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A
PAINTER'S PALETTE
Kaffe
Fassett is known for his signature knitwear designs:
intricate intarsias and
elaborate patterns rendered in layers of glorious
color. But VK readers may not know that Kaffe's unique
sense of color and design has inspired legions of
devoted fans and brought him recognition worldwide as an
expert on color and craft. "I'm a painter,
knitter, quill needle artist and designer," he says,
"but my approach to every discipline is the
same - manipulating pattern and seeing how color comes
alive in different forms."
Until age 28, Kaffe devoted his life to painting. Born in San Francisco,
he won a scholarship to the School of the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston at age 19, but left after three months to
paint in London, where he took up residence in 1964.
He had no experience with needlework but was often drawn to the richly
patterned textiles he saw in museums and flea markets.
"As a painter, I often tried to render them," he says,
"but I had an urge to move from the canvas to something
someone could wear." During a visit to a Scottish woolen
mill, Kaffe succumbed to the "exquisitely subtle colors"
of the yarns, bought twenty shades and some knitting
needles, and was taught to knit by a fellow passenger on
the train ride home. "I got the gist of it, and from
there I taught myself."
His first design appeared in VK in 1986, and he went on to produce
commercial collections for designers Bill Gibb and
Missoni. Celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, Shirley
MacLaine and Lauren Bacall have collected his
one-of-a-kind knits, and in 1988
he became the first living textile artist to have a
one-man show at London's Victoria & Albert Museum.
| Kaffe has
traveled extensively and communicated his design
philosophy through numerous workshops, television
and radio lectures, books and videos. He has been
interviewed countless times on the subjects of
color and design and has inspired thousands of
crafters to incorporate vibrant colors into their
projects. "Color is my inspiration," Kaffe says.
"When it comes to knitting, it's about using big,
strong geometrics and as rich and complex a color
palette as possible."
He often designs "right
in the middle," beginning with one idea but
letting the piece develop as he's working. "When I
knit, I work as a painter," he explains. "In my
workshops, I tell people to pretend they're
painters and to just let the dreamy part of
themselves take over." He believes that knitting
is not cerebral - it is intuitive. "Don't do it with
your brain; just let your hands take over."
To make it simpler to layer in countless shades of color, Kaffe
developed a technique for knitting-in the ends of
yarn as he goes along. "This saves knitters hours
of laborious darning in when they're done
knitting," he says. "When introducing a new color,
leave ends of about 3 inches (8cm) on the old and
new yarns. Work the next two stitches with the new
yarn, holding both ends in your left hand; lay
them over the working yarn; and work the next
stitch. Now insert the right-hand needle into the
next stitch as usual, then bring the ends up over
the point of the right-hand needle and work this
stitch past the ends." |
KAFFE
ON COLOR:
• Don't be afraid of
color - why limit yourself to just one shade
of red when you can use seventeen? Layering
colors will give your work resonance, so
strive for a rich texture, even if it's
worked in fifty shades of gray.
• Let your yarns inspire you. Make
collections of yarn and display them in a
basket where you can see them. I often open
a drawer of yarn to organize it, and next
thing I know I'm sitting down to knit. |
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Calling
himself "an old hippie," Kaffe says he prefers clothes
that are romantic and intriguing. For this issue, Kaffe
shied away from doing a classic crew- or V-neck sweater.
Instead, he created a lush jacket with a generous shape,
inspired by one that was given to him by his sister Holly,
who Kaffe describes as "a sensational knitter who bakes
wonderful pies and runs our family business."
Describing the design for the jacket as a combination of abstract shapes
and colors, Kaffe began by choosing hues that struck his
fancy. "I pulled together a mix of juicy watermelon
pinks, rich browns, swimming-pool blues and lapis
lazuli," he says, and then sat down and started
knitting. "I just designed it as I knit. One of the
things I love most about knitting is that you never know
how something is going to turn out. It could be a
disaster, but you'll always come away from each project
having learned something new."
He
encourages knitters to take advantage of all the
wonderful yarns available today. He has a preference for
the sophisticated palette of Rowan yarns, saying, "They
know what I'm all about. They have gorgeous shades, and
their natural-fiber yarns are wonderful." For years
Kaffe's designs have appeared on the pages of the
company's pattern books, which revolutionized the
industry by introducing imaginative designs to knitters
of all ages.
Kaffe's limitless drive to create has led him to branch out into other
mediums, including tapestry, fabric weaving, quilting
and mosaics, and he has published a highly popular
series of how-to books on each. Over the years, he has
never stopped painting, and says that his style has
evolved as a result of his work in other media: "There's
a glow and intensity to my work that I've learned from
textiles." But he says that knitting offers him the
greatest creative freedom. "When I sit down to paint, I
have something in front of me to get me going. It's more
limiting," he explains. "But when I'm knitting, I feel
fearless and free. Knitting is living row by row."
| Kaffe Fassett's color
block "Holly" jacket-named after a design
by his sister, Holly Fassett - lends textural
interest to a classic design. The generously
oversized his- and-her cardigan, featuring
seed-stitch trim and a soft shawl collar, is
knit with three strands of yarn, producing a
color-intensive effect. Worked in "Felted Tweed"
from Rowan Yarns. |
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This article was reprinted
with kind permission from Vogue Knitting
International. They can be reached via their
website:
Vogue
Knitting International
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