While driving across Colorado to a fiber festival late one summer, I was struck - not for the first time - by the beautiful contrasting textures and colors of the pine-covered hillsides. I wanted to be able to capture the variety of greens in the ponderosa forests, the texture of lichen-covered rocks, the light and shadow of the forest floor, in a knitted garment. This shawl reminds me of the forests and mountains I love. It will keep me warm on my future adventures, as I wander under the pines and explore the rocky slopes.

I knit the lace sections in naturally-dyed wool, in shades of green that reminded me of pines and aspens. I used 100% American wool yarn dyed by Woolly Lizard, a dyer and weaver based in Colorado. The colors shown were dyed with osage, indigo, and coreopsis on grey and white wool. You may want to responsibly forage for local dye plants and play around with what colors they produce, and explore what colors go well together in this shawl. Or you can “forage” for scraps of yarn in your stash - you need only about 1 oz/25 g of fingering-weight yarn in four contrast colors.

Gauge: 24 sts/36 rows = 4” in moss stitch

Finished size: 51” wide, 44” along bind-off edge