Kaffe Fassett & Brandon Mably at Black Sheep Wools
As I write this blog post the legend that is Kaffe Fassett is sitting in Stephen’s office, listening to Radio 4, working on a needlepoint. How utterly amazing is that!
I remember hearing his name lots when I was a young Saturday girl in our shop in Sale, Manchester. As my own knitting & sewing skills have progressed my admiration of him has only grown. His use of colour is simply breath taking and his philosophy ‘keep learning’ is infectious.
I have been lucky enough to meet Kaffe a couple of times before this week. But nothing prepared me for his visit to Black Sheep Wools. I picked Kaffe and Brandon Mably, his design partner & studio manager, up from Warrington Train Station on Wednesday evening. I was so nervous! I made Matt clean the car (a rare occurrence) and drove so carefully. I had horrors of bumping the car with them both in it.
We made our way to the Craft Barn and their reaction to our beautiful shop was amazing. They both loved it. The fabrics were inspirational and they had never seen a yarn collection like it in the UK. It all boded well for the next day.
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Julie and Jayne in their Kaffe Fassett aprons[/caption]
Kaffe & Brandon ran a patchwork colour workshop on the first day. It was about inspiring people and being confident in your colour choices. Big bold patterns were called for and the designs that the group came up with were breath taking.
In the evening we had booked Kaffe to do a ‘Lecture in Colour’. He talked us through his inspirations and life, both were fascinating. He takes his inspiration from so many different places, a world traveller with an eye for detail. From paint pots to Irish steps, pebbles on the beach, to paint disappearing down a plug hole – wow, wow, wow!
He is a natural orator. I have heard him speak three times now and each time it has been completely different. The round of applause was loud & long, I think we have all been inspired. The talk in the shop today has been of colour and creativity. I want to go home this weekend and make! Just the cleaning & the ironing to do first!
If you need some inspiration take a look at his books and fabrics on our site, I will be thumbing through ‘Quilts in Italy’ tonight if you need me!