National Historic Trails Center exhibit celebrates the creativity of fiber arts

The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (NHTIC) in Casper is recognizing Women’s History Month with a temporary exhibit, “Wyoming Knits! Contemporary Knitting in the Cowboy State.”

A baby boy, Asher Rose, warmed with a hand-knit blanket, created by his aunt, Erin Rose. Photo by David Pelham.

The exhibit opens on March 3, and runs throughout the month. It celebrates the beauty and diversity of the fiber arts, and features over 100 examples of knit and crocheted items by Wyoming artists.

“The exhibit provides a modern day connection to our pioneer past,” said Trails Center interpreter Alex Rose.

Wyoming fiber artists from Casper, Cody, Lander, Riverton, Buffalo, Thermopolis, and Laramie contributed to the exhibit.

Pioneer women knit socks, mittens, even shawls. Today, fiber artists create hats, purses, slippers, stuffed animals, and even knit prosthetic breasts for breast cancer survivors.

“We often buy clothing made in other countries, in factories by machines, by people we do not know, with fabrics that are synthetic and unnatural,” Rose said. “With the fiber arts, people create items, with their hands, that express their love for family, friends and even strangers.”

Some of the items in the exhibit are available for sale, with part of the proceeds benefitting the National Historic Trails Center Foundation.

The following Wyoming yarn shops and organizations helped facilitate the exhibit: Cowgirl Yarn of Laramie, Dancing Sheep Yarn and Fiber of Casper, Fremont Fiber Arts Guild, Jennings Family Fibers of Riverton, Lucy’s Sheep Camp of Thermopolis, Mountain Meadow Wool Mill of Buffalo, and Needlework Paradise of Cody.

Erin Rose, curator of education at Fort Caspar Museum, and a knitting instructor, contributed to the exhibit.

For more information, contact Alex Rose at the NHTIC, (307) 261-7780.