More Knitting at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly, Mary Cassatt, 1880.

Mary Cassatt's plein-air portrait of her sister doing needlework is part of a wonderful exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.  In a sort of kindred-spirit tableau vivant, knitting was also on display in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, as part of the Member Make and Mingle program. In this program, free for members and up to four of their guests, about 50 women (and some men) brought yarn and needles into the Shapiro Courtyard.  Beginning at 9 am, an hour before the regular opening schedule, we sat on comfortable chairs, couches and stools and manipulated our needles and yarns. A knitter who also teaches first grade engaged us in a round of brief introductions and descriptions of our projects. The lighting was much better than in an earlier incarnation of this activity.

Busy knitters in the Shapiro Courtyard.

Skilled hands at work.

My friend Robin knits with hand-spun yarn.

Soft mohair yarn spilling out of a bag with matching handles.

When we learn about artwork in reproduction, either in print or online, it's easy to overlook the element of texture - on pages and screens, subtle surface qualities are hard to perceive and appreciate. Moreover, we must interact with artworks in a museum visually - no touching allowed!  So, working with yarn, from smooth worsted to fuzzy angora - reconnects us to the tactile appeal of objects.

Scarf in a sort of sampler style.

Knitter wearing her creations.

Knitting in company.

Dale Chihuly's Lime Green Icicle Tower looms over knitters.

Knitting is also one of the ways folks who think they are not artists nevertheless demonstrate that creativity extends beyond the traditional plastic arts. Conjuring objects from skeins of yarns  requires decisions about color, texture and form, as well as technical mastery.

Sweaters in purple and lime green.

The event was a sort of delightful fashion show as well, as many knitters wore their own beautiful garments, such as the sweater in the image below.

Expert work and great colors.

Coffee and cables.

Finally, another image of a someone engaged in needlework, painted by one of the women artists in the Impressionist movement, Berthe Morisot.  (This painting is also part of the Public Parks, Private Gardens exhibit at the Met.)  I wonder if the young woman's hands were moving as quickly as Morisot's brush, as the painter worked at her easel in the garden capturing the atmosphere and light of the moment.

There are two more Knitting in the Galleries sessions this spring: May 5 and June 2.

Young Woman Knitting, Berthe Morisot, c. 1883

Quilts Japan at the New England Quilt Museum

Miiko Kuwahara, I want to be a Tree.

In March a friend and I visited the New England Quilt Museum to take in Quilts Japan, on view through April 21, 2018. This exhibit features 35 quilts from the biannual competition sponsored by the Japan Handicraft Instructors' Association (JHIA).  As always, the workmanship is outstanding, and many of the quilts bring an imaginative spin to traditional patterns. Japan has a very large cohort of quilters and a long history of exceptional artistry in textile arts.  To my delight, many of the quilts in the show are hand-quilted.

Here, in no particular order, are some images from the exhibit.

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I want to be a Tree, detail.

Ayumi Asano, Good Luck.

Good Luck, detail.

Visitors of all ages enjoy the show.

Miyuki Kuwahara, A Summer Afternoon.

Akiko Sumiyoshi, Round Dance.

Round Dance, detail.

Yuko Maekawa, Ring.

Ring, detail.

Yoko Kagegama, Sparkling until the End.

Takako Kita, Oriental Baltimore.

Oriental Baltimore, detail.

Makiko Nakamura, Under the Eternal Starlit Sky.

Under the Eternal Starlit Sky, detail.

Seiko Hasumoