We’ve been quiet lately, but busy. As a follow-up to Ultima Thule- Patterns Inspired by the Shetland Islands we have turned our attention to the vast tallgrass prairie of central Kansas. For two years we have been making trips to Chase County, Kansas, finding inspiration, getting to know the people who live there, and knitting a lot.
Deep Roots – Patterns Inspired by the Tallgrass Prairie offers six patterns, from the easily achievable to the ambitious. Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Wingstem depict prairie grasses in both lace and garter stitch. The Fox Creek Picnic Blanket offers a humorous and clever use of Fair Isle techniques. 56 Butterflies pays homage to the diversity of life on the prairie, and The Preserve honors the buffalo found there.
Denise drew inspiration from grasses, an old one-room schoolhouse, cold prairie nights, and springtime’s abundance of
life to create a tribute to a landscape like none other.
I spoke with life-long prairie families as well as more recent arrivals who have been drawn by the prairie’s beauty, and spent a lot of time with my camera in the vast grassland.
This project has been a lot of fun, and was quite a different experience from the Shetland book. The locale isn’t as exotic to us; after all we live just south of the border from Kansas. But once you get there and start to realize that there aren’t any trees, the prairie is just as romantic as Shetland. Anyplace that lets you see things differently is worth your time.
