Book Review - Frances Palmer's Life in the Studio

 

I first became aware of Frances Palmer when I read an article about her and her pottery and garden in one of my favorite magazines - US House and Garden. Her signature white earthenware pottery filled with my favorite sunflowers was featured on the cover. Although HG has been sadly long gone (Conde Nast closed it in 2007), Frances' beautiful pottery business and garden has grown and thrived in the years since. On my studio inspiration wall below you can see the cover photo from that issue of HG.

Many folks recently will have stumbled upon Frances through her incredibly seductive Instagram feed. There she almost daily photographs her pottery vases filled with flowers from her garden. Her feed is one of the joys of my day. She features incredibly voluptuous arrangements of flowers she grows on her tennis court turned cutting garden in her porcelain, earthenware and terracotta pottery. 

This past fall, Frances' first book Frances Palmer - Life in the Studio - was published by Artisan Books in October of 2020. You can see that book on the lead photo which shows the colorful turquoise and floral dust jacket and the cloth bound book that is hidden under the dust jacket. Ooooo- what a beautiful presentation. It is not many publishers that will put such care and beauty into a book.

I have followed Frances since the early days of Instagram and when I heard that she was writing and photographing a book, I was so thrilled. I ordered it early and it came just around the time of my birthday. What a fantastic gift to myself if I do say so. Thank you Frances for the hours of inspiration on Instagram and for the joy that I have derived from your book. 

What I really enjoyed about Life in the Studio was that it contained a great mix of all the things I love. Making ceramics, gardening, cooking, baking, photography, color, and studio life. Lots of times, books like these are all fluff - full of beautiful photos (which - don't get me wrong - I do love colorful photography books) but lacking in what I call the "meat" or substance behind the photos. Life in the Studio is different. Yes, it is packed to the gills with gorgeous Frances photography - but it also includes Frances' story. She describes her background, how she got interested in ceramics, how she makes a pot, her studio life..... And funny thing - she once had a knitwear business and she is a knitter. 

Life in the Studio also includes tips for gardening - especially growing dahlias which if you ask me - are Frances' signature flower. Eighteen pages on how to grow, care, harvest, and store for dahlias is a bonus for anyone interested in growing this (once again) very popular flower. She recommends 36 of her favorite varieties and includes photos of each one. 

Here are a few of the essays which Frances includes....

How to Make a Pot

Promotion and Patience

The Value of My Work

The Meditation of Repetition

The Importance of Collaboration

Arranging a Bouquet Step by Step (words and photos) 

My Education in Photography

On Being Kind to Yourself

As you can see, there is an amazing amount of information in this book. Although it is written partly for potters, the contents are valuable for any creative person. Kudos to Frances for a job well done. I look forward to following her for many more years to come.

Here are some of my favorite spreads from Life in The Studio. 

Some of Frances' early pottery.  

A sampling of the incredible flower photography

A photo of many pots lined up waiting for a studio sale

That cover photo from the original HG cover photo and article along with an essay entitled Embracing the Random

Some of Frances cobalt blue painted ceramics

A Tarte Tatin recipe photographed on a Frances plate

The opening page for a series of photographs of varying types of ceramics that Frances makes

At the back of Life in the Studio, Frances includes a listing of favorite books on ceramics, cooking, gardening, and photography and her sources for plants, seeds and garden tools.

You can visit Frances's website here where you can order your very own signed copy of Life in the Studio or purchase a piece of pottery. Or follow her on Instagram. Or purchase Life in the Studio here. 

You can listen to podcasts featuring Frances here:

The Potters Cast with Paul Blais

After the Jump/Design *Sponge with Grace Bonney

On Creativity with Jennifer Jewell

I've Made Some Moroccan Fedoras

I'm back again. I hope I can be of some distraction to you all in this time of uncertainty. Perhaps I can inspire you to pick up your knitting needles again, sit down in a cozy chair, turn off the news, put on a good movie or two and experiment with some colorful knitting.

Today, I want to share my newest Moroccan Fedora from the new World Knits PDF Collection available on my website here or on Ravelry here. 

This hat is one of the four different featured designs from this creative and colorful pattern. It is called the "Pillbox Cap" and it is a rather quick knit. Here is my reticent model Julia wearing it.

Here's another view.

And a closeup of the embroidery I added. 

You can see a short video of me steaming it here. 

I have been going through some of my textile books recently looking for inspiration for some new tea towel fabric designs. One of my most favorite books is called Silk and Cotton Textiles from the Central Asia That Was by Susan Meller (2013, Abrams). It is available on Amazon now for a very good price if this kind of book is your jazz. 

