Soo Meets her Knitting Hero

Friday was a banner day in my knitting life -- I went to the V&A to hear Kaffe Fassett speak. Despite my love for all things Kaffe I had never been to one of his lectures or workshops so I was pretty excited. (In this picture Kaffe is giving some other Susan advice on how to fix her knitted collar.)

Being me, I was also likely to abandon the whole thing at the last minute. But a firm shove out the door by a colleague (the Caked Crusader in fact) and I was on my way.

My cab driver was greatly amused by the fact that I was going to a museum, for a lecture on a Friday night. BY CHOICE! When I explained it was to listen to a knitting designer he knew he had the rest of the journey sewn up as far as commentary went. "Knitting designer? Well, at least it won't take long. Knit 1, purl 1. That's all there is isn't it?" I laughed and asked if he thought that maybe I was being conned - because they were charging me £18 for 2 hours. He advised me that the only way to get value for the money was to drink A LOT at the wine reception.

The auditorium was full and a few latecomers had to sit on the stairs. Kaffe was charming and inspiring and pretty funny. You can tell he loves what he does. The talk was accompanied by a slide show of some of his work and the objects and scenes that inspire it. There was a Q&A session and my favourite question and answer of the evening went something like:

Q: Have you ever made anything that didn't work, or that was horrible.

A: Kaffe answered that question (basically no, he watches and refines as he goes along and he always learns something from a piece) and then went on to comment that he thinks most people give up too early. And how he's often so frustrated at workshops because he can see the beginning of a great piece but the person working it loses confidence and rips it out - way too early. They don't give the piece time to work.

And I do think that is particularly true with colour knitting. Each row and colour adds so much to the rows around it - you really do have to persevere in order to 'get' the picture. When I was making the coat I was often amazed at how a colour would affect the colours around it - sometimes quite dramatically changing the look.

During the wine reception there was an opportunity to have his new book signed and meet Kaffe. I had brought along my copy of Kaffee Fassett at the V&A (1989ish) and the coat, so I ventured to the signing area. I was a bit babbly (eeeeee) and my voice an octave or so above its usual register - but I met the man himself.

He was happy to sign my older book and seemed genuinely pleased to see the coat. I gushed about how much I loved it. He said it was lovely and it made his heart sing to see people take on the really big projects. Eeeeee.

I didn't take my cabbies advice about drinking a lot of the free wine at the reception -- but I definitely feel I got my money's worth!!

In other knitting news I feel the need to rant about knots in self patterning yarn. Particularly when they make no attempt to keep the colour continuity. I mean - the WHOLE point of self patterning yarn is the pattern. If they mess that up.... Grrrr.....

Muir is Cast Off

I've cast off Muir. And it is easily the softest, fluffiest thing I've ever knit. Even now looking at the finished knitting sitting on the table waiting to be blocked I can't help but think how warm and welcoming it looks.

It's already quite big - 24 inches by 58 inches - BEFORE blocking.

I'll block it later this week when I figure out where the heck it will fit.....

Undeterred by your lukewarm (at best) reaction to the new Kaffe book today I did a bit of Kaffe surfing and discovered that he's speaking at the V&A at the end of November. Wahey! I've booked a ticket already. (I don't think I'll be able to coerce anyone into coming with me -- none of my friends knit and I think attempts to 'big up' the idea of attending a lecture by a 'famous knitter' would just open me up to ridicule!)

It's a Friday evening I think, so my current plan is to leave work early so I can do a section or two of the V&A before the lecture. If you've never been to the V&A and get the chance then I heartily recommend it. It has an amazing collection of fashion and design over the centuries. In fact it was at the V&A that I first saw a knitted Kaffe Fassett Chinese Rose Coat (it was part of a temporary exhibit of his work) that inspired the 18 year project.

Fleegle asked if I wear the coat - and the simple answer is no. In fact, even when I started it 18 years ago I never really thought I'd wear it. I just fell in love with it as an object. It was always about the beauty of the colours and the rose pattern -- never really about a coat. When I was too far into the project to do anything about it - it did occur to me that I should have adapted the pattern to a throw or blanket which might actually be used. But by that time there was no way I was ripping it back.

Heeeeeeee's Back!

Kaffe Knits Again arrived this week.

