It was a road trip to the Taos Wool Festival that inspired Tulsa native Denise Bell to hand-dye her own yarn. That was nearly 10 years ago; now she runs Lost City Knits, peddling hand-dyed yarns and original knits online and at fiber festivals all over the country. She also travels the U.S. teaching hardcore lace techniques to fearless knitters. Denise says she finds inspiration for color and design everywhere from fishing baskets on the Shetland Islands to butterflies spotted in Louisiana swamps and the old oak barn on her farm. When not knitting, teaching, dyeing, or designing, she puts her pattern-seeking abilities to work by solving cryptic crossword puzzles and kayaking the lakes and streams near her eastern Oklahoma home.

Originally published in This Land: Spring 2015.