Design

From living in a Coast Salish community and owning and operating an “Indian” sweater business for 16 years, I became imprinted, like with a second language, with repetitive geometric patterns. They are the only defining feature of my designs. The shapes and function of my pieces are serendipitous.

Patchwork

In 2020 Harry Styles appeared on TV wearing a ghastly knitted patchwork sweater. But it was Harry Styles. The patches were bold primary colours that were awkwardly put together. It was loosely knit and appeared to be made of acrylic yarn. It was COVID. The sweater became a thing. Everyone was making one. Including me. I thought I could make an elegant version. Mine is made of Custom Woolen Mills Mule Spinner 2 ply yarn. All the colours are from natural dyes except the red.

Several handmade woven rugs with colorful geometric patterns are spread out on a wooden floor.

Bathmat

When we bought the Saturna Lodge in 2021 it came with a huge laundry room. One wall of shelves was full of old bedding. I’m Green. I couldn’t throw it away. So, I started tearing the sheets into very long strips and winding them into large balls. I knit bed scarfs using ¾” strips, floor mats using 2-3” strips, and then bathmats (the Lodge has 9 bathrooms) using 1” strips. Bathmats are my favourite thing to knit. I even hold workshops where we spend the weekend tearing sheets, sharing colours and knitting bathmats.

Close-up of a black knit hat with a white and black geometric pattern, placed on a wooden surface outdoors with trees and blue sky in the background.

Hats

This hat is knit in one size and shrunk to fit. Just knit it and throw it in the washer with hot water, no soap and something strictly acrylic (so you don’t have loose fibres in the water). One long cycle will likely be enough. Spin it for a few minutes. Use your head for a mold. Pull it. Shape it. And remember that it will get slightly smaller when it dries so when you pull it into shape make sure it is loose to start. I have the hat pattern on my shop page.

Bowls

I soon figured out that I could knit the hat upside down, shrink it until it was stiff and then I would have a bowl. I make every shape and size of bowl. Every colour goes with every colour. And every geometric design is perfectly suited to make the bowls more beautiful. I have a bowl pattern on my shop page.

A man and a woman walking together at an outdoor event, with the woman holding a bouquet of flowers. The man is wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, and a yellow plaid kilt. The woman is wearing a white dress and a pearl necklace. There are other people in the background, some clapping and one woman wearing a flower crown, with trees and greenery around.

Wedding Dress

In the late spring of 2017 Tex and I decided to get married. We set the date. Sept 2. We were always certain that Tex would wear his bright black and yellow kilt. The question was what I should wear. I was way too old to wear white. It was too summery to wear black. The kilt was too yellow to wear yellow. So about mid-July I decided if he could wear his culture, I’d wear mine. I bought neutral coloured cotton yarn and started at the bottom and worked up. The design emerged. I pulled it out a few times to make it fit. It was finished by mid-August.

A collection of colorful, patterned felted coasters on a wooden surface, featuring various circular designs.

Mandala

I am fascinated with circles. I could make round hats with perfectly domed tops. But it didn’t satisfy my need to knit an unpuckered, perfectly flat circle. Starting with Elizabeth Zimmerman’s pi design for a round shawl I soon found out it doesn’t work when you are turning your circle into felt. I worked it out. A simple mandala pattern is available on my shop page.