiful soaring in the sky that I had to stop and create something. I have put the pattern in my Ravelry store if anyone else wants to create one. Now back to knitting and remembering the beautiful Great Basin National Park!

Caption from pattern:

Tundra swans migrate through the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Utah twice each year. In the fall, about 40,000 swans fly through on their way to California where they spend the winter. Then in the spring, they fly back to the Arctic tundra. With a massive wingspan of up to six feet a wedge of Tundra Swans can dominate the skies during migration. A bevy of these birds create a graceful dance in the sky.

Mountain Mahogany

The scent of mountain mahogany is the most powerful memory from my time spent in Great Basin National Park. September rains infused the mountain air with a wonderful licorice smell that took me a few days to realize was this ubiquitous tree. I loved the hours I spent knitting in the mountains surrounded by these trees and that smell. I created a headband that echoes the mahogany bark and reminds me of the scent every time I wear it.

Info from the pattern: Mountain mahogany is not a true mahogany but instead is in the rose family. It gets its name from the dense, heavy wood, which sinks in water. This shrubby, slow-growing tree thrives where other plants struggle: rocky, gravelly slopes in high mountain areas, with little water and plenty of sun. When it rains, the sweet licorice smell of the mountain mahogany infuses the air, encapsulating you in the landscape. This artwork was produced under the Darwin Lambert Artist in Residence Program at Great Basin National Park.