Saturday, February 16, 2013

IS# 11: Deep Space

What with the asteroid flying by yesterday and the fireball exploding over Russia, it's easy to see how one can be terrified, awed, and yes even inspired by the wonders of space. There are quite a few space-related patterns that deserve similar (if less terrified) expressions of awe because they are pretty amazing works of art.

Copyright Jane Heller
First and foremost is the wonderful shawl pattern, Celestarium, designed by Audry Nicklin of the Bear-Ears blog. This piece is not only a lovely-in-its-own-right beaded circular shawl, it is also an accurate depiction of the locations of the constellations in the night sky as viewed from the northern hemisphere. Take a second to think about that. Audry mapped the night sky using beads and yarn. I don't think knitting gets more awe-inspiring than that. Except for maybe when she creates another masterpiece depicting the sky in the southern hemisphere, as well... Be sure to check out Audry's behind-the-scenes look at her design process, if you haven't already.

Copyright froggydear on Ravelry
This is a free scarf pattern, Milky Way, by Lynn Bethke. I have had this scarf queued for about a million years and now that I think about it again, I might start it right away! I love the simple lines and elegant lace and I think those wavy bits in the middle really live up to the pattern's name.

Copyright kniandknag on Ravelry
I am almost always a sucker for 1,000+ yard laceweight circular shawl projects and this one is no exception. This design is Mystic Star by Anna Dalvi. I can barely fathom the patience and dedication required to not only knit a shawl so massive and complex but to design it and publish it as well. Kudos, gigantic shawl designers, kudos.

What's been inspiring you lately?

 

5 comments:

  1. Wow, Celestarium is absolutely epic! I've love to knit something that was astronomically accurate like that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Celestarium is ah-mazing! Thanks for sharing it - had to go add to my Q.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OH MY GOSH, Celestarium!! My jaw literally dropped when I read that it was an accurate depiction. Absolutely amazing!! Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok Celestrarium. How do people even come up with these things? I love reading your IS posts, thanks for sharing them with us.

    Also, thanks for the tips on my socks yesterday, I really appreciate it :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are too kind to add my pattern to your list. I love that the meteorite in Russia was the inspiration for this list.

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments, thanks for stopping by!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.