Inspiration Saturday: Affectionately Yours, Jerome

I don't know that I've ever been particularly trendy.  Except perhaps by accident, happening to love something that everyone else loves for a while, like cupcakes.  Except while cupcakes are declared 'over' by some, I'm still obsessed.  The only time I could possibly be construed to be a trendsetter was when I was a kid and during my summer vacation with family in the UK I was introduced to the Spice Girls at the point when they were topping the British charts but still hadn't crossed over to the US.  So I was able to come into school in the fall with 'Wannabe' already stuck in my head.

But with more recent trends, like say the universal knitalong that Color Affection seemed to be a couple of years ago, I'm not even fashionably late.  Casting on yesterday, it feels like I'm closer to the second wave of trend that comes with something being 'retro' than with the initial popularity.  What can I say?  I was waiting for just the right moment to jump on the stripe train.

And that moment is now.  It's going to be my second handmade project for a long-term swap.  This particular swap doesn't have a defined theme, and I've had a little trouble coming up with a connective thread on my own.  But what is developing is a box of things that take inspiration from personal tidbits from my life.  The Krtek cowl was from my Czech childhood heritage, and this shawl is going to be from my recent trip to Phoenix.

We took a day trip out to Jerome, a former mining turned ghost town that is now a sort of local tourist spot with weekend trippers stopping by for artsy shopping and gorgeous views.  The panorama of mountains near and far is impressive, but I actually found my colors for this shawl in a rocky close up at one of the museums:

I love the brilliant blue-greens of the Azurite and Malachite, with a little stony gray reminding you that this is really a piece of rock.  Mother Nature is amazing, isn't she?

I found some KnitPicks Gloss Fingering to recreate the color palate:

Right now, I have just 57 stitches, but I know that soon enough I will have hundreds and hundreds in a single row.  Thankfully I have a few months to get it done, and I have the advice of all of the many knitters who completed it before me to guide me.

Where do you find the most inspiring colors in nature?  Do you follow trends, in crafting or otherwise?

For more inspiration, go to Woolen Diversions.