Park Shawl

April 25, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

snow covered mountain in the distance against a blue sky with trees and craggy rock in the foreground — Glacier National Park – July 2006

two-toned taupe and speckled pink and green hand knit shawl on on wooden hanger — Glacier National Park – July 2006

Just off my needles is Christina Campbell’s International Peace Park Shawl. Her inspiration for this simple asymmetrical shawl knit in two colors, came from Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world’s first international park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The design begins and ends with solid segments representing the two bordering countries, color shifting stripes portray the mountain ridges, and the delicate lace segments depict the fragile nature of peace.

My knitting journal usually documents December projects designed by Christina when I have joined 100s of other knitters participating in her annual Project Peace knit-alongs (KAL). The delicate hand-dyed merino fingering skeins from last June’s Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club are reminiscent of craggy peaks after snowmelt and spring flowers dotting high mountain meadows. The pattern sat in my queue while I waited for that just right combo of yarns since, after three visits, Glacier National Park remains among my favorite natural places with these fond memories…

A mid-summer visit with nieces and nephews when thirteen of us hiked a glacier trail. The sun sparkling so brightly off the snowpack there were sunburned calves, despite a slathering of sunscreen.
When, despite a sunny June day, we could only venture as far as Lake McDonald Lodge as heavy, late season snowfalls blocked Going-to-the Sun Road.
And the thwarted plans to visit Glacier’s Canadian counterpart, Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada, due to lack of proper documentation. We had incorrectly assumed drivers’ licenses were sufficient IDs and we learned (too late) that without our passports, US customs would not allow reentry. Instead, we simply enjoyed rustic Rocky Mountain scenery on our side of the border.

Happy knitting on happy trails!

Knitting

Variations on a theme

February 10, 2024 annbh3565 Comments

hand knit peach colored shawl with lace edges on a wooden hanger

hand knit fuchsia colored shawl with lace edges and crystal beads on a wooden hanger

At the pattern designer’s recommendation, I knit my first version of this shawl in a multicolored self-striping yarn. The lacy border took a back seat to the fabric’s vibrancy and I wondered what would result if I knit this same design with a solid or subtle tonal yarn. I quelled my curiosity first with the peachy project and then knit a second shawl in deep fuchsia. Both skeins had arrived in yarn club surprise packages and, utilizing good stash management practices, each just needed the right design.

The combination of fingering weight yarn and a slightly larger needle results in an airy body of garter stitches. An unusual double yarnover (yo2) at the beginning of the lace row creates an elongated fiber filigree. And, I added a little glitter by incorporating a pearlized pink Miyuki seed bead on each lacy tip. Now, wrapped in tissue paper, each shawl is safely tucked away awaiting a giving opportunity as a silent auction donation.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Pathways to Peace KAL

January 3, 2024January 3, 2024 annbh3567 Comments

A hand knit lace shawl in multi colored pinks and greens on a wooden hanger

A first of the year reporting on an end of the year project.

Earlier Project Peace knit-alongs (KAL) featured an original new pattern custom designed specifically to reflect that year’s theme but simplicity framed this 2.0 KAL. In preparation, Healthy Knitter Christina Campbell suggested choosing from among one of her earlier designs or the Anica Shawl. I chose the latter and paired her recommendation with a wonderful single skein of merino blended fingering from South Africa that was hand dyed exclusively for the 2022 Strickmich yarn club. Yard by yard, the bold Happy Crowd colorway revealed a self-striping vibrancy well outside my normal, often monotone, palette.

The Anica Shawl pattern incorporated a well-tuned balance of restful repetition perfect for Project Peace reflections. Yet, the artful lacework held my attention and produced a comfortable wrap featuring airy eyelets along one side and a picot border on the opposite. The result was so charming that I claimed this shawlette as my own.

Happy knitting!

Other items of interest

The colo(u)r of peace

December 4, 2023January 3, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

blue hydrangea, green leaves and white fence

A Project Peace meditative nugget asked readers to ponder the color of peace. My immediate thought was blue – like dusty hydrangeas in Gloucester, crisp winter skies after a snowfall on a below zero day, or skeins and skeins of yarn. On deeper reflection, I must admit that I do not ever recall assigning color to such inherent values as peace, respect, or trust. Rather, my mind recalled those places, deeply imbued with color, when I felt peace.

Standing on the edge of a granite precipice jutting into Lake Superior and watching the waves far below shift from glittering copper to root-beer frothy to deep steel gray while pewter gray rain moved across that inland sea.

Sitting under a vibrant green canopy of leaves while John Lac read a book and I attempted to write poetry, albeit bad haikus.

Afternoon 2

vibrating grass blades

mossy oak stretches skyward

dragonflies skim by

Knitting

Project Peace 2.0 – Pathways to Peace

November 30, 2023March 21, 2025 annbh3562 Comments

Green knit shawl with multicolored pink border on hanger — *Peace In Place Shawl – a 2020 Project Peace Knitalong with Christina Campbell*

A little bit of joy arrived in my in-box this afternoon with an email from Christina Campbell. Her knitting patterns always offered that perfect blend of artistic interest and gentle repetition that encouraged self-care, meditation and, yes, peace. Between 2016-2020, I participated in four Project Peace knitalongs (KAL). Then life intervened and her blog was silent. But she has returned letting her readers and fellow knitters know that “… after two years of reading, writing, time in Shetland, walks in the woods, and releasing a lot into the compost pile, it is time to emerge.”

