My Fair Isle

Welcome to My Fair Isle where I will be documenting the process of knitting sprawl. whaa?

Let's see...it all started when a friend showed me an aerial photograph of Los Angeles taken in the mid-1960s. The photograph was black and white and something about the look of it suggested it could be used as a pattern for knitting. After looking at the photograph for several months (these things take time) and thinking about what I would do and why, I began to develop a project. People who know me, know that when I start talking about a "project" then hours of labor can not be far behind. And so, Knitting Sprawl was born.

Knitting Sprawl is really a series of artworks, some knit, some not, exploring ideas related to the realities of living in new suburban developments. The project has its roots in that black and white photograph of Los Angeles as much as it does in another project I have been working on for several years, called The House Museum. That project, while not specifically about suburban development, did bring me in contact with some of the issues that communities and individuals face as they decide to sell their property for new development and what happens in the aftermath. I became interested in how people make these decisions as well as in who, exactly, lives in these new developments and why.

This blog will document the process of trying to answers those questions through knitting and traveling and talking with people. I welcome all comments and questions.