Tsuga by Mindy Dykman Raven Knits Design
July 2012
On the south side of Highway 1, between Chilliwack and Hope along the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, there is a waterfall. Bridal Veil Falls is the 6th tallest waterfall in Canada, and hiking through Bridal Veil Provincial Park, in a forest dimly lit and cool even on the hottest of summer days, is amongst my favourite childhood memories. The forest around the foot of the falls is a mix of cedar, maple, alder and the magnificent tsuga heterophyllia, the Western Hemlock tree. Long graceful branches with slightly upturned tips, broad flat needles dark green on top with pale silvery bottoms, cones that seem ready to drop off at the slightest provocation, and feathery new growth in sweet pale spring greens; these trees were my fascination from the moment my Father taught me to identify them by turning over the branches to see the silver hidden below. Tsuga is a top down triangular shawl with flared ends for a slightly crescent profile, reminiscent of the graceful Hemlock tree. Pine cone lace begins the shawl, with a band of pinecones hanging between branches of old and new needle growth. Beading is optional in both branch sections.