Like many other knitters who were inspired by Kaffe in the 80's I feared we had lost him FOREVER to those quilting types. But no. He's back.

Wahey!!

There are a some new patterns in this book, and many of his earlier designs re-worked in shapes more suited to today than the one size fits all oversized stuff of the 80's.

Obviously I'm a fan. (You don't spend 18 years working on something you don't love.) (Even if you don't know what the heck you're going to do with it.) But I recognise there are others who aren't so inspired by the bursts of colours. (My favourite description of Kaffe's work by the 'not so inspired camp' was from Dogged Knits who described Kaffe as a "purveyor of technicolor intarsia barf")(Still makes me laugh.)(But she loves his quilt designs -- so all is not lost.) If you fall into that camp this book won't change your mind.

But if you're a fan - go get this book. Perfect for brightening up a dull wintry day.

Two follow ups on my last post. First, Fleegle and LittleBerry wanted a close up of Muir. And being ever keen to please here it is.

Although eager to please I'm not a great photographer and the photo has somehow erased the lovely fuzzzzzz of the KSH and the little specks of silver. But they are there. Trust me.

I'm halfway through the 11th repeat and really pleased with the result. This is still perfect knitting for me as I sit in my cold house after a long day in the office!

On the boiler front -- November 8th is still the installation date (!). Thanks to everyone for their warm thoughts.

The unknown light switch looking thing in the closet was indeed an immersion heater so I have hot water. And yesterday I invested in two small heating fans, which are surprisingly efficient. I've got hot water and some heat - so all in all, I'm can't complain too much.

But I really want to.

Obsessive? Me?

A couple of weeks ago I hadn't heard of Herbert Niebling, and had never considered knitting a tablecloth. A few trips to eBay and Amazon later and my Herbert Niebling/Lace Tablecloth cup runneth over.....



I did manage to avoid bidding on any more Niebling patterns last weekend and I take that as a positive sign that when I die they won't find me buried in German Anna magazines (although I'll probably still waiting for that dang Lyra yarn!!!)

I realised as I flipped through these magazines that it is quite possible that I'd bought the english editions in the 80s! Anna was one of the few magazines to feature bobbin lace patterns and so I often bought it around that time. Although I was a knitter then the knitted tablecloths wouldn't have interested me or caught my attention. I was a Kaffe/Sasha Kagan big jumper with all over colour or cables type girl.

Some of the patterns I particularly like in these editions..... (If you click on the pictures you can see more detail.)













While waiting for the Lyra yarn I've decided to steal a great idea from BrooklynTweed and begin work on a small blanket based on this doily design using this very squishy Posh Yarn yarn. (Why orangey colours? I have no idea. It doesn't go with anything in my house. But I like it.)

The pattern is from Modern Lace Knitting.






And finally, I've finished (almost) the first Kaffe Fassett sock. I decided to try afterthought heels on this one - and I like them better than the short rows - despite the need to graft TWICE. (Gadzooks!) This one will need a little after grafting surgery as the stitch pick up wasn't quite as tidy as it should have been. More details when I finish the second one. (Do I know how to keep you coming back or what?)

Pink Socks for M

A couple of weeks ago M requested some socks. Yipppeee! I am always on the lookout for deserving feet to make socks for and M certainly qualifies.



I asked her what sort of sock she wanted and asked her to pick some yarn she liked from the stash. She did a bit of thinking and then sent me a text to say "can I have a pinky colour, light and dark, and can I have them lacey". I was pretty sure that is was the Duet Sock Yarn that had caught her eye - from her description of the yarn and the fact that the yarn was sitting on top of the stash when I got home!

The lacey request was a bit of a problem for two reasons, one the yarn is DK weight, and two it's variegated and would overpower most lace patterns. Not deterred I decided to make a pair using a Cable Twist Pattern from Hello Yarn (which I found around that time being praised on Dave's Blog). It's an easy pattern and the stretchy ribbing means the socks should fit reasonably well around the leg. When I make these again I'll use a bigger needle size (I knit these on 2.5mm - should have used 3 or 3.25 I think for the DK yarn.)


