Friday, August 24, 2007

KNIT A BEACH 2007 TWO

Tide Pool Textures

Ah, the creative musings that brewed over Knit-A-Beach last week. Among the feeds of seafood, the sips of wine and the seaside views, we reflected on how we would each like to knit our ocean. While the inspiration sizzled foam between our toes and spread blue splendor before our eyes, we pondered. So many directions we could follow. What about knitting a loose wrap in beachy shades melding into blue or working a wall hanging alive with beachy texture? Of course, in adventure knitting the ship you launch may not necessarily be what takes you home. Free-range knitting is sailing a wanderlust excursion blown by the winds of imagination and intuitive design. Though you make quake at the thought of sailing mapless, trust me: once you're underway, nothing can be more liberating.

For example, I began thinking vest but ended morphing from rocky shore, to sand, to sea and ultimately (in my mind) to wallhanging. Above is a picture of a tidepool-inspired wrap done awhile ago sharing photo space with its shoreline inspiration—the beach at Black Point where I spent my summers splashing around pretending I was a fishling. It occurred to me standing by the water last week how those molten blues and shifting greens must have influenced my imagination over the years. The first color ever painted on my childhood walls was deep green (um, actually the color of this type) with blue/green furniture. Now I know why. Here's another chuckle, at 12 years of age my penpal name was Lorelei of the Sea (in reality, my physical being was more Wilhemena the Whale than sea siren...)

Melting Sea Hues

And, my guest at Knit A Beach, Ilga Leja,, whose most recent collection is also born of the sea, talked about crafting textures to catch the movement of waves over ocean. As she showed us her designs, we all grew excited thinking of the possibilities. Would we work textured stitches in to evoke the ocean? Ilga works primarily with hand-dyed yarns so the subtle shifting of color changes creates color interest and it just so happened that we bought copious hanks of Fleece Artist Italian silk at the yarn shops we visited. So, as you see, in the mysteries of seaside knitting, the tide pool plot thickens...