Tuesday, March 25, 2014

City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

It is still cold here.  Snow may or may not fall again before sunrise tomorrow.  Strangely, that weather report seems to be all too familiar to me, and perhaps to those of you who've been reading my recent posts.

It was too cold to go to the St. Patrick's Day parade, even though I had made myself a cozy green-hued hat for that occasion.



I've photographed that hat against some Liberty flowered cotton with the notion that I might encourage spring warmth to arrive.

While waiting for that warm weather bus that just does not seem to arrive here, I have been doing more wooly knitting.  I am adding the fair isle cowl to my Foakley Arts etsy shop.  It's knit as a tube and hand stitched together.



In the following photograph you can see the inside and the outside.


Long after Ysolda Teague's Follow Your Arrow mystery knitting project officially concluded, I actually finished my version of the wrap.  It was so much fun to work my way through the clue options and to learn how to read the stitch charts.


The above photograph shows one of the angles of the wrap's wingspan, and the following photograph gives you all an idea of the intricacy of the various stitches.  Can you see those many arrow shapes?


Well, here's another opportunity to follow those arrows!


I wish that all of you could visit The Museum of Modern Art to see the two splendid exhibits that I saw yesterday.  The Gauguin: Metamorphoses show focuses on Gauguin as a printmaker, with lots of his woodblock prints and watercolor transfer monoprints on display.  


There are also quite a few oil paintings and wooden sculptures.  Oh...it's a real treat to also see lots of the actual wood blocks carved to made the prints.  Quite a few of the prints were printed by Gauguin himself in Tahiti.  I know that I will be visiting this exhibit more than once.

The other exhibit that my friend and I saw was also interesting in that it revealed some insight into the artist's process.  Jasper Johns recently produced these drawings, prints and paintings after being inspired by a rather crumpled up photograph of the late artist Lucian Freud.  I would also highly recommend this show.

Back to knitting.  A recent post by Kristen over at Cozy Things showed what fun she had making some crocheted buttons to accent one of her beautifully knitted sweaters.  She reminded me of some similar buttons I made long, long ago in the early 1960s, when I was about 15 or 16, to accent cabled cardigans I'd learned how to make.


I thought that you all might be interested to see one of these now very vintage examples of my early knitting days.  The sweater still fits!

Here's a close up view of those crocheted buttons.


I've got a little more knitting to work on this evening, and may just be watching some television on the side.

Back to work for me tomorrow.  I hope that there will not be any snow to shovel.  

Thank you all for your visits and comments.  I do promise to take you all for a good spring walk around town very soon.  It will be so good to be able to leave my down-filled coat in the closet!



22 comments:

  1. What an artist you are, Frances! I am amazed that you can still fit in this cardigan, remember those crocheted buttons well. I hope for you that spring arrives quickly now for you.

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  2. Your work is absolutely beautiful Frances. The intricacy of the pattern something only a mathematician could have come up with! To be able to create something so beautiful from it is very impressive!

    To have knitted your vintage cardigan, to still own it, for it to still fit and for you to even know where to lay your hands on it - I am not sure what is more impressive!

    We have chilly winds but beautiful sunshine here in Scotland. I am about to leave for work so will enjoy some of the morning glow before it fades.

    Have a sunny - if not warm - day!

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  3. Wow I am so impressed with your knitting skills. Though I do love fairly plain knitting I would never manage to finish anything like yours!

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  4. Dear Frances,

    I must say that this post thrills my heart; art exhibits and GLORIOUS textiles (I'm referring to your beautiful knitting, here :-) ) and a riot of carefully married colours. A feast for the eyes and I agree with Bayou's comment; you are a true artist. I imagine that, despite the cold, New York must nurture a creative soul. That is what I like best about living in a city.

    I am hoping your long, cold spell is reaching an end.

    Stephanie

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  5. Well, I suppose that this winter has been good for one thing -KNITTING!
    You are such a wiz at it and make such lovely things.
    Yes, I'm totally impressed that you can still fit into your splendid gay sweater!

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  6. Hi Frances,
    Stay warm and cosy inside and do your beautiful knitting. Spring will be here soon and we will all be ready for your walks around NYC!
    Have a great week!
    xoxo Ingrid

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  7. We're waiting for it to warm up here on the Welsh coast too, Frances - but I will admire your work rather than taking up my needles! Cx

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  8. The beautifully fine wrap reminds me so much of the 2ply knitting that my grandmother used to do. It's exquisite, Frances.

