Inspiration
Come for the Color. Stay for the Creativity.
What I think about when I think about Kaffe Fassett is color.
Yes, yes. I know. That is what Fassett is known for. It’s not new to associate this designer with his exuberant use of the entire rainbow. There is much muchness there.
Take, for instance, the pink pillow wall in the header picture. I haven’t made a forensic study of each and every fabric but I’m pretty sure there is no color on the entire wheel left unrepresented. Kaffe’s work is inclusive of all of the hues and shades our eyes can see.
Which I find amazing, given my own approach to color, which is to say, I’m a little afraid of getting too far beyond the occasional random pop of something fun. I like an acid green against my battleship gray but that’s as wild as I get. I don’t know that I could live with one of those pillows on the pink pillow wall but I sure do like looking at them.
The colors in the Garter Stripe Shawl from MDK Field Guide No. 13: Master Class don’t speak to me as individuals. I wouldn’t choose to make something from them, if saw a big ol’ heap of them on a shelf. Together, however, they are greater than the sum of their parts and it took an artist connect them this way. I suspect there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.
What I want is to know more about how Kaffe’s mind makes those connections in the hundreds of other designs and fabrics and paintings he’s made. His way of seeing the world is so sideways from my own that I’m fascinated by what he has to say, both visually and in-person.
Ann and Kay have waxed rhapsodic about Fassett’s work over the years. They’ve taken great joy from meeting the man himself and knitting his creations.
Kay, Kaffe, Ann, and some guy in ermine: all royalty in certain circles.
And I get the joy. I do.
But that’s not where I’m coming from. I’m looking forward to Fassett’s livestream tomorrow not because I’m in love with his work but because I want to know how he got from one place to the other, on a path no one but him could take.
That individuality of expression is what makes him a true artist—and you don’t get to hear about that journey from the artist himself all that often.
Will a dose of creativity and inspiration cause me to start a Big Flower Jacket? Unlikely. I promise, however, that it will shift my perception in dozens of different (and unpredictable) ways. For me, that’s it’s own joy, because I have no idea what fruit it might bear.
Live, Laugh, Log Cabin
Ann and Kay have cooked up a Knit Stars class all about log cabin knitting, a way of knitting that can fill a lifetime of endless fun. Enrollment is open now, and the classes launch in November. Come see what the fuss is about!
Thanks so much for putting my exact feelings into words. I admire Kaffe’s amazing talent but feel so overwhelmed by all of that color. My current project is a shawl in stripes of pale gray and lavender with occasional narrow panels of mosaic in a very dark purple. Love the yarn, love the pattern and love the colors individually, but each time I work on it I worry that two subtle colors and a contrast are too much!
Like Fassett, I too am an artist from California and a liver of color ever since I can remember. Maybe it’s something about the West Coast light? Or that our culture isn’t as repressed as in other regions? Or maybe just a gene. Who knows. I appreciate your openness, Adrienne, but kind of feel sorry for anyone who is afraid of color.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Haha! I meant to say Lover of color, but Liver is eminently realistic!
Having grown up in the psychedelic sixties (although drugless myself) I have really missed color and so glad that it – and Kaffe – are back. Not necessarily all the colors all at once all the time but, say, Audrey Hepburn in that bright orange coat in Breakfast at Tiffany’s or any of her elegant wardrobe by Givenchy. And all the colors Some of the time – like Kaffe’s Garter Stripe shawl used as a throw, maybe, would be just fine with me. What I think is Kaffe’s genius is how he Balances all those colors so that they don’t feel chaotic andof course not everyone can do that. And, of course, it all depends on what you are used to, I guess. For the past two decades we have been living in a very neutral world. Sometimes beautiful. Sometimes drab. Why can’t we have both? For me, color is Happy.
Met Kaffe and Liza many years ago in my quilt shop in NJ Quilt Connection. Oh the patterns and the fabrics! Looking forward to Brandon’s class on Sunday too! So many talents! Here in Nashville eagerly awaiting this adventure in person! Oh the colors we’ll see! See y’all tomorrow!
What is more interesting than finding out how another thinks? The older I get the more I realize how unique my thinking is — which sometimes makes me feel a bit weird, but I am okay with that.
I’m with you, Adrienne, looking forward to hearing how Kaffe looks at the world and how that will impact me.
And Ann, keep the sweater that you are wearing in the photo above!!
I am with you there. And thanks for the reminder. I purchased the livestream as soon as I saw it, but forgot. I do know how to use a calendar, must remind myself to do that!
I’m on the side of “the more colors the better!” Maybe it was, as Chloe said, growing up in the 1960’s, or just enjoying using as many crayons in the box as possible. It’s hard to keep lots of colors playing well together without becoming a mess, and Kaffe and Brandon manage their designs so beautifully. I’m looking forward to the talk tomorrow!
Could I live with the pink pillow wall? Hell, yes!
Hell yes I could live with the pink pillow wall, but I wouldn’t be able to make one up myself. That takes genius!
And now I’m singing “Pink Pillow Wall” to the tune of Pink Pony Club. Yassssss.
Someone said to me today that I was the most colourful thing they’d seen in a while.
I had on my denim skirt, multicolour striped socks & pink waterproof.
Had I not been wearing my waterproof they’d have seen my version of Kate Davie’s Possit (take 20 different colours of 4ply yarn & knit a garter stitch cardigan) which, if anything is the most colourful of all!
At least the sun came out today. Yesterday it Chucked It!
BTW – I LOVE Kaffe’s stuff. Just don’t have enough colours yet to knit it!