knittedwit

National Parks 2021: Nez Perce National Historic Park

by

It’s time for the annual National Parks Club/KAL!

Every month from May-August, we’ll be releasing 4 new parks colorways. We have exhausted all of the traditional US National Parks, save one, so this year, we’ll be showcasing other National Parks areas, such as National Recreation Areas, Heritage sites, etc. Most will fall under one of 4 categories:

  • National History – Eastern USA
  • National History – Western USA
  • Indigenous Culture
  • Human Rights Leaders/notable people

Check out our Socks and Hats on Vacay/Staycay summertime KAL with our friend Shannon Squire, too: https://shannonsquire.com/socks-hats-on-vacay-staycay-2021/ 

Thanks for exploring parks and making socks with us once again this summer! To get your yarn, check out our list of LYS’s offering National Parks (Parks yarn will ONLY be available at our LYS partners through the summer): https://knittedwit.com/parks-2021/

Where is it located?

The Nez Perce National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park comprising 38 sites located throughout the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, which included traditional aboriginal lands of the Nez Perce people.

Whose land does it reside upon?

Since time immemorial, the valleys, prairies, mountains, and plateaus of the inland northwest have been home to the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people. Extremely resilient, they survived the settling of the United States and adapted to a changed world. Nez Perce National Historical Park consists of 38 places important to the history and culture of the Nimiipuu.

When was it established?

May 15, 1965

Why is it amazing?

The homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) have seen continual human use for at least the last 11,000 years. Nez Perce National Historic Park is a kind of living museum to the Nez Perce tribe, which was almost completely decimated/driven out of their ancestral lands by white colonizers in the 1800s. The lands that encompass the Nez Perce National Historic Park are still partly taken care of/administered by people from the Nez Perce tribe, in concert with the United States Government and other Tribal groups.

The Nez Perce homeland is filled with unique and special places that since the beginning of time have defined who they are. Three of these story sites are: Ant and Yellowjacket (https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/ant-and-yellowjacket-history.htm), Coyote’s Fishnet (https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/coyotes-fishnet-history.htm), and the Heart of the Monster (https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/heart-of-the-monster-history.htm). Each of these sites involves the trickster god Coyote and other spiritual entities.

Why did we choose these colors?

Our Nez Perce colorway is inspired by Indigenous regalia we saw in our image searches. 

For more information:

National Parks 2021: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

by

It’s time for the annual National Parks Club/KAL!

Every month from May-August, we’ll be releasing 4 new parks colorways. We have exhausted all of the traditional US National Parks, save one, so this year, we’ll be showcasing other National Parks areas, such as National Recreation Areas, Heritage sites, etc. Most will fall under one of 4 categories:

  • National History – Eastern USA
  • National History – Western USA
  • Indigenous Culture
  • Human Rights Leaders/notable people

Check out our Socks and Hats on Vacay/Staycay summertime KAL with our friend Shannon Squire, too: https://shannonsquire.com/socks-hats-on-vacay-staycay-2021/ 

Thanks for exploring parks and making socks with us once again this summer! To get your yarn, check out our list of LYS’s offering National Parks (Parks yarn will ONLY be available at our LYS partners through the summer): https://knittedwit.com/parks-2021/

Where is it located?

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. It hugs the northeast shore of Lake Michigan and includes South and North Manitou islands.

Whose land does it reside upon?

The Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa were called the “three brothers” of the Algonquin family. As the Potawatomi migrated south, the Chippewa and Ottawa co-mingled peacefully in northern Michigan. They shared several hunting and fishing territories including the Sleeping Bear area.

When was it established?

October 21, 1970

Why is it amazing?

Sleeping Bear Dunes is as old as continental ice sheets. The immense sand dunes that give the National Lakeshore its name are “perched” atop the towering are glacial moraines, at up to 400 feet above Lake Michigan. The park has 65 miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan, as well as numerous inland lakes, streams, and bogs. The long and narrow Lakeshore contains several northern hardwood and conifer forest types as well as fantastic examples of glacially caused landforms.

Sleeping Bear Dunes is so named from an Indigenous legend (https://www.nps.gov/slbe/learn/kidsyouth/the-story-of-sleeping-bear.htm):

Two different versions of the story are commonly told. These stories are an Anishinaabe (Odawa/Ottawa, Ojibway/Chippewa and Potawatomi) oral tradition of a sacred place within their homelands in the Great Lakes.

Once, long ago, in the land called Wisconsin across the great lake, there was terrible hunger and many people died. A bear and two little cubs were trying to leave that place and come around the lake where there would be more food.