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  9. You are a wonderful knitter. If we can have Master printmakers then we should have Master Knitters and you are one of those!

    How lovely that you kept your cable cardigan, very impressive work for a teenager.

    Oddly enough, we have been studying those woodblock prints in our printmaking class. Last one today.

    Hope spring arrives for you soon. x

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  10. What beautiful knitting! I'm in awe of such artistry!

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  11. oh dear, i heard it snowed again last night. so much snow. but so much wool too! and so beautiful, your knitting is lovely frances. i've never asked you, but what is your favorite shop in the city?

    your grey cardigan is very special, how fantastic that you still have it. so cool!

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  12. You have been a knitting artist since you were a teen, Frances. Your vintage cardigan is certainly intricate enough. You have such patience to follow these knitting instructions that for me would be like learning another foreign language. Your work is museum quality – isn’t there a knitting museum in New York? There are so many museums in your city. The Gauguin exhibit must be spellbinding, thanks for telling us about it.

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  13. You have some beautiful knitting in this post, Frances! I loved seeing the cardigan you made so long ago, still looking lovely, and the crochet buttons are perfect on it. I love your colourful new knits too, and you little greeny blue hat would have been ideal for St Patrick's Day!
    Btw, the new Persephone book I am reading is 'The Two Mrs Abbots'! Wishing you a wonderful weekend, and I hope the sun comes out and warms everywhere up!
    Helen xox

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  14. What a delightful post Frances. Your knitting is so beautiful, especially that cowl. What fabulous colours they are. I do hope the snow has stayed away... it has been cold here this week with some sleet and snow showers.

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  15. I do hope you stayed snow free.

    I'm often reminded reading your posts that although country living, as I know from experience, can be dreamy, city views, as in the literal art gallery variety, are very much missed, by me at least. I'm an hour from two major UK cities here - Liverpool and Manchester - but rarely seem to get to either these days.

    Loved the knitting in this post :)

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  16. Hello Francis,

    Wish I could join you to the museum of modern art. The exhibition on Gaughuin sounds really interesting!

    Love your knits. They are beautiful!!

    Happy Sunday,

    Madelief x

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  17. You are such a master in knitting, Frances! I'm always impressed by what you've knitted! This spring-coloured hat is so tender!
    I can't believe you've made the cardigan when you were that young!
    It's always interesting for me to read about the exhibitions you visit, thank you for sharing!
    I hope your next post will show us the first spring photos for this year! Enough winter!

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  18. I am suffering from insomnia and have called on you - I must say your blog has calmed me - there is such beauty in every work of art you produce - I was loath to leave one pic for another, they are all so beautiful. You are so so gifted.

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  19. Hello Frances,

    Oh how we wish that we were close to MOMA. We so often read of the most amazing exhibitions there and, of course, the permanent collection is a treasure trove of Modern Art in itself. The Gaugin exhibition looks to have been most exciting. Something we should have enjoyed very much indeed.The wonderful thing about having such a fabulous resource as MOMA almost on your doorstep is that you are under no pressure to see everything on one visit. You can afford the luxury of seeing just a little and returning often. Perfect!

    And, Frances, how very skilled you are with all the knitting. Just plain knit and purl makes our heads swim so we have no idea how you manage to create such beautifully intricate designs. The cardigan is truly delightful and the buttons a perfectly executed detail. And......it still fits......!!

    Hoping your weather has now turned for the better. Spring in Central Park must be amazing!

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  20. Holy cow that sweater is a stunner. I can't believe:

    1. That you knit something that intricate as a teenager.
    2. That it's THAT vintage (!)
    3. That it still fits (!!)

    Frances, you are a wonder. What lovely work.

    - Alex

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  21. Holy cow that sweater is a stunner. I can't believe:

    1. That you knit something that intricate as a teenager.
    2. That it's THAT vintage (!)
    3. That it still fits (!!)

    Frances, you are a wonder. What lovely work.

    - Alex

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  22. Holy cow that sweater is a stunner. I can't believe:

    1. That you knit something that intricate as a teenager.
    2. That it's THAT vintage (!)
    3. That it still fits (!!)

    Frances, you are a wonder. What lovely work.

    - Alex

    ReplyDelete