Color her world with yarn

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Many people who knit would say that they find the act to be comforting, a way to relax and soothe away the stresses of the day. For Bainbridge Island fiber artist Lynn Garrett, it’s more than that. She puts healing energy into her creations.

“People tell me they can feel it when they put them on,” she said of her scarves, shawls and ponchos.

Garrett is a healer, working with energy from the earth to heal people’s aches and pains, and more.

One patient said of Garrett’s touch: “Lynn is a wonderful healer. She understands and works with energy in a way that enlivens and inspires the body and mind. Every time I am on her table, I feel deeply nourished by her touch.”

Garrett works in downtown Winslow and Seattle, but when she’s not healing she’s knitting.

“I’ve had three episodes in my life of ‘hobbies gone wild,’” she said. “I’m in one now.”

She comes from a long line of women who created “home arts,” such as quilting, embroidery, crocheting and knitting. She hadn’t knitted in a while and was surprised at what had happened in the yarn world while she wasn’t looking.

Traditional yarn had given way to knitting with ribbon, chenille and virtually anything that could be wound around a needle and knotted together. And the colors. The different fibers take dye differently than wool or acrylic yarn, expanding the color spectrum nearly to infinity. Fiber artists now are limited only by their imagination — and their wallet.

After knitting gifts for all her friends and family, Garrett said she decided to start selling her creations in order to fund more projects.

She has been involved with the Kingston Art Gallery since its planning stage, and will be the featured artist for September, along with Amy Weber, who paints miniatures.

Garrett’s works are loosely knit with large needles and can incorporate up to 25 different colors and types of yarn.

“You wouldn’t do that if you were just knitting for yourself,” Garrett said. “It would be too expensive.”

She has a room full of yarn from which to choose, and is a regular customer at Churchmouse Yarns in Winslow.

A collection of her works spread out on her living room couch recently looked like a fuzzy rainbow, with bright reds and oranges, soft blues, deep greens and dusty pinks.

“Knitting is like color therapy for me,” she said. “It keeps my hands supple and is pleasurable.”

She started selling her creations at Women of Wisdom conferences in Seattle, and is now a member of the co-op Gallery Nine in Port Townsend, as well as the Kingston Art Gallery.

There will be a reception for Garrett and Weber 6-8 p.m. Sept. 9 at the gallery, 25960 Central Ave. South NE, Kingston.

Garrett will also present a talk on color and texture in fiber at the Kingston Art Gallery 6:30 p.m. Sept. 22.