Susan Meller is an amazingly accomplished textile collector and author. I have all three of her inspiring books in my library and turn to them constantly for inspiration. You can check out her website here. The riches of Silk and Cotton Textiles is astounding. There are essays by collectors, beautiful photos of embroidered, handwoven fabrics including ikats, a large selection of period photos from the early 1900's and so much more. I purchased this book when it was first published at $60. Now, as with all "old" books, the price has diminished into paperback pricing. If you are inspired by these kinds of fabrics and books and color ranges, I highly suggest you add it to your library. 

In my last pass through this tome, I stumbled upon pages of incredible handmade, embroidered hats worn by tribes in Central Asia. I couldn't believe the similarity in shape of many of these children's hats to my Pillbox Hat design. The intricacy of the embroidery on the hats was amazing and many could be used as your own inspiration for a Fedora or two using my Moroccan Fedora PDF Pattern as a base for your own design. 

In all of The World Knits Collection PDF Downloads, I include empty charts so that you can design your own project. There are also extra charts to try out which are not featured on any of the sample projects. 

My goal has always been to inspire knitters to create their very own designs. I really enjoy seeing what others have done using my patterns as "jumping off" points for their own color combinations, motifs, charts and designs. That is one of the most rewarding parts of being an author and teacher. For me, there is no right or wrong way to do things and I love to see how folks turn an idea into their own. 

So, here's what I challenge you to do during this crazy time in history... step out of your comfort zone and try a new pattern. Draw your own chart. Combine new and different colors. And send me photos of your successes or failures! As I see it, there are NO FAILURES - ONLY LEARNING EXPERIENCES FOR A FUTURE SUCCESS.  

Thank you Susan Meller for all the work you have put into your books and collections. They are priceless. 

The Moroccan Fedora PDF Pattern is available 
on my website here or 
on Ravelry here. 
Stay safe and well everyone and as Elizabeth said.... Knit On!

BTW, Meg Swansen emailed me recently to let me know that she has gotten her hands on 10 copies of Anatolian Knitting that I recently blogged about HERE. You can purchase on the Schoolhouse Press Website. 

Introducing The World Knits Collection By Kristin Nicholas

In my life, January is for catching up on projects that I never have enough time for -- projects that take a lot of intense concentration and hours and hours of work. Last January, I built myself a new website using the Big Cartel platform. It was a ton of work and I learned a lot. 

This January I have been tackling another enormous project. It is finally done and I can tell you all about it. For those of you who have been following me for years, you probably know me as a knitwear designer. I worked for Classic Elite Yarns as the Creative Director for 16 years. CEY closed up shop in 2018. I wrote about that here. 

Back in the 1990's I developed a range of patterns and kits for Classic Elite Yarns. It ran over 4 years and was super popular. There were four new booklets and kits each fall season and they were sold in LYS. The booklets were packed in wicker baskets with six assorted colors of yarn and then shrink-wrapped. They were sold exclusively through local yarn stores. This was before the internet, before Ravelry and before so much in the yarn industry began to change. There was no such thing as an indie dyer or designer back then (there were probably those folks but those names had not yet been coined). 

I called the collection of these 16 patterns The World Knits Collection. They were inspired by my love of traditional cultures, costumes, and handknit, handmade, embroidered folk costumes. You can see the little booklets that I wrote and produced in the photo below. 

I would write and knit the first sample of the project (sometimes I knit them all depending on the project and time I had). Then I would find talented knitters to make the rest of the samples. Each little booklet had several versions of the projects in it. I would give the knitters the Tapestry Wool/Mohair yarn in the colors I knew would work nicely together. They got a typed out pattern and many charts that they could pick from for their project. They would make the project I needed and put their own spin on it if they felt like it. The projects would come back to CEY and we would photograph them. The projects would travel to trade shows and then find their way back to the knitters. 

I met the most amazing knitters through this project - many who became friends who I miss. I have sadly lost track of most of them now since I haven't been as involved with the knitting world for several years. These 16 World Knits Collection booklets really helped to cement my place as a knitwear designer in the industry. Several of the projects morphed into projects in my two most recent knitting books Kristin Knits (2006) and Color By Kristin (2009).

Over the years, the industry has changed so much. The little booklets were stashed in knitter's homes or thrown away. Knitters don't buy books so much anymore so all my designs have been locked away in my books that people don't read or reference anymore. My books are still in print but they are basically just taking up space in publishers' warehouses. It really is a very sad situation.

This past fall, I was able to purchase the rights to my World Knits Collection. I then had the opportunity to publish them on my own. But finding the time to do that was impossible with all the stuff I had on my plate with my pottery and our farm before Christmas. I decided to take January to get these things in order and so I have. 

I'm sure some of you still have these booklets or perhaps knit from them in the past. I'm hoping I can inspire some newer knitters to try projects from the World Knits Collection. Over the next few weeks I will be introducing each one here on my blog. The patterns will only be available as PDF Downloads, not printed. You can print them out yourself though. 

