Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva)

Bristlecone pine is a hardy tree that is highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils and is among the longest-lived life forms on earth. One of the oldest living individual trees, named Methuselah, is almost 5,000 years old. Its location is kept a secret for its protection. The tree’s longevity is due in part to the wood’s extreme durability. Rather than rot, exposed wood, erodes like stone due to wind, rain, and freezing, which creates its crooked forms and gnarled bark.

The Identitatum Arborum collection of knitting patterns was created in conjunction with an art installation made for the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts in summer 2016 for the Natural Threads exhibition. In that art installation I explored the idea of identity using trees as a metaphor.