Kaffe Fassett at the American Museum in Britain, Bath

Thursday was an exciting day for us at work last week.  We were heading to the preview day at the Kaffe Fassett exhibition at The American Museum in Bath, and we were all a little excited! We took the free shuttle bus from Bog Island in town and made our way up to Claverton Manor, which houses the main museum. It was a lovely day which was brightened still by the sight of 350 lanterns and pom-poms decorating the huge yew tree outside the building where Kaffe’s exhibition was taking place.

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As we entered the main space, we were dazzled with wall to wall colour and flower garlands over the door to the exhibition, where you can see Kaffe himself stood in the photo below.

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Kaffe’s collection is stunning, and spans his 50 year career.  Displaying paintings, tapestries, quilting and knitting, this show is on until the 2nd November and is a must see for any textile or knitting fans.

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Kaffe was animated and excited by the exhibition, where the space has been transformed into what he described as something a lot like his studio at home.

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“This is the grandest show of my career – every item is part of an intricate opera of colour. I have always wanted this approach to my work, but other museum designers and curators have steered me to a rather mixed approach in my exhibitions. This show is so unique to me because it explains in a visceral way my growing obsession with the power of colour. This show is closer to my desires than ever before in my many, many presentations around the world.”

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Kaffe has been associated with The American Museum in Britain for many years, and the main museum is showing some line drawings he created of the period rooms there during his visit in 1964, which have never been publicly displayed before, as well as quilts and tapestries from their permanent displays.

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Entrance to the exhibition is free with a ticket to the main museum, which costs around £9 for adults.  Full details can be found at theamericanmuseum.org.

Beshley’s Wool Shop, Bristol

I’ve been trying to find the time to post this for over a week – ever since I found myself slightly over-excited in Bristol’s newest yarn shop – Beshley’s Wool Shop – on it’s opening day, 21st June.


Beshley had the idea to open a yarn shop about 5 weeks prior to opening (I know!), and then says she went shopping for yarn a couple of weeks later.  The shop is well situated in Clifton, off Whiteladies road in Alma Vale Road.

Beshley’s USP is that all the yarn she stocks is British (whoopee!) which is fantastic news for us in Bristol.  The city as a whole is quite eco-conscious, and it’s great to see a new shop supporting the yarns grown, spun and dyed in our Isles. Stockists so far include Erika Knight, Jamieson and Smith, Woolyknit, West Yorkshire Spinners, Artesano, Donegal Yarns, Blacker Yarns and John Arbon Textiles.  I also spotted a few books by Kate Davies on the shelves.

The shop itself looks fab; all the artwork drawn by Beshley’s illustrator boyfriend, including the logo and prints decorating the walls.  The space itself is large, but not stuffed, leaving room to breathe and move around, and the mixture of modern and vintage furniture adds a homely touch.

The yarn you can see here is West Yorkshire Spinners, who process Bluefaced Leicester, Shetland, Wensleydale and Clun Forest yarn. This is on my list to try!

 
I worked with Erika Knight the last few years and I’m excited that her yarns are now readily available so close to home.  They were all grown, spun and dyed within something like 2o miles of eachother, which makes the whole collection really special.  The British Blue Wool shown above is gorgeous to work with, 100% Blue Faced Leicester, so soft and available in 25g balls.  The idea is that you can grab three of any colour and they will always compliment eachother – it works too!

I’ve yet to try Jamieson and Smith but I’m told that once I do there is really no going back.  Based in Lerwick, they are enhancing the profile of Shetland wool to raise the price paid to local wool producers.

As if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, we found Lily and Boo’s Cupcakery just around the corner! Who could resist?

 

WIP Wednesday – Autumn Gold Lace Hat

Apologies for my lack of blog posts recently.  I really cannot think where all my time is going, given that I am no longer in the routine of a full time job.  I seem to be spending a lot of time designing and feel a bit out of the loop in blogland.  I haven’t even read any blogs in the last week or so!

Fyberspates 'Rural Charm' Autumn Gold Pattern Swatch
Fyberspates 'Rural Charm' Autumn Gold Pattern Swatch

As some of you will have read a few weeks ago, I went out to Fyberspates to pick up an old loom, and came home with a lovely soft skein of yarn to play with too 🙂

The yarn is ‘Rural Charm’ 4 ply sock yarn, 70% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Silk and 10% Cashmere. Yes, it is gorgeous! I love how tidy the stitches come out, and it blocks wonderfully.

It took me a while to decide what to make with this lovely yarn – I have not yet ventured into the world of socks (I know it will happen someday) but it seems I am still stuck on hats, you can never have enough! Plus I love the fact that they don’t use up too much yarn, and can be finished pretty quickly.

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This one is taking a little longer as I am knitting on 3mm needles, but I’m really looking forward to it being finished. The pattern is a really fun knit!

For more WIP’s please looky here!

Rowan Kid Classic and Jaeger Grace – Yarn Swap Anyone?

Yarn Swap Anyone?

Today I’m so bored of my wool stash, I wondered if anyone fancied a yarn swap!  I haven’t bought any new yarn in ages, and I have the urge to knit something lacy and summery after discovering that I am a winter knitter and I should be more adventurous.

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I feel like knitting a bolero, or some sort of lightweight shrug (or maybe even a sweater) but everything I have more than one ball of yarn of is aran weight wool or pink, which isn’t really my colour!

Jaeger Grace Yarn Swap © Buttons and Beeswax Knitting Blog
Jaeger Grace - who wants to swap?

I’ve got about 6 balls of each Rowan Kid Classic in Rose, and Jaeger Grace in black going spare if any of you lovely knitter s fancy trading some nice yarn for them?