The Cape Cod National Seashore encompasses 43,607 acres on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a Native American tribe who lived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbors, the Wampanoag.
When was it established?
August 7, 1961.
About this park:
Forty miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds, and uplands support diverse species. Lighthouses, cultural landscapes, and wild cranberry bogs offer a glimpse of Cape Cod’s past and continuing ways of life. Swimming beaches and walking and biking trails beckon today’s visitors.
Stonewall National Monument is a 7.7-acre U.S. national monument in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City.
Whose land does it reside upon?
Greenwich Village was once a Lenape village called “Sapokanik,” meaning “tobacco field” or the “land of tobacco growth.” In addition to tobacco farms, the area was an active trading settlement and canoe landing area. Foley Square.
When was it established?
June 24, 2016
About this park:
Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGBTQ+ civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.
The monument sits across the street from The Stonewall Inn, a National Historic Landmark known for its involvement in the beginning of the modern struggle for civil rights of gay and lesbian Americans. The Stonewall Inn exists as a private establishment and working bar.
Why did we choose these colors?
This colorway is one of our faves, for so many reasons! The Stonewall uprising was a riot, and this skein contains a riot of colors. It’s also like we tossed every color from every pride flag into a cauldron and created this bright and beautiful rainbow of deliciousness. It represents the gayest pride, inclusion, love, and equality for all.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington State.
Whose land does it reside upon?
Lands administered by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest have been home to indigenous people since time immemorial. Tribes with historic ties to the area include the Mishalpam, Táytnapam, Sλpúlmx (Cowlitz); Cathlamet, Multnomah, Cascades, Wasco, Wishram, Xwáłxwaypam (Klikitat), Wayám, Skínpah, Q’miłpah, and Yakama. Most descendants are today citizens of several federally-recognized Tribes, including the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Nisqually Indian Community, and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation. Citizens of the Chinook Indian Nation continue their efforts to secure federal recognition.
When was it established?
July 1, 1908
About this park:
Gifford Pinchot National Forest includes over 1.3 million acres of forest, wildlife habitat, watersheds & mountains, including Mt. Adams & Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
Why did we choose these colors?
If you’ve ever hiked in the Pacific Northwest, you’ve seen a banana slug, and that’s our inspiration for this colorway. Banana slugs are a genus of North American terrestrial slugs in the family Ariolimacidae. They are often bright yellow and kind of look like a banana. But please do not eat them! 😉
Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a United States national seashore which preserves the portion of the Outer Banks of North Carolina from Bodie Island to Ocracoke Island, stretching over 70 miles.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The area was first inhabited by Native Americans such as the Algonquins, Chowanog, and Poteskeet tribes.
When was it established?
January 12, 1953
About this park:
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the nation’s first national seashore, was established in 1937 to preserve significant segments of unspoiled barrier islands along North Carolina’s stretch of the Atlantic Coast. Barrier islands are narrow, low-lying, dynamic landforms which parallel ocean coasts, are separated from the mainland, and are constantly moving and reshaping in response to storms, ocean currents, sea level changes, and wave and wind action. These processes continue to influence the islands today through the processes of erosion and accretion of the shoreline; overwash across the islands; and the formation, migration, and closure of the inlets.
Nestled between the Painted Desert and ponderosa highlands of northern Arizona, Wupatki National Monument is an unlikely landscape for a thriving community. The early 1100’s marked a time of cooler and wetter weather, when the ancestors of contemporary Pueblo communities created a bustling center of trade and culture. For indigenous peoples, these sites represent the footprints of their ancestors.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
“Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies, do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.”
-Jane Austin, Pride and Prejudice
We are feeling romantic for our Spring Collection, and want to feel the love too! We’ve chosen 8 of our favorite moments from Pride & Prejudice (and, more to the point, from the 2005 film adaptation of the book), and created variegated colorways inspired by those moments! We’ve paired them with 8 solids that complement both the collection and each other, and some of our LYS friends are carrying selections now!
All Pride & Palettes colorways shown above. Solid colors, back row, from left to right: Basic B, Coho, Sakura, Beaujolais, Pistachio, Kiss’nTeal, Winter’s Night, Oscar the Grouch
Variegated colors, front row, from left to right: Officers!; A Great Proficient; No Money, No Prospects; Useful Employment; Barely Tolerable; Excellent Boiled Potatoes; Violent Affection; Most Ardently.
We did an Instagram live, where Lorajean explains inspiration for the collection. Check it out here.
It’s time once again to explore more National Parks through yarny goodness. Over the past four years, we have explored the United States through its National Parks, and in 2020, we will have represented them all. Many of these are lesser-known National Parks, and we hope you spend some time exploring them through the links we’ve shared.
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/
Where is this National Park located?
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is located in Southern Colorado.
Whose land does this National Park reside upon?
Many Native peoples lived on or around the land on which the park now occupies, including the Uts, the Jacarilla Apaches, the Navajo, and the Twea/Tiwa. The traditional Ute phrase for the Great Sand Dunes is Saa waap maa nache (sand that moves). Jicarilla Apaches settled in northern New Mexico and called the dunes Sei-anyedi (it goes up and down). Blanca Peak, just southeast of the dunes, is one of the four sacred mountains of the Navajo, who call it Sisnaajini (White Shell Mountain). These various tribes collected the inner layers of bark from ponderosa pine trees for use as food and medicine. The people from the Tewa/Tiwa-speaking pueblos along the Rio Grande remember a traditional site of great importance located in the valley near the dunes: the lake through which their people emerged into the present world. They call the lake Sip’ophe (Sandy Place Lake), which is thought to be the springs or lakes immediately west of the dunefield.
When was it established as a National Park?
March 17, 1932
Why is this park amazing?
This park is home to the largest dunes in North America, huge dunes like the towering Star Dune, and for the seasonal Medano Creek and beach created at the base of the dunes. The backcountry Medano Pass Primitive Road winds through a canyon toward the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Trails lead to forests, wetlands and alpine lakes like Medano Lake, which is home to trout and tundra wildlife.
Why did we choose these colors?
The photo we found perfectly captured the park at sunset, and we tried to pull out the sky, the mountains, the water, the reeds, the wildlife. It’s a dreamy skein of a dreamy photo of what we can only imagine is a dreamy space.