They walked for many days on the beach together, but after a while the two little cubs began to whimper with hunger, and so the bear decided to swim across the rest of the lake.

They waded into the water, one cub on each side of the bear, and they swam off into the lake a long way. After a while the cubs began to get very tired, and so the bear said, “Try hard, the land is not very far.” And very soon they did come in sight of land.

But gradually the cubs got weaker, and only ten miles away, one cub sand into the water. Soon after, the other also drowned.

The bear’s heart was broken, but she could do nothing. She waded ashore and lay down, looking out on the water where her cubs had died. Eventually, both of them came to the surface as two little islands, and so the bear still lies there atop the dunes, looking after here children.

Long ago, along the Wisconsin shoreline, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The bears swam for many hours, but soon the cubs tired. Mother bear reached the shore first and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. The cubs drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit created two islands to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared and then created a solitary dune to represent the eternal vigil of mother bear.

Why did we choose these colors?

Our Sleeping Bear Dunes colorway brings all of the components of the lakeshore together: you’ve got the deep blue of Lake Michigan, the sandy brown of the dunes themselves, and the greens of the forests.

For more information:

National Parks 2021: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

by

It’s time for the annual National Parks Club/KAL!

Every month from May-August, we’ll be releasing 4 new parks colorways. We have exhausted all of the traditional US National Parks, save one, so this year, we’ll be showcasing other National Parks areas, such as National Recreation Areas, Heritage sites, etc. Most will fall under one of 4 categories:

  • National History – Eastern USA
  • National History – Western USA
  • Indigenous Culture
  • Human Rights Leaders/notable people

Check out our Socks and Hats on Vacay/Staycay summertime KAL with our friend Shannon Squire, too: https://shannonsquire.com/socks-hats-on-vacay-staycay-2021/ 

Thanks for exploring parks and making socks with us once again this summer! To get your yarn, check out our list of LYS’s offering National Parks (Parks yarn will ONLY be available at our LYS partners through the summer): https://knittedwit.com/parks-2021/

Where is it located?

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is a U.S. national monument in Wheeler and Grant counties in east-central Oregon.

Whose land does it reside upon?

Many groups of Indigenous peoples lived in the area surrounding the John Day Fossil Beds, including the Northern Paiute (who were the main Shoshonean speaking culture in Oregon) and the Bannock people. Tenino and Northern Paiute appear to be the most closely connected with lands comprising John Day Fossil Beds National Monument during the protohistoric (about 1730 to 1810, or the time between the acquisition of horses and first contact with non-lndigenous people) and historic periods. Much of the land that comprises the National Monument falls within the territory ceded by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in the 1855 treaty.

When was it established?

October 8, 1975

Why is it amazing?

Colorful rock formations, including distinctive rock layers, preserve a fairly comprehensive record of plant and animal evolution, changing climate, and past ecosystems that span over 40 million years. Each layer shows fossilized remains of plants and animals, both familiar and strange. It is unlikely that a more complete and well-preserved record of Cenozoic terrestrial life exists anywhere in the world. Examining the differences between each of the geologic strata helps researchers better understand how the region has changed through time. As knowledge about each of the layers grows, fundamental questions pertaining to the environment, climate, and the ancient life in western North America can be answered, providing a more complete understanding of part of Earth’s history.

Why did we choose these colors?

If you look through images of the Fossil Beds, you’ll see these colors echoed in the rock formations.

For more information:

National Parks 2021: Women’s Rights National Historic Park

by

It’s time for the annual National Parks Club/KAL!

Every month from May-August, we’ll be releasing 4 new parks colorways. We have exhausted all of the traditional US National Parks, save one, so this year, we’ll be showcasing other National Parks areas, such as National Recreation Areas, Heritage sites, etc. Most will fall under one of 4 categories:

  • National History – Eastern USA
  • National History – Western USA
  • Indigenous Culture
  • Human Rights Leaders/notable people

Check out our Socks and Hats on Vacay/Staycay summertime KAL with our friend Shannon Squire, too: https://shannonsquire.com/socks-hats-on-vacay-staycay-2021/

Thanks for exploring parks and making socks with us once again this summer! To get your yarn, check out our list of LYS’s offering National Parks (Parks yarn will ONLY be available at our LYS partners through the summer): https://knittedwit.com/parks-2021/

Where is it located?

Women’s Rights National Historical Park covers a total of 6.83 acres of land in Seneca Falls and nearby Waterloo, New York, United States.

Whose land does it reside upon?

