Kelly introduced me to about.me yesterday. I chose this photo for my page, one of my New Mexico creations from 1985, the beginning of my fiber art career when I knit exclusively with La Lana Wools yarns. Back then Luisa, owner and mastermind behind La Lana called her famous Potpouri Forever Random Blend simply "floor blend". BTW, La Lana closed the doors of her brick and mortar Taos store in February of this year, but you can find them now on Etsy. Anyway, If I remember correctly, the yarns in this sweater could have been "floor blend" or they could have been "Florence's Blend" (where did that name come from...come on...) and of course I sat on the wood floor of La Lana to chose my skeins from a pile of rapturuous color, mulling over each skein till I found the perfect ones, a definite sit-down job. This singles yarn was handspun from a carded blend of naturally dyed wool and mohair locks. You can definitely see madder, cochineal and logwood here, with a crocheted edging in cochineal dyed handspun tussah silk. The background? A natural adobe wall mudded with native clay. I loved the way every skein was different, the way the colors lived in the natural surroundings of Taos like native denizens. Knitting this yarn was a total experience, sitting in an adobe house by a huge window in a foot-thick wall that let in waves of radiant New Mexico light and wafts of cedar, sage and chamisa with posole simmering on the stove and Pat Metheny playing on the stereo, in vinyl no less. Getting up to flip a record was a great way to stretch, to keep from sitting too long. This photo brought it all back to me in a wave, so I just had to use this as my avatar for Facebook, Ravelry and Twitter.
1 comment:
Lynn, this era is when I fell in love with your knitting. I collected my Threads magazines with your gorgeous sweaters, and practically wore them out just looking at your work over and over. And then I met you!!!
Thanks for this look at your beautiful work and the thought process that went into the creation.
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