My recent posts have shown you all some city views from around NYC that featured warming weather as spring helped both people and plants to celebrate spring.
Meanwhile, in my little apartment, it's still cool enough to continue with some knitting projects.
This fair isle project is a jacket/cardigan that I am knitting for myself, not for my etsy shop. As you can see the colors are blues, greens, off white and touches of pink, lavender and rose.
Since I am making this design up as I go along, I am making lots of notes, doing lots of mathematical calculations, coloring lots of grid patterned papers with my colored pencils, and even ... unravelling a few or more than a few rows every so often, to fix an error.
On three sets of needles, I am simultaneously working on the back, the fronts (with pockets,) and the sleeves. This means that I can see how the design shapes up as I go along, and how the fair isle motifs will meet properly at the seams, making sure the motifs are centered.
Yes, it is a bit slow going, but a very interesting project. It's my hope that when I do complete the jacket, I will have enough detailed notes and charts to actually write a pattern. This would be a first for me.
When I am not 100% absorbed in this experiment, I've been enjoying more long walks outdoors, even when an umbrella's been required, visiting the the farmers market, seeing friends, putting in my required work days at the shop, and doing lots of reading on my subway rides.
I first encountered Kate Atkinson's writing talent when her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was published. I was lucky to buy a softcover version in London before it was published over here in the States. And so, when Ms Atkinson made her first U.S. book tour and did a reading at a neighborhood Barnes & Noble shop, I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet her and let her know how much I admired that book.
Since way back then, I have enjoyed every one of her books and truly think that this new novel is a wonder. It features many characters from the prior book, Life After Life; however, it is not necessary to have read Life After Life to appreciate the new book. Still, I would recommend that you read them in order.
As always, I thank each of you all for your visits and for your taking the time to leave your lovely comments.
I missed your previous post! Those peonies are gorgeous, as is your Fair Isle knitting - what a challenge too. I wonder how many non-knitters realise the mental challenge and mathematics involved in such a project? Your colour charts are pretty too, how did you work out how much yarn to buy? Or are you needing to re-order as you progress? Perhaps you just bought lots and lots.
ReplyDeleteThe finished jacket will cheer up a snowy winter day in the city. xx
Celia, I thought you might like those amazing peonies!
DeleteI am enjoying working out the puzzles of this current Fair Isle project. I confess that I have lots and lots of 4 ply yarn on hand, that I store in sorted out color families. So, I doubt I will need to actually buy any more yarn for this jacket. (It's having a very large assortment of blues and greens that inspired me to cast on the first stitches.)
I continue to tell folks to seek out Gardens Illustrated...particularly that last page....
xo
Frances, your knitting is so beautiful, I absolutely love it. Those colours, just my cup of tea! I have visited your previous posts but not had time to comment, nevertheless I have enjoyed reading them. I sometimes use my husband's iPad and find it hard to leave comments that way.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum and so must look out for your new recommendation. x
Val, thank you very much for your kind words. Here's a funny bit...your comment on this post actually appeared three times, so I've deleted the two extras. Must be that iPad playing around!
DeleteI think you'd like all the Kate Atkinson books. It's been interesting to see how she experiments with various forms, while always having characters that draw the reader in.
xo
Gosh, Frances!
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with the loveliness, complexity and colors of your latest most wonderful project.
I loved Life After Life and am glad to hear that the follow up is equally engaging. Kate Atkinson grabs you on page one....such a super writer. See you very soon.
Elizabeth, I am truly enjoying this current Fair Isle endeavor. Alternating amongst the three sets of needles is a new process for me, but is making it much easier to ensure that I keep the colors and patterns in order. I'll let you have a look at one of the parts when we next see each other.
DeleteI particularly like the way that Kate Atkinson trusts her readers to follow all the quick transitions in time and place that occur in her books, as she builds up her characters and the plot lines.
Yes, see you soon. xo
I second Elizabeth's admiration for your fair isle project, she put it in words way better than I could have!
DeleteThank you for the book tip!