The Seneca were the largest of six Native American nations which comprised the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, a democratic government that pre-dates the United States Constitution.

When was it established?

December 28, 1980

Why is it amazing?

Women’s Rights National Historical Park tells the story of the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20, 1848. It is a story of struggles for civil rights, human rights, and equality, global struggles that continue today. The efforts of women’s rights leaders, abolitionists, and other 19th century reformers remind us that all people must be accepted as equals.

Why did we choose these colors?

While gold was the only color used by all US suffrage organizations (though white also became widely adopted once parades started), the purple, white, and gold combination was used only by the National Woman’s Party in the United States. The organization described the meaning of these colors in a newsletter published December 6, 1913: “Purple is the color of loyalty, constancy to purpose, unswerving steadfastness to a cause. White, the emblem of purity, symbolizes the quality of our purpose; and gold, the color of light and life, is as the torch that guides our purpose, pure and unswerving.”

For more information:

HerStory 2021: Aloha Oe

by

Liliʻuokalani (1838-1917), was the first (and only) Hawaiian Queen, and the last sovereign of Hawaii. She was a complicated figure, made even moreso by what was going on in her world and on her islands. She came to power upon the death of her brother the King, and inherited a Hawaii that was moving toward annexation into the United States of America. There wasn’t much she could do about it; colonizers/businessmen were already part of the ruling class of Hawaii, and though she fought bitterly for Hawaii’s independence, she eventually lost and Hawaii was annexed to the US in the late 1800s. 

She ruled for a mere 2 years, and was stymied at almost every turn by a legislature hell-bent on limiting her powers and giving more powers to the businessmen that were at their core. Her driving goal was to write a new constitution that would allow her to push for more autonomy and give more power to native Hawaiians, but that was not to be. In fact, it was her dedication to these causes that inspired a stronger push on the part of her detractors for annexation into the USA. After being deposed, Liliʻuokalani continued to fight for the rights of Hawaiians, by traveling to the US mainland and petitioning congress for more representation as well as compensation for land seized during the annexation.

Our Aloha Oe colorway is named after the song Liliʻuokalani composed the year annexation occurred. The English translation is “Farewell to Thee,” and although some stories have the origins of the song being about a farewell embrace between lovers, it’s difficult to imagine that it wasn’t, in some part, written as a farewell to the Hawaii Liliʻuokalani knew. She had to know that with annexation would come a change to traditional ways of life and knowing, and penning a bittersweet farewell to that life seems just right. 

A little note about HerStory: We recognize that some of our HerStory stories represent difficult and sometimes divisive-seeming topics, and want you all to know that our goal is to expand all of our knowledge bases. Our goal is to open minds to the experiences of others, to gain a more expanded view of history/HerStory and the women who contribute to our collective world, and to shine the light on voices that aren’t always heard/acknowledged/listened to.

We also want to always remember the “many baskets of truth” philosophy: that pretty much every issue/person/situation contains many different and oftentimes warring truths, and that it is our job to explore and recognize all of those truth baskets, while trying not to obscure the less-than-ideal (or even outright awful) parts of that issue. That’s what we try to do with our HerStory Love Letters, and we hope you all take what we share and delve deeper into the issues that speak the most to you.

HerStory 2021: Sea of Change

by

2021 has been a year already, y’all! So much change and upset and strife and progress. Ups and downs and all arounds have abounded this year so far. Our heads have been spinning, sometimes happily, and sometimes in horror. As we were developing our April colorway for HerStory, the truly historic appointment and confirmation of Deb Haaland as the first Native American US Secretary of the Interior happened, accompanied by happy head spinning. According to her website, Haaland is a 35th-generation New Mexican. Can we just take a minute to read that again, and appreciate the fact that her people have lived on and been stewards of this land for THIRTY-FIVE GENERATIONS, long before there was a “United States of America;” long before white colonizers crossed the ocean and “discovered” the land that was to become the USA?!? It’s mind-boggling that she is the first person of Native American descent to be in charge of the actual land that the USA occupies, but we are hopeful that this is a mark of big progress and better representation in our government. 

In Indigenous cultures, here in the USA and beyond, a connection with the land on which one resides is a deep and spiritual one. Being good stewards of the land, giving thanks to the land, and honoring the relationship of all living things to the land on which they exist is integral to Indigenous beliefs and cultures. Appointing a member of a Native American tribe (Haaland is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, and also has Jemez Pueblo heritage) to oversee the care of the land in this country that has a history of oppression and of stealing land from Indigenous peoples is a huge mark of progress.

