Wood Gnomes

I was watching Oregon Art Beat, a show that features local artists. Knitting and half paying attention, I heard this voice that sounded just like my late Pop-pop!Pop-pop passed away when I was pregnant with Annie. I grew up next door to him and he played a huge part in my childhood, as all of my grandparents did. He always had wood stain on his white t-shirt and smelled like varnish. My Pop was a woodworker, he refurbished antiques. I would scrape old paint with a paint scraper or sand with him for hours.

Anyway, this man, Leroy Setziol, was a wood carver.
He had the same big outdated glasses, the same elfish stocking cap, the same grimy clothing and the same crazy-old-man laugh!
I quickly googled him to find that this clip was filmed 2 years before his passing, he is now gone, but his art remains.
Here is a link to his art. (there is also a video clip).

Here a quote from the show, which inspired this yarn:
"Sometimes I start with a full blown idea and carve it to completion. Sometimes I start on something and half way through it changes because it changes YOU. Sometimes you almost finish the piece and you run into a knot or a rot and that is an unpleasant surprise, but that is the way the tree is."
A great metaphor for life I say!

Introducing "Leroy" the yarn.Lumpy and bumpy animal friendly wool from a rescue farm! Targhee, mohair, poly pay and merino. Dyed a mossy mix of greens and browns with some mustard yellow roving carded in the mix.
Plied with a brown lumpy cotton thread.
I left the snarls pop out when plying it to resemble gnarly treeness.

Available in the One-of-a-Kind shop.