I was feeling a bit bad about not making lacey socks though so I found some more 'pinky yarn' in the stash (Bubblegum from Cazza) and decided to make modified Monkeys. Not lacey per se - but they do feature YO's! As suggested on a knitting forum I replaced the purl stitches in the pattern with knits. This sped up the knitting time and gives a pleasing effect I think.

The yarn surprised me by knitting up in these funky spirally stripes. (I had thought it would knit up more like it did on the heels.) When i recovered from the surprise I realised that a heel flap heel would destroy the stripes.


Egads!

It was obviously time that I bit the bullet and took on short row heels to preserve the spirals. Armed wth More Sensational Socks I tackled the short rows and although there is LOTS of room for improvement I'm ok with the result. I don't think this will end up my preferred short row treatment - but it'll do for a first try.

I'll leave the socks out for M to pick up tomorrow. Hope they fit!


Unrelated to pink socks for M today I received some Kaffe Fassett Regia sock yarn from Woolly Workshop which I'll be casting on at the first opportunity. This obligatory photo doesn't really give the true colour of the yarns (they are in fact two different colourways) - but I felt compelled to post it anyway!! I've got another colourway on order.

PS - Still no sign of Lyra yarn. Sigh.

Kaffee Fasset Chinese Rose Coat - 18 Years in the Making!

I began the coat (nicknamed my 'Technicolour Dream Coat' - but more formally it's a Kaffe Fassett Chinese Rose Coat)the year I moved to London (the first time). Even then I knew it wasn't something I would ever wear. But the colours, and the variety of yarns were amazing and I wanted to make it.

The pattern is in Kaffe Fassett at the V&A, published in 1988 and now out of print. The book contains the Chinese Rose pattern as a short jacket -- but I opted to make the variant he describes in the book. I figure - go big or go home. Or something.

The original yarn was bought at Liberty and John Lewis - and without a doubt represented the biggest investment in yarn I'd ever made for a single project. (That may still be true.)

The background is made up of everchanging stripes, mostly in deep greys, reds and purples. There are 7 flower colourways and the stems are made up of 3 green yarns used in 3 different combinations.

I made slow progress for the first 2 years. A project with 34 colours where the colours change every row - is not portable and not something that you can easily pick up to work on for a few minutes! Then I became a cat owner -- and discovered the cats loved the yarns and colours even more than I did!! Knitting while they attacked the yarn (or rested on the completed portion) was tricky. Progress for the next (16!) years was even slower - but every now and then I'd find an opportunity to work on it.

The coat was knit back and forth on circular needles in one piece. I started at the back, knit up, cast on additional stitches for the sleeves and then split the stitches working down each side of the front separately.

'Setting up' to knit - ie getting the right colours ready for the next row always took a few minutes as each individual row would require at least 3 different coloured yarns, and some as many as 7! And from one row to the next half to all of the colours would change. With all of that I'd say each row in the bottom half of the back took 30 minutes. The longer rows which included the sleeves probably took 45 minutes each. To put that in context I'd say that generally I'm a faster than average knitter.

It wasn't possible (at least for me) to memorise the pattern, and with the constantly changing colours I was constantly referring to the charts. Because of this I could really only work on it when I had some real time to devote to it -- it definitely wasn't a project I could pick up and put down on a whim!

BUT I always loved knitting on it and never found it a chore. With every single row the character of the coat changed, and each colour seemed to bring something new out in the others. So I always felt I was making progress - even if it was slow!

I ran out of quite a few colours - which was a bit worrying at first as (not surprisingly) some of the yarn had been discontinued in the meantime. Which meant finding alternates of similar weight and colour. Luckily the colour combining means that the differences are pretty hard to spot. In fact I've lost track of them and would be hard pressed to identify which is original yarn and which is 'substitute'.

I wove all ends in as I knit - which saved my sanity as I can't imagine what it would have been like to try and do it at the end. Another 18 years at least! Here's a photo of the wrong side for anyone interested in that sort of thing.

My tension was amazingly consistent over the 18 years - which I'm thankful for as I would have been very annoyed to finish it to discover one of the front sides longer than the back!

I think the flower pattern is amazing (Kaffe is a genius), and would encourage anyone feeling intimidated by his patterns to give it a go. I think these colours and pattern would look amazing as a blanket or throw.

I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to display the coat as it seems a shame to hide it away... All tips gratefully received.