Her 2023 Project Peace theme will be Pathways to Peace. While she will not be releasing a new pattern, she has promised a daily blog post to help guide our steps on that path. She is encouraging knitters to choose their own pattern, possibly one of her earlier designs, like my Project Peace shawl from 2020. Back then we were slogging through yet more days of pandemic distancing and the theme Peace in Place created a textured triangular wrap with a lacy contrasting border.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Covid Craft Casualty

December 2, 2021 annbh3563 Comments

green and white knit cowl on wooden hanger — Camino de Paz (a path of peace) Cowl – 2017

In September, I was excited to learn that Christina Campbell (one of my favorite designers) was mulling over themes and working on designs for her sixth annual Project Peace knit-along (KAL). I have been a faithful participant and my completed project list includes seven of her patterns among which are four previous Project Peace designs. (The 2018 cowl just never made it to my needles.) At the time, I even thought to create a Ravelry project page as a placeholder just to get ready.

Then, as the days slipped from autumn into winter without any additional hints of her creative direction, I wondered if this year’s Project Peace might be yet another pandemic casualty. And, on what should have been launch day, she alerted the readers of her blog that even with a new pattern created, an appropriate theme selected, and original artwork designed, her heart just wasn’t into managing a knit-along and leading a month of daily meditations. She was “letting go” Project Peace, not for forever but for 2021. While disappointed from a craft perspective, I applaud her honest courage. My first thought was, with two of Christina’s designs in my project queue, I would simply substitute one for another and create my own KAL (just without the “along”.) Then, after a bit of reflection, I decided to follow her example of “letting go” to focus on the six projects already on my needles and leave her beautiful designs for another time.

Knitting

Project Peace – part 3

January 3, 2021March 7, 2021 annbh3568 Comments

Project Peace Shawl – a 2020 Knit-a-long with Christina Campbell

And with the end of 2020 came the completion of this year’s Project Peace shawl. I started with three stitches and, just before midnight, I cast off 483 stitches while enjoying Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse sing and dance our way into the New Year.

December was another Covid month; all our gifts arrived by mail but also sunny drives in rural Wisconsin, the first shovelable snow, and quiet knitting while enjoying Christina Campbell’s daily thoughts on peace. Her words reflect my sentiments on both knitting and peace:

Knitting... such a simple act, one stitch followed by the next,
lined up in columns of stitches, twisting and turning, 
openings here and there, 
ultimately creating a beautiful fabric to warm the recipient...
     knitting ... one stitch at a time from one continuous fiber...
     knitting does not promise to be easy...
     knitting does not promise to be without mistakes and flaws...
     knitting does not promised to be a constant state of harmony...
     and so it is true with peace.
           Christina Campbell, December 21, 2020

Art · Knitting · Writing

Project Peace – part 2

December 5, 2020January 2, 2021 annbh356Leave a comment

Chihuly: Nature of Glass – Desert Towers, 2008

Each morning a smidge of peace arrives in my mailbox; just a click away from a longer meditation. From December 1-21, in addition to a wonderful knit-a-long pattern, Christina Campbell shares daily reflections on her 2020 theme “peace in place”. Her creative writing, landscape photographs, and peace building challenges are inspirational. I am writing more and reflecting on her definition of peace “…cultivating right relationships with self, others, and the Earth”.

While Phoenix is not our stay-in-place place in these Covid times, I remember a quiet walk through the Desert Botanical Garden. The trails wend through flora exotic to my Midwest field and forest eye. The garden offers brilliant pops of color against the subdued desert backdrop, as well as sculpture placed so artfully so as to merge with the landscape. Certainly what Chihuly intended with his Glass Towers. In another era we might have asked: Is it live or is it Memorex?

Join me on this peace filled journey at the Healthy Knitter. Knitting not required.

Knitting

Project Peace 2020

November 8, 2020March 7, 2021 annbh3564 Comments

During a week of rollercoaster emotions but definitely a big add in my positive column, is the news that Christina Campbell will host another Project Peace knit-along. Since 2016, I have joined her and knitters from around the world by picking up my needles and conscientiously focusing on peace during hectic December days. What started five years ago as a unique idea to conduct a knitting “peace-along” after the electoral dismay of 2016 has continued each December. Every year Christina shares a new themed pattern and daily meditations. Project Peace 2020’s theme is “peace in place inspired by the need to connect with place during the pandemic and find peace in the now.”

My Ravelry project page is built and I am anxiously awaiting yarn suggestions (November 18) and the pattern drop on November 30. I am already imaging the fiber loveliness that will become an elongated, textured shawl since Christina’s previous patterns gave me these crafted beauties.

You can even follow everyone’s progress on Instagram: @thehealthyknitter by checking the hashtags: #projectpeace2020 and #knitforpeace.