Nature Lover

Who can explain the secret pathos of Nature's loveliness? It is a touch of melancholy inherited from our mother Eve. It is an unconscious memory of the lost Paradise. It is the sense that even if we should find another Eden, we would not be fit to enjoy it perfectly nor stay in it forever.

-Henry Van Dyke

I have been searching these last 2 days, for the right combination of yarn & pattern, to evoke the melancholy and lonely beauty of the dead marshes in The Two Towers. It is a vast & barren landscape, full of wispy grasses and pools of stagnant water. It glows with the light of "corpse candles" as Gollum calls them. We may be more familiar with the term, "will-o-wisp."

In working on this design, I also have had in the back of my mind the haunting and terrifying scenes as Frodo is pulled under the water by the dead warriors and that feeling of being trapped by seaweed like vines and limbs.

I wanted the beads to look like the lights and the entire piece to flow.


Today, I got there. I am in love. It is just right. When complete, it will be understated , simple, yet elegant. The design reminds me of my ill fated "Drizzle" design, the one that got away...

Make sure you click on the image to get a close up. This piece is subtle and, like the Mere itself, warrants closer examination.

The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon's Gaia lace; the color is Sunflower Sutra. the beads are Miyuke 8-0234

With a name like that, I just HAD to try it, right?

The pattern combines cables, beading and a little lace. I am going to leave mine unblocked to enhance the organic feel to it. I love the way the fabric ripples and twines, as is.

*****

In Fellowship news, Lothlorien is through testing. I am having a tech glitch with one of the cable symbols used in the charts. As soon as I can get that taken care of, I will send it out.

And now I should probably find something pithy or philosophical to write, some anecdote or observation to make myself sound all wise.

But I have itchy fingers and they are ready to cast on. I think I will go knit.