Wednesday, September 23, 2009

KNITTING IN SANTA FE, PT. 2

Beth Marx models her wrap at Ricki's gate, Santa Fe

Here's how it all began: Ricki, Beth and Judy selected a pattern to focus on for the Santa Fe workshop, one of my older ones called the Scotian Meadow Wrap which features colors softly blending into one another with lots of mohair. Since local Santa Fe hand-dyer, Liz Unger, had compiled bundles of her luschious yarn for the project, the combination made a perfect match. Meanwhile, back at the home front, I busily got to work extending the design for a shrug/cloak version, something I hoped would offer other options for those who chose to deviate from the wrap approach. Deviation is good. Deviation is tangental and very out of the box heading off on a side road due west, as it turns out.

Beth selected light-weight cottons and linens suitable for her Californian climate resulting in this utterly lovely seascapy version that drapes like a dream while, I worked on a dramatic, full-length cloak version in shades of earth and mountain shadow, desert sage and purple tuffs sprinkled with Great Adirondack's sequined carry-along yarn. Here's Beth modeling mine while standing in Ricki's living room back-lit by the windows beyond :

Beth wearing my Arroyo Seco version

Front closure: a shawl pin

And Christie Furber (Yarnplenty on Ravelry), knitting artist extraordinaire, wearing her shrug, launched at the workshop

If you'd like to make a shrug like this yourself, the recipe will be available in my October's newsletter (you will still need the Scotia Meadow pattern as a jumping off point). Sign up in the box provided on this page.