Coming Soon – the Sonoran Sarape
Although it is not quite ready for prime-time, we want to give you a peek at something new from Lost City Knits. This design features southwestern motifs worked with contemporary Fair Isle techniques.
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Plötulopi Unspun Icelandic at Lost City Knits
Plötulopi, the original unspun Icelandic wool, is made from the soft and insulating inner fiber and the long, glossy and water repellent outer fibers of Icelandic sheep. The fiber, sourced from directly from Icelandic farmers, creates a lofty wool yarn that is breathable and ideal for soft lightweight garments. It’s not hard to work with…
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Deep Roots – Patterns Inspired by the Tallgrass Prairie
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.…
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Introducing Applecross Highland Shawl
One can get to the Applecross peninsula of western Scotland two ways — over the Bealach Pass with its 20% grades and tight switchbacks, or around the Coward’s Way, which winds through coastal villages but has its share of tight turns and narrow passages, too. Either way is a delight. Once to the shore, wander…
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Ultima Thule – Patterns Inspired by the Shetland Islands
In May of 2014 Denise and I took a trip to the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Denise, as she is wont to do, saw potential for patterns everywhere. In the year and a half that followed she designed five patterns that were inspired by Shetland. I returned to Shetland in the fall of 2015 to…
DetailsShetland Part Four – Not at all knitting related.
When we are at home there is always something that requires my attention at the farm and Denise is always either elbow deep in a dyepot or sketching on a new design. We get into our grooves and work. When we get a little burned out we have to remind ourselves that we have an…
DetailsShetland Part three – At the knitting guild meeting
Nothing about the Shetland Islands is pretentious. The stark beauty of the landscape, treeless except for windbreaks homeowners have planted, goes on and on. A collection of homes along a bay. A ruined stone structure. A fuel station, open Sunday from two until five. Rocks in a field, divided by the other rocks in another…
DetailsShetland Part Two – Jamieson and Smith
One of the spots Denise had scoped out to visit was the Jamieson and Smith Shetland Wool Brokers in Lerwick. There are a few shops in Lerwick that sell knitted items and yarn, but Jameison and Smith is on a street no tourist would wander past. Inside there were scores and scores of dyed Shetland…
DetailsShetland Part One – Arrival and Quest for Unst Lace
In the Fall of 2013, as we could see a busy year for Lost City Knits wrapping up, Denise and I discussed the possibility of a big trip. We usually get away for ten days or two weeks for a road trip, but it had been awhile since we’d had a big adventure. “Where would…
DetailsMother’s Day 2014
From my mother I learned to sew. I was probably five or six when she started me with simple embroidery, as I recall, to pacify me on trips. During the summers we’d head to Arkansas or Missouri to camp and I can remember embroidering flowers on muslin with bright pretty cotton floss in pinks, purples…
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