"Like
so many other crafts, knitting has the potential to create magic in
our lives."
Mosaic-making, woodcarving, tapestry,
quilting and so on, are all capable of lifting every day household
objects out of the ordinary to brighten our days. Instead, they are
often responsible for drab, uninspired works that have the opposite
effect. In my teaching workshops, I try to persuade people that they can
make something really beautiful and life-enhancing and I usually
encounter the same protest, "But you're an artist. You know about colour
and we don't."
This misconception is one of the main reasons for my writing this book.
I want to try to convey to you that a sense of colour is not something
you automatically know about; you discover and rediscover its secrets by
playing with it and, above all, by constantly looking...
My own story in the knitting world is a graphic example of "ignorance is
bliss." Having spent most of my life, until the age of 28, as a painter
of still life and portraits, I had no experience of needlework. Often I
would find myself drooling over some richly woven or embroidered cloth
in a still life and wonder how on earth it was made. Now at that time,
in the early sixties, there was a taboo against 'serious' artists
dabbling in the crafts. However, on a fabric-buying trip with Bill Gibb
to the Holm Mills in Inverness, I finally succumbed. The knitting yarns
at the back of the mill were such exquisitely subtle colours that I
could restrain myself no longer: I bought twenty colours and some
knitting needles on the spot.
Glorious Knits, Kaffe Fassett 1985
Shaped Diamonds jacket by Kaffe. |
Kaffe's Sampler Jacket for Rowan Knitting
Kaffe's Morocco sweater for Rowan Knitting |
