Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

One of the heaviest and hardest woods in North America, black locust is a powerhouse of a tree. Early American settlers used black locust to build Jamestown because it is resistant to rot. It burns even when wet and tolerates pollution so well that it is planted along streets and parks in large cities. Although its bark and leaves are toxic, its seeds and pods are edible. Ironically the thoroughly un-American name ‘locust’ was given by Jesuit missionaries, who fancied that this was the tree that supported St. John in the wilderness, despite it being native only to North America.

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.

This design and sample piece was shown in the Design Arts Utah 2016 exhibition in the fall 2016 in Salt Lake City, UT.