Oh Merisi, many thanks to you for the kind words. It is such a pleasure to play with many colors of yarns...not so different from having a large assortment of colored pencils, or perhaps knowing how to blend various oil or watercolor hues.
DeleteI do think you will like Kate Atkinson's books. She clearly enjoys writing and does it so well. xo
That sweater looks fabulous Frances, I can't wait to see it when you're done! And Kate Atkinson, totally agree, she's a wonderful author, although can you believe that I've yet to read Life After Life.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Annie. I do promise to show some progress reports on this jacket as progress moves forward.
DeleteYou've a treat in store when you begin the first pages of Life After Life. Promise you. (I do remember promising you more of my recent/current reading list. Perhaps email might be the easiest way?) xo
That jacket is going to be fabulous - and what a good idea working on more than one set of needles. That's real attention to detail. Hope you will model the finished article for us.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely words from you, Mountaineer. When I do eventually complete the jacket...and decide on just what buttons to use, etc., I will surely get a friend to take a few photos. Promise. xo
DeleteYour fair isle cardigan looks beautiful Frances! You are right to make it for yourself. It will be a real eye catcher when you wear it!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a lovely time on your walks. Enjoy your book!
Madelief x
Madelief, I so appreciate your kind words. I think that many of the colors that i am using in this jacket might also be found in your garden or in the china in your delightful garden house.
DeleteYes...before it gets much warmer here in NYC, I do want to have some long walks along interesting urban paths, paved or unpaved.
The novel is one I wish to read at a measured pace, unlike some of the who-dunnits I sometimes read.
xo
Dear Frances, I have spent enough time knitting to know that what you are designing is a most difficult project. I have always admired how easy your transitions from one color to the next appear. I hope that we get to see the finished sweater.
ReplyDeleteGina, thank you so much for your appreciation. As you know, knitting just occurs a loop at a time, so the result may seem complex but the actual process is very, very low tech. And relaxing.
DeleteI will definitely share the finished results. Whenever I cross that finish line. xo
Your fair isle jacket is looking fabulous. I can just imagine how that will cheer up the chilly winter days. I am a great fan of Kate Atkinson too but seem to have missed these couple of books. More to add to my reading list!
ReplyDeleteOh Gina, as a fellow KA fan, I know that you will love her two most recent books. As with many of the earlier books, she writes knowingly of childhood, and how we adults still carry much of our childhood with us decades later. (Not really a spoiler alert, more of an appreciation of her fine writing.)
DeleteI know what you mean about the reading list. I've now got quite the tower of books awaiting my eyes, some loaned by friends, some loaned by the library. All tempting.
xo
Frances, I spotted your little charts with your patterns, and realised this was all your design. I have made up my own knitting projects and wished I had done more than scibbles on a piece of paper, so pleased you are meticulous in recording the pattern. It looks beautiful and shows how clever and nimble you are at knitting, your sense of colour and pattern. I love fair isle as I have mentioned before, used to tackle such projects in the past. A lot of time and patience but something to treasure and wear with pride, going to be stunning. Happy knitting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for those kind words, Milly. I think that a lot of my color way in this project were inspired by nature. As you know well, nature can always guide creativity in a good direction! xo
DeleteThe jacket is just lovely Frances!
ReplyDeleteWarm hug from a warm and sunny Sweden and
Titti
Thanks so much, Titti. It's turned quite warm here in NYC ... hoping it will still be fun to continue with this wooly knitting. I think that puzzling out the motifs will keep me going! xo
DeleteSuch beautiful fair isle knitting, Frances! You have chosen wonderfully soft and pretty colours that look perfect for the pattern.....and how clever to be writing and developing your own design too.
ReplyDeleteI loved Behind the Scenes at the Museum when it came out, it was one of my favourite books for a long time. I will look out for the new Kate Atkinson novel too.
Wishing you happy summer days!
Helen xox
Helen, I do think that Kate Atkinson is a remarkable writer. Do look out for Life After Life, too.
DeleteThank you for your compliment on my knitting and the colors I'm choosing. Your own varied color choices in all your fine creations always look fabulous to me. xo
I love the colours and patterns in your knitting, it will be gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks Su! As summer heat begins to stake out its NYC territory, I am going to try to keep going with this project. I am so curious to see how it will all turn out. Promise some updating along the way to the final cast off and sew up. xo
DeleteBeautiful fair isle Frances! Loved the photos of that gorgeous garden in Central Park. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteKristin, isn't it fun to play with color...whether it's with paint, yarn, fabric, or even in a garden. Yes, the Conservatory Garden is a real gem. xo
DeleteI am in awe of your knitting talent! I only just discovered Atkinson via HUMAN CROQUET and am eager to read more -- perhaps I'll begin at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteVicki, I'll always be so grateful for having my Great Auntie Mae teach me to knit when I was very young, so many years ago.
DeleteI think that if you were to read Kate Atkinson's books in the order in which they were written, you will love seeing how her writing range has expanded from her brillian debut. xo
Hi Frances,
ReplyDeleteI always read your posts, but don't comment all the time. But I so appreciate all your wonderful photos of NYC, and the flowers and parks, etc. And your knitting is super! What a clever person you are to figure out a pattern and knit with all those gorgeous colors. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Carol, I'm so glad you are a regular reader, and thank you very much for this comment. It's fun to share bits of NewYork that just might not be in any travel guide book. Although...some of the spots I visit are in lots of guide books!
DeleteThank you also for your kind words about the current knitting project. xo
The detail and complexity of that detail in your jumper is quite awe inspiring. Those colours will suit you beautifully. I have so enjoyed your garden walks. My son was astonished by the size of Central Park and said there was a forest in the middle of it! Did I tell you he got caught in a torrential downpour and had to shelter in a grotto. No umbrella! He was soaked to the skin and had to borrow clothes from the friend he was visiting.
ReplyDeleteLucille, I began this jacket with a lot of little sketches and thinking about all the blue, green and harmonizing colors of yarn I had accumulated. Once I decided on the blue for the ribbed edges, other bits sort of fell into place. I've even been enjoying the math and figuring out how to keep those fair isle motifs centered properly...that bit is a bit tedious and more easily done with a fresh morning mind!
DeleteSorry about your son's soaking in Central Park...those storms can arrive suddenly...we might have one this afternoon, although got by without actual rain on several other recent afternoons with thunderstorm potential. I think the forest he's talking about is The Ramble. It's beautiful, but also a place to be a bit wary at certain times of the day.
Glad that he did get to see the Park. Hope to show it to you in person some day. xo
Beautiful! You are very talented! :)
ReplyDeleteLinda, thanks so much for those kind words.
ReplyDeleteFrances, you are truly a marvel with the needles! Your wonderful jacket is so full of delightful pattern and the colors are a lovely soft mix. I do not knit, and if mathematics is involved, I suppose I never will. If you succeed in creating your own pattern, as it seems you will, a new world of sales will open up in your Etsy shop.
ReplyDeleteJeri, I appreciate all that you've said about this Fair Isle project, particularly since I am well aware of the wonders you create...and know that there is no way I would be able to do what you do.
DeleteIsn't it fun to make new creations...whatever form they might take? Many thanks to you.
xo
Goodness me, what a fantastic team that will be when it’s finished. Such expertise, such artistic creativity, such sheer devotion to the job.
ReplyDeleteI am hugely impressed. I really hope you will show the finished article.
I too like Kate Atkinson’s books very much and have read every one of them. Not the last one, yet; that’s a pleasure still to come. It’s still only out in hardback here, as well as an eformat.
Friko, thank you so much for your praise. Knitting is just a matter of pulling a loop over a loop. Where the fun comes to play is when you can add color and texture and some sort of graphic plan to the game. I've loved knitting for...oh let's say over 50 years.
DeleteKnowing what a fine writer you are, I"m not surprised that you'd be a Kate Atkinson fan. I am always intrigued at how she finds ways to manipulate what must be autobiographical elements into a variety of characters that mix about in her various novels' plots.
I borrowed the new one from the library and was saved the temptation of buying a copy and trying to find shelf space for it.
xo
With our last trip and the other one coming up I need to catch up. I looked at your past posts. I had to enlarge your pictures of wisteria and lilac in the park and admire them. I think wisteria is one of the most romantic flowers ever. The Dance Parade was quite a parade – I looked at all your photos closely – such an array of color, costumes and people – the music must have enhanced all this tremendously. What a great coincidence for you to be there to buy your veggies.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your pictures of your neighborhood. I’d love to have breakfast with you again in the New Wave restaurant. I’d like to plan a trip to New York for the fall but my knees have gotten so bad that it is getting very hard to walk – and the stairs on the subway scare me – they are not like in Paris with many escalators.
I also had much pleasure following you in your walk in the Conservatory Garden. The flowers there are charming and so different from those I saw in Key West – vive la difference! Your last photo could have been taken for the movie Blow Up – I watched this film years ago. I remember it – a photographer thinks he may have witness a murder while taking pictures of trees – that was a good movie.
The colors of your fair isle cardigan go so well together – you could make a painting from your design. You are an artist on needlework and an engineer too with all the complicated calculations that have to be made to get the accurate pattern – it is an impressive work. I do not know Kate Atkinson’s books but will make a note of her name for future reference.
Vagabonde, I am delighted to see your kind words. I do appreciate what you mean about trying to find time for all that we wish to do. (That's got to be so much better than being one who's bored with too much time on his/her hands!)
DeleteYes, another breakfast together would be grand. Perhaps your knees might get some sort of rest this summer, and be able to handle the MTA subway system's stairs...or even experiment with the above ground bus routes. Let us explore all this more via emails.
This week's news from Paris has included updates about alternatives to those heavy love locks' dangers to a certain bridge. I thought of you when I read these reports.
Love to you and your husband, dear Vagabonde. xo
I love the colours in your beautiful work and am filled with awe and admiration at the 'making it up' bit! Wah! I could never do that in a million years!
ReplyDeleteI love Kate Atkinson, she's one of my top five favourite authors. I was also very interested to see a different cover for A God in Ruins. Truthfully though, for my money the publishers could just issue a plain cover with the title - so long as it was by Kate Atkinson, I'd read it. I haven't read this one yet but I'm very much looking forwards to reading it soon. Cx
Chris as I read your comment, I thought to myself that what I am attempting with my "from scratch" knitting is far simpler than what you have done in your novels. You create entire communities and their inhabitants!
ReplyDeleteI'm also always interested to see how books initially published in the UK get a new cover for the States, and wonder why that is true. I am now approaching the final chapters of this KA book and do not wish it to end.
xo
My mum gave me a hardback copy of Life After Life when it was published – such a treat – and I absolutely loved reading it (as I have all Kate Atkinson's books). It's good to hear that her next is also very fine. I do love the look of your cardigan. My knitting skills are extremely basic and so I am in awe that you've actually made this up! I'm very pleased to have recently found your blog. Best wishes to you from the south-east coast of the UK. Sam
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you've visited here and left me a comment...because it gave me the chance to make my own visit over to your beautiful coastal site.
Deleteit's also great to meet another Kate Atkinson fan. What a fine writer she is.
Best wishes.
I am in awe of your beautiful knitting Frances! What a complicated and challenging thing to do. I love knitting and regard myself as a competent rather than accomplished knitter but I would not know how to start something quite so difficult. And yet for all its technical difficulty it looks so light and gentle and perfect. You are very talented!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, you are too kind...thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteI guess the thing to keep in mind about fair isle is that you've just got two colors going on each row...it's the accumulation that adds to the colorful fun. I do encourage you to give it a go. xo
Your knitting is spectacular, I can't believe you are making it up as you go along. Such pretty colours
ReplyDeleteCaz xx
Thank you so much for your very kind words. I keep reminding myself that knitting is just one stitch at a time, and this project is giving me a chance to refresh some math skills that were getting a bit rusty.
DeletePlease do visit again.