If you can and are interested, please help me spread the word in your knitting world. All the patterns are available for sale on my Ravelry store and on my website HERE as digital PDF downloads.  

Me on Knitting and Books

I've hinted on my newsletter of late (sign up for it on the sidebar at the top of the blog), that I've got some new knitting content coming. It's actually not new but rather old but so old it may look new again! Yikes - how did that happen. I'm in my sixth decade of life. We have lived here on this farm for almost 21 years. How did it all go by so fast? How much time to I have left? Am I still relevant to anyone?

I'm in the midst of building PDF files for a rather large amount of work. I will be launching this project in the very near future. I'm hoping it all catches on but time will tell and I may be too much of a dinosaur to get any traction in the knitting community again. 

As I have been preparing the files, I've been looking back at some of my designing history. I haven't published a new knitting pattern since 2014. It was this cute Easy Aran sweater modeled by my little friend Emme who is now almost ten. 

I thought I was going to make a fortune. This was one of those patterns that used to do extremely well when I worked at Classic Elite Yarns. We'd sell tons of copies of designs like this. I was wrong, so wrong. 

I've sold a total of 29 of these PDF patterns for a grand total of $174 since 2014. This failure was what kind of turned me off to developing any new knitting patterns. Too much competition out there... who can find me.... I'm not relevant anymore.... nor am I feeling the knitting love and passion..... 

This break from knitwear design and the knitting world has been very good for me. I've moved beyond what I was known for and stretched my boundaries. I can't say I am any bit of a huge success but I feel good about the things I have done -- including writing two interior design/crafting books and republishing two embroidery titles. 

I pretty much feel that I am done with writing books for now. I've said what I have to say and until I find a new passion that I think the world needs in book format I will be working more on physical projects that I can share with my community on-line.

What are your thoughts on knitting and where do you buy your patterns? What are you looking for?  What are your thoughts on books? Do you even buy them anymore? Do you read anymore? All things to ponder as the world changes. 

Making A Life from Melanie Falick - A New Book

It's been a long time since I have been excited by a book..... but last week, I received a copy of Melanie Falick's new book Making A Life: Working By Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live. 

When I received Making a Life I couldn't wait to dig into it. A quick page through and I was intrigued by all the different artists/craftspeople that Melanie included. 

Making A Life begins with Melanie's personal introduction to this project. She has always been a maker. Through this book, Melanie wanted to explore why people make - especially in our current world with all the technology that is so everpresent in our lives. She asks why people both to knit, to sew, to quilt. She introduces scholarly research at the very beginning to inspire the reader to "Discover the Life You are Meant to Live" as the title says.

This is a big book - 320 pages long. Unlike Knitting In America, there are no individual projects that you can make. That is fine with me. I am most interested in reading about other artists (or makers as that term now seems to encompass all kinds of artistic and craft disciplines) -- how they found their beginning, what makes them tick and how they keep themselves motivated to keep on making. Making A Life does that. There are 30 different profiles of artists/craftspeople/makers in disciplines that range from fiber, pottery, sculpture, quilting, weaving, dyeing, shoemaking, woodworking, welding, printing and more.  

Some of the artists featured I was familiar with but some were totally new to me. Melanie has always had the knack for flushing out talent that may be new the larger world. Lotta Jansdotter, Natalie Lete, and Natalie Chanin are women whose work I know. It's nice to read about their stories. It is even more fun for me to explore the other women and men that were new to me - to discover their work and find inspiration in their daily practices. 

Each chapter explores a person, a couple or a school. There are beautiful photographs taken by Rinne Allen. The photographs are arranged in a mixed layout fashion that gives an overview to their craft, tools, supplies, and life. So often books show big beautiful pictures but as we all know - there is only so much room when a photograph takes an entire page. This book almost reads like a good blog post of yesteryear profiling and sharing visuals.

Congratulations to Melanie on another gorgeous book. It is clear that she put her life and soul into this book and we are all the more fortunate for her energy and devotion to the project. 

You can listen to a podcast with Melanie being interviewed by Abby Glassenberg here. 

Melanie is currently on a Book Tour to share Making a Life. You can see the schedule here. 

If you are a fan of craft and art books, I am quite sure you will love this one. Put it on your Christmas wish list or treat yourself immediately. 

Book Review - Henry Wilson's Floral Patterns Of India

This past January when we were starved for color here in western Massachusetts, I discovered the book Floral Patterns Of India via the Quintessence blog. I am not sure how I missed this one as it was published in 2016. It was written and photographed by the very talented Henry Wilson. The book is beautifully presented and was published by Thames and Hudson. It has a silky fabric bright blue colored spine. The paper is very thick and has a somewhat matte but not too matte finish. It is 272 pages long - full of incredible photographs, patterns and color. There is so much inspiration in here that it was hard to pick just a few pages to photograph. 

