Kaffe Fassett exhibition – in Norway

Yesterday I finally convinced the family to go to Hadeland Glassverk, an old glass work funded in 1762 and still operative. It is run as a combined glasswork and a visitor center which this summer also housed an exhibition of works by Kaffee Fassett;” Kaffe Fassett 50 Years in Colour Exhibition”. I have knitted long enough (and is old enough…) to remember the first designs by him for Rowan, so it was quite exciting to see several of those garments “live”! The colours are really intense and the combinations very impressive! But I must admit that I have never dared to make one of his designs… The main reasons has been that he combines so many colours in on round, so you easily gets the treads tangled and a lot of loose ends need fastening… And his designs are mostly not suitable for knitting on cable needles. I always struggle when I have to go back and forth doing stranded knitting on the wrong side…

I think many knitters know the story about how he started to knit; he was visiting a wool mill in Scottland and was fascinated by the colours and bought yarn and knitting needles. The interesting thing was that on the train back to London he got a fellow passenger to learn him to knit! His first knitted garment was a jacket (in the wool from Scottland), and it was exhibited as well! One of my favourite garments were there as well; a coat with colourful leaves, if I ever dare knitting something from him, this would be the one! I must admit I did have been ignorant about his other skill; he has made some impressive needleworks and amazing quilts! But to me his knitted works are still the most amazing… So if you are in Norway Hadeland is just an hour drive north of Oslo. And the exhibition is open one more week! And it looks from his website that he frequently visit places in UK and will be “touring” both in the US and in Australia in close future! It is listed in his web side. And finally, a surprising part of the exhibition; the “Please touch!” part; I felt like a kid in an Aquarium picking up a crab or a starfish from a small tank… Thanks to the curators for doing this; to touch and look at the technical details was (almost) the best part!