Our April colorway, Sea of Change, is an homage to Deb Haaland and to that ceiling her appointment has finally shattered. If you look closely at your skein, you’ll see that all of the colors of the sea are represented: the deep blue of a calm sea and the stark whitecaps of a turbulent sea. Making big change never comes without big waves, and we don’t anticipate that the appointment of a Native American to this position of high power and influence will be smooth sailing, particularly since this will be a huge change from the corporate-centric focus of the Interior Department in recent memory, but we are beyond excited to see how Deb Haaland honors her roots and paves the way for more Indigenous representation in the US government.

HerStory 2021: Brave Enough

by

Like many of you, we watched the US Presidential Inauguration with knitting in hand and tears in our eyes. We knew it would be a historical day, but what we didn’t expect was to be absolutely blown away by the aesthetics of it all, particularly by the mostly monochromatic masterpieces worn by some notable women, and by the powerful and hopeful poem Amanda Gorman shared with us, The Hill We Climb.

Much about the past four years, (and this past year in pandemic in particular), has felt heavy and hard and sad and just plain grey. But on January 20th, we were treated to a visual symphony of strong, powerful, intelligent, amazing women who brought the light and gave us something that we sorely needed: hope. Did they all discuss wearing monochrome? Do they have a text string, where each put dibs on the color they most wanted to wear (and, can we get a peek at this text string, PLEASE?!? We promise to behave!)? Did they know that we would be gasping and texting our friends each time one of them walked down those stairs? Did they realize just how much light they were letting into the world, with their bold embrace of color and of themselves? Did they think about that fact that to wear something bold, as a woman, you are saying: look at me! I am worthy of being looked at, I am worthy of being a topic of conversation, of being an inspiration, and mostly, of just being.?

As we created our Brave Enough colorway, we poured through images of that day, with tears in our eyes. We listened to Amanda Gorman’s poem again and again. 

“We will rise… 
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover. 
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

We drank in all of that beauty, and all of those words, adding each color until a rainbow was created. Because what better way to celebrate hope than through a rainbow?

  • Brave Enough Sock Tube
  • Brave Enough Skein

LYS Partners: 2021 Spring Collection

by

Last Fall, we debuted a themed collection of colorways, designed to celebrate Fall, and we worked with a group of amazing designers that created gorgeous pieces to support this colorway collection (which was exclusively available through our LYS partners). For this collection, we put together a very Springy rainbow, and paired it with some of our 2020 Birds & Bees collection colorways. The result is a collection of fabulous Springy skeins that can be put together in so many amazing ways!

Check out our LYS partners in this Spring Collection:

We think the patterns we showcased with our Fall collection would ALSO be gorgeous with a Springtime update, and wanted y’all to have an easy way to see and access these patterns:

2 skein patterns include: 

3 (or more!) skein patterns include: 

The colorways included in our Spring Collection are: 

Variegated, from left to right: Lazuli Bunting, Red Nomad Bee, Purple Finch, Blanket Flower, Metallic Sweat Bee, Passionflower, Blue Orchard Bee, & Stellar Jay

Spring Collection Semi Solids

And solids from left to right: Raspberry Milkshake, Peachberry Sparkle, Pollen, Canopy, Carpenter Bee, Royal, Fox Glove, & Crow

LYS Partners: 2021 Birds and Bees Club

by

Last year, right before the pandemic hit, we debuted a brand-new, LYS-only club called the Birds & the Bees Club. We have just released year 2 of this club, and are so excited to share it with y’all! The colorways are ONLY available at the following LYS’s, so contact them to stock up on yarn celebrating the pollinators AND the pollinated!

Every month for 4 months, starting in February, we are shipping out exclusive colorways to our participating LYSs. Each month has a theme; the themes are listed below:

  • February: the Birds
  • March: the Bees
  • April: the Flowers
  • May: the Butterflies

The photo you see here is of the first shipment, the Birds. From left to right, the birds we are showcasing this month are: Anna’s Hummingbird, White Tailed Kite, Western Bluebird, and Northern Flicker.

LYS Partners: 2021 Palentine’s Day Colorways

by
Palentine's Colorways

Happy almost Palentine’s Day, friends! We created a gorgeous bundle of happy colors to celebrate our celebrations of love, and they are available at select LYS partners, including:

Check out our blog post for aaaaallll about the differences between Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day, and Palentine’s Day, and see why we are embracing the term Palentine’s Day (hint: more inclusivity is always a good thing), and then snag some yarn custom-dyed to showcase our love for one another. 

  • Palentine's Colorways