Floral Patterns of India is jam packed with colorful photos from India. There are photos of places, people, buildings, interiors, and fabrics. Besides the beautiful photos, there are many words to read - a plus for someone who likes to read - besides look at photos. Read books? Do people do that anymore? Sure people read on their screens but do they crack open a book or do they just scroll, scroll, scroll. I do - although not as much as I should. Floral Patterns of India is split into 6 Chapters: Introduction, Repeat Patterns, Borders and Bands, Floral Panels, Ornamental Scenes, and The Drawing Process. 

Look at these crazy goats! 

Throughout the book, there are photos of interiors and exteriors. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Henry Wilson was definitely inspired by the colors, shapes, and patterns of India. So much so that he took the motifs from many of the interiors and then made one color illustrations which are shown opposite the interior it was featured in. For artists, needleworkers, knitters, surface designers, these illustrations are great jumping off points for their own work. At the very back of the book, Henry explains his process and reason for the drawings that accompany many of the photos. They were all done completely by hand without the use of a computer. He cites a tracing paper, ruler, pens, protractor, compass and erasers as his tools. This really blows my mind because they all look to be so accurate as to have been done with the use of a computer. Amazing. Henry cites a book called Jeypore Portfolio of Architectural Details from 1890 as his inspiration - besides all the handmade beauty that he photographed in India. 

Here is the author Henry Wilson. I found this photo on the Thames and Hudson website. Behind him is his wallpaper line called Sariskar that he designed for Osborne and Little. I love these wallpapers.  

Henry Wilson was an incredibly talented photographer who fell in love with India. He wrote seven books on India including Floral Patterns of India which I am sharing here. Unfortunately Henry died in May of 2017 when hit by a car while he was riding his bicycle  in London where he lived. You can see photos of Henry's incredible house here. Check out all there is to learn on his website here. Such an incredible legacy he left but it is so sad he was taken from the world so early. 

Book Review - The Maverick Soul

It's been a long time since I have written about any books I have discovered and fallen in love with. There are not a lot of books that come out these days that really speak to me. But this one -- The Maverick Soul -- by Miv Watts with photos by Hugh Stewart - is one I can't stop looking at. Published in Australia by Hardie Grant Books (a publisher that really does gorgeous books), is one I have turned to again and again. I have had it for a while now (it was published in 2017) and thought I would share it with you all.

The Maverick Soul - Inside the Lives and Homes of Eccentric Eclectic and Free-spirited Bohemians is a look into the homes of artists, designers, and generally very interesting people. Miv Watts - the author - is a stylist and decorator who has also been involved in the film business. She lives between Australia and the south of France. She is also the mom of actress Naomi Watts. As you can imagine with a career as such, Miv would know interesting folks who might live in interesting homes and locales. This book is a look into 25 homes of these people. I didn't know who any of them were - except for Marianne Faithfull and Raffaella Barker (author). 

The photos were taken by Hugh Stewart and they are lush, full of texture and layers. Nothing looks very styled or perfect - more as if the photos were taken by a friend when just walking in the door. There are lots of beautiful still lives of corners of homes. 

Each person's home is a chapter and there is a page and half of words about each featured home owner and how they came to live in their home. Miv is an engaging writer and as I turned the pages to discover a new house or person, my world was opened up to new places and thoughts. From the Introduction, she writes "In the course of a life, if one is lucky, one meets a few people who leave a mark, touch the heart, turn a switch, leave a print on the soul. Such mentors can have an impact on one's future and they can be the inevitable catalysts of change."  There are many more moving thoughts and passages as each person and home is revealed. 

Here are some photos of pages from the book with links to some of the featured homeowners - there are 25 homes and people featured so this is a smattering. (I've given you quite a rabbit hole to fall down with those links!) 

If you are a home junkie or like to read about interesting people and places, check out The Maverick Soul. 

Simon Finch - Antiquarian Book Dealer and his home Voewood

Griffin Dune - Writer, Producer, Director, Actor - this is one of two Americans featured

Bruce Goold - Artist, Textile Designer and Aussie Icon

Victoria Alexander - Decorator, Photographer

Patrick Deedes-Vincke and Isabelle Townsend (daughter of Peter Townsend)

Nancy Howard - Artist, Philanthropist

Desmond MacCarthy - Farmer, Restauranteur at Wiveton Hall

Rebecca Purcell - Stylish, Philosopher and former Display Director at ABC Carpet in NYC

Melissa North - Interior Designer

Miv Watts' own home in the south of France

The back cover of The Maverick Soul