Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Fairies in the Garden is done!!!



Yes! ...Unlike the trees outside, which are slowly beginning to shower down their leaves, this Garden has been gaining leaves, and beads! Now completed, it is ready to be worn. When knitting in a free range style of using basic stitches to show off multiple yarns to their greatest advantage, it is possible to follow your creative spirit wherever it will lead you. Sometimes, yarns that appear to be perfect for play with others in a garment of this sort will opt out at the last minute. It is strange to me how this happens. Held together, the yarns seem to compliment each other in color and texture, but when the knitting begins, they start to fight each other. Many times a few rows have been frogged to remove the offending yarn. Many times has a project been set aside because something is missing, a particular kind of excitement that just the right yarn will lend to the others, bringing them alive. And that is where the passion lies in free ranging.
In Fairies In The Garden, this spirit led me into new and wonderful territory. Until now, my embellished projects have had character beads. I searched space to find the right beads. I had it in mind to add little fairy pendants along with crystal, glass, and stone beads. However, the more I looked, it dawned on me that the cost of the fairies alone would make this a very pricey scarf. I also realized that they really wouldn't take the imagination anywhere. Was it really necessary to have metallic fairies cavorting in the fibers? After a bit of thought, I decided that the real treat for the imagination would be to simply imply that fairies would be found there.
Just as any mystical woodsy glen sparks the imagination to place mystical creatures there, my scarf, if I achieved that character, would suggest the same. So, how does one go about suggesting that this scarf would be favored by tiny creatures that by their very nature are unburdened? The scarf had to be weightless, like the web of a spider, soft as mist, full of hiding places and surprises, and glistening with beads hinting of dew and berries. Colors are reminiscent of soft morning light and springtime.

1 comment: