National Parks 2023: Big Cypress National Preserve

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It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops, Vacay Bingo, the KAL, and more here.

Where is it located?

Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain.

Whose land does it reside upon?

The Calusa, Miccosukee, and Seminole all occupied the area now known as Big Cypress National preserve at some point in the past.

When was it established?

October 11, 1974

About this park:

The freshwaters of the Big Cypress Swamp, essential to the health of the neighboring Everglades, support the rich marine estuaries along Florida’s southwest coast. Conserving over 729,000 acres of this vast swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve contains a mixture of tropical and temperate plant communities that are home to diverse wildlife, including the Endangered Florida panther. 

In the 1960s, plans for the world’s largest Jetport, to be constructed in the heart of the Greater Everglades of south Florida, were unveiled. This project, and the anticipated development that would follow, spurred the incentive to protect the wilds of the vast Big Cypress Swamp. To prevent development of the Jetport, local conservationists, sportsmen, environmentalists, Seminoles, Miccosukees, and many others set political and personal differences aside. The efforts of countless individuals and government officials prevailed when, on October 11, 1974, Big Cypress National Preserve was established as the nation’s first national preserve.

The concept of a national preserve was born from an exercise in compromise. Everyone saw the importance of protecting the swamp, but many did not want this region merely added to nearby Everglades National Park that was created in the 1940s. Many felt that national parks were managed in a restrictive manner and access to the swamp would be lost. The resulting compromise created a new land management concept – a national preserve. An area that would be protected, but would also allow for specific activities that were described by Congress within the legislation that created the preserve.

Why did we choose these colors?

We used this photo of plants in the preserve as our inspiration. 

For more information:

NPS website: https://www.nps.gov/bicy/index.htm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigcypressnps/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigCypressNPS/

National Parks 2023: Aztec Ruins NM

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It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops, Vacay Bingo, the KAL, and more here.

Where is it located?

The Aztec Ruins National Monument is located in northwestern New Mexico, on the western bank of the Animas River in Aztec, New Mexico, about 12 miles northeast of Farmington.

Whose land does it reside upon?

Navajos and Jicarilla Apaches live on reservations in northwestern New Mexico, and 19 other Native American groups reside elsewhere in this state.

When was it established?

January 24, 1923

About this park:

The Aztec Ruins National Monument in northwestern New Mexico, USA, consists of preserved structures constructed by the Pueblo Indians.

This is kind of annoying and colonizerish, but early settlers mistakenly thought that people from the Aztec Empire in Mexico created these striking buildings. They named the site “Aztec,” a misnomer that persisted even after it became clear that the builders were the ancestors of many Southwestern tribes. The people who built at Aztec and other places throughout the Southwest were called “Anasazi” for many years. Archeologists had adopted that word from the Navajo language, which they understood to mean “ancient ones,” and then popularized its use. Most Pueblo people today prefer that we use the term “Ancestral Puebloans” to refer to their ancestors.

Aztec Ruins, built and used over a 200-year period, is the largest Ancestral Pueblo community in the Animas River valley. Concentrated on and below a terrace overlooking the Animas River, the people at Aztec built several multi-story buildings called “great houses” and many smaller structures. Associated with each great house was a “great kiva”—a large circular chamber used for ceremonies. Nearby are three unusual “tri-wall” structures—above ground kivas encircled by three concentric walls. In addition, they modified the landscape with dozens of linear swales called “roads,” earthen berms, and platforms.

The construction at Aztec shows a strong influence from Chaco Canyon, the site of a major Ancestral Pueblo community to the south. Aztec may have been an outlying community of Chaco, a sort of ancillary place connected to the center to distribute food and goods to the surrounding population. It may have also been a center in its own right as Chaco’s influence waned after 1100.

Why did we choose these colors?

We used this photo of fall leaves through a corner doorway in the ruins as our inspiration for our Aztec Ruins NM colorway.

For more information:

NPS website: https://www.nps.gov/azru/index.htm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aztecruinsnm/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AztecRuinsNM

HerStory August 2023: Alyssa Cole

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Summer is for reading romance, and we can’t think of romance and NOT think of Alyssa Cole! She’s definitely one of those Jacqueline-of-all-trades romance writers; she has written historical romance, speculative romance, royal romance, and even non-romance thrillers and graphic novels. Cole has always read romance, and in fact, when she was young, she’d Wite-Out descriptions of ivory or pale skin, changing them to brown, so she could see herself in the stories. (As a very interesting aside, particularly as we delve into writers of color and the ways in which they constantly have to prove their stories worthy of publication, is a data point from a Pew Research study which found that the most likely person to read a book, in any format or genre, is a Black, college-educated woman. And Black authors are constantly told there’s not a market for their stories. In fact, 95% of books published between 1950 & 2018 were written by white people.)

One of Cole’s core beliefs is that writing romance, particularly the way she writes romance, is inherently political. Writing a book that centers a Black woman, and writing that Black woman as a fully formed human in a world that’s always trying to say otherwise, is inherently political. Don’t get us wrong, her books are loads of fun to read, but by their very nature, they contain deeply moving statements on race, sexism, otherness, resilience, and agency. And, although her books don’t shy away from addressing the very real issues and concerns of a Black woman in the era in which the book is written, each of her stories is suffused with a beautiful optimism. Because these are, after all, romance books, and the very definition of romance means that they must end with an HEA (Happily Ever After). 

There is so much we could say about Alyssa Cole, because she is pretty awesome, but we only have so much space. We’ll summarize here. She was deeply involved in a reckoning that happened in the Romance Writer’s of America organization in 2019 that brought to light the deep structural racism inherent in the organization, and has been instrumental in diversifying that group. In 2020, she was an organizer of a massive fund-raising effort to turn Georgia blue with Stacey Abrams (who is also a romance writer!). She is outspoken, she is talented, and she is political as heck. If you’d like to read a bit more about her, in her own words, check out this article she wrote for Oprah’s magazine: oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a34995007/romance-novels-politics-alyssa-cole

Our August colorway, in honor of Alyssa Cole, is Reluctant Royal, named after our favorite series by her.

Books by Alyssa Cole:

  • An Extraordinary Union (and the rest of the Loyal League books)
  • Signal Boost (and the rest of the Off the Grid books)
  • Princess in Theory (and the rest of the Reluctant Royals books)
  • When No One is Watching

Want more like this? Here are some other authors we suggest you read/listen to:

  • Courtney Milan
  • Amy Lea
  • Kennedy Ryan
  • Beverly Jenkins
  • Vivian Stephens
  • Nana Malone

Sexy Produce, anyone?

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Ooooh, lala, tis the season for the sexiest of produce to hit the farmer’s markets and tables, and we are here for it! Wondering what, exactly, Sexy Produce is? Well, as with many things Knitted Wit, it started with lots of in-house laughs and ended with some pretty special colorways.

Color development is a collaborative thing here at Knitted Wit, and as we were developing some of our new Fall and Winter colors, a beautifully watercolory orange color was created and added to the Fall line. Lorajean being Lorajean, she dubbed the colorway Sexy Pumpkin, because it was so damned delicious. 

Fast forward a few weeks, and Claire and Lorajean were chatting as Claire photographed and labeled some of the new Fall colorways. Chatting while writing always has the potential of interesting results, so Claire guffawed when she realized that instead of writing “Sexy Pumpkin,” she wrote “Sexy Produce.” This started a whole thing in the studio, which Lorajean quickly took to Instagram, with the post, “If Sexy Produce was a color…what would it be?”

Y’ALL CAME THROUGH! We had so much fun reading your suggestions, and those in turn inspired so many new ideas, and we ran to the dye book and dye pots to start playing around. The result is the most lovely basket full of the sexiest produce colors you’ve ever seen!  Check them all out below, and start making the sexiest produce-inspired knits the summer has ever seen! (You can order any of these colorways on any base you’d like; all yarn is dyed to order, and will ship as soon as possible, within 2 weeks).

Big Waffle Energy, the story

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When we (ShannaJean) were at the Red Alder Fiber Retreat in Tacoma, Washington in 2020, we got matching heart waffle tattoos, to celebrate our friendship with each other and mutual love of sweet treats. Inspired by Leslie Knope (from Parks & Rec) and her waffle obsession and unflinching friend energy, we talked (and ate) waffles a lot on that trip. We wanted to harness some big loving energy, and turn some existing phrases on their heads. We truly believe that language has power, and, to quote Glennon Doyle, “Intentional speech is such a lovely way to love.”

Lorajean and Shannon showing off matching heart waffle tattoos while holding heart-shaped waffles


To that end, you may have heard the phrase “big d*ck energy”, which is a sexist and misogynistic metaphor for swagger or having an aura of confidence, without the cockiness. That is the phrase we wanted to turn on its head, and by doing so, harness a sweeter, less male-anatomy-centered energy, which we gleefully call Big Waffle Energy. What Big Waffle Energy means to us is this: big friendship energy, big uplifting others energy, big loving energy. Sweet and fluffy energy.

heart waffle shaped sticker and pin with Big Waffle Energy printed

If you want to embody this Big Waffle Energy alongside us, check out our website, where we have Big Waffle Energy enamel pins, needle minders, and stickers!

HerStory July 2023: Talia Hibbert

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We’ve been waiting for this one! Talia Hibbert, our July HerStory recipient, is so good, y’all! Her books are definitely steamy, so if you don’t enjoy spice, they might not be for you. But if you do, and if you love witty banter and lots of representation, oh wow, are these books for you (and, she just published her first YA book, so if you are not a spice lover, check out Highly Suspicious and Fairly Cute, which is just the sweetest and cutest book ever!)

Talia Hibbert herself identifies across multiple spectrums of marginalization: she’s a Black woman, queer, disabled, and on the autism spectrum, so her books and characters are filled with representation and inclusion. As she said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly when Get a Life, Chloe Brown was coming out (fyi, the main character in this book is Black, fat, and has fibromyalgia, and thus chronic pain):

“Who you choose to star in your romance novels and the happy ending that you give them and the love that you show them being worthy of can be very political. Especially because I write about Black women. Black women are often dehumanized and shown as unworthy of love, unworthy of care and delicacy – we’re presented as the ones who care for everyone else, so I do think it’s very political and an act of resistance to center black women and femininity in romance novels.”

The tagline on Hibbert’s website is “Sexy, Diverse, Romance,” and we can attest to the fact that this is the case. In each of her Brown Sisters books, themes such as neurodiversity, chronic pain, sexuality, mental health, and body positivity are all part and parcel of who the main characters are. Hibbert works hard to create worlds in which deeply real characters, fully formed and realized, get their Happily Ever Afters with fully formed and realized partners that love and respect them, not in spite of these things, but because, added up, they create an amazing person. 

Our colorway honoring Talia Hibbert is called Take a Hint, which is the name of book 2 in the Brown Sisters series (Lorajean’s favorite for sure!). We hope you’ll take a hint from us and deep-dive into Hibbert’s wonderful writing. 

Books by Talia Hibbert:

  • The Brown Sisters books (Get a Life, Chloe Brown; Take a Hint, Dani Brown; Act Your Age, Eve Brown)
  • The Ravenswood books
  • The Princess Trap
  • Highly Suspicious and Fairly Cute

Want more like this? Here are some other authors we suggest you read/listen to:

  • Kennedy Ryan
  • Rebekah Witherspoon
  • Tia Williams
  • Denise Williams
  • Farrah Rochon
  • Alexa Martin

We hope you enjoy this HerStory Book Club as much as we have enjoyed putting it together. We envision an open-ended Book Club, with folks reading or listening to whichever book they’d like from each author’s If you’d like a spoiler of all of the authors we’ll be showcasing this year, check out our website: https://knittedwit.com/herstory-2023-authors/

National Parks 2023: Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

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It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops, Vacay Bingo, the KAL, and more here.

Where is it located?

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, commemorates the contributions of African-American airmen in World War II.

Whose land does it reside upon?

The Tuskegee Indians were a civilized people that had their own customs and ways of life. They lived not to far from were the Tuskegee Army Airfield was constructed. The Creek nations along with the Tuskegee Indians were forced from their homeland during the white man’s expansion in the 1830’s and 1840’s

When was it established?

1998

About this park:

The Tuskegee Airmen gained notice and respect as the result of a test conducted by the U.S. Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) to determine if African Americans had the mental and physical abilities to lead, fly military aircraft, and courage to fight in war.

The Airmen were not just pilots. They were technicians, radio operators, medical personnel, quartermasters, parachute riggers, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators, meteorologists, control tower operators, dispatchers, cooks, and others. Also included were Caucasian officers, Native Americans, Caribbean islanders, Latinos, and people of mixed racial heritage.

The women of the “Tuskegee Experience” worked alongside male counterparts as mechanics, gate guards, control tower operators, aircraft fuselage technicians, secretaries, and clerks. There were three permanent female parachute riggers who were responsible for training hundreds of cadets in the correct procedures for packing and maintaining parachutes. Gertrude Anderson served as assistant to G.L. Washington at Kennedy Field where Tuskegee’s Civilian Pilot Training Program was based. She assumed responsibility for continued operation of the airfield when Washington was transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Field.

Why did we choose these colors?

The Tuskegee Airmen’s planes had red tails, and our colorway is inspired by photos and videos of these planes.

For more information:

NPS website: https://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuskegeeairmennhs/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TuskegeeAirmenNHS/

National Parks 2023: San Juan Island National Historic Park

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It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops, Vacay Bingo, the KAL, and more here.

Where is it located?

San Juan Island National Historical Park, also known as American and English Camps, San Juan Island, is a U.S. National Historical Park owned and operated by the National Park Service on San Juan Island in the state of Washington.

Whose land does it reside upon?

For thousands of years, the Northern Straits region has been home to Coast Salish peoples. The temperate climate, rich soil, abundant timber, and the bounty of the sea fostered an advanced civilization that continues to thrive in our region. These resources and the way the Tribes transformed our landscape to be even more abundant is what also attracted Europeans to the islands

When was it established?

1966

About this park:

San Juan Island is well known for its splendid vistas, saltwater shores, quiet woodlands, orca whales and one of the last remaining native prairies in the Puget Sound/Northern Straits region. But it was also here in 1859 that the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over possession of the island, the crisis ignited by the death of a pig. It was real dumb, especially since both countries were equally colonial, but cooler heads eventually prevailed. We chose this park because the islands are stunning and gorgeous, not necessarily because of the armed forces/colonial aspect of the historic site itself. 

The park website encourages folks to get “beyond the bacon” and delve into other histories of the land, as well as the abundant natural resources and beauty it contains.

Why did we choose these colors?

We used an image of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse at sunset for our colorway inspiration.

For more information:

NPS website: https://www.nps.gov/sajh/index.htm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanjuanislandnhp/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanJuanIslandNHP

National Parks 2023: Ice Age National Scenic Trail 

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It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops, Vacay Bingo, the KAL, and more here.

Where is it located?

The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail stretching 1,200 miles in the state of Wisconsin.

Whose land does it reside upon?

The Menominee, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) peoples are among the original inhabitants of Wisconsin.

When was it established?

1980

About this park:

15,000 years ago during the Ice Age, much of North America lay under a huge glacier. Mammoths, saber tooth cats and cave lions roamed the earth. Some of the best evidence of this glacier is found in Wisconsin such as the state’s many lakes, river valleys, gently rolling hills, and ridges. The nearly 1,200 mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail, established in 1980, traces the glacier’s edge.

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is not your ‘typical’ park. The trail is primarily built and maintained by volunteers. When completed, the trail will be more than 1,200 miles long and cross the state of Wisconsin north to south and east to west.

Why did we choose these colors?

We used the stunning photo of an opening in oak trees in the Kettle Moraine State Forest overlooking a kettle lake for our colorway inspiration.

For more information:

NPS website: https://www.nps.gov/iatr/index.htm

Instagram: n/a

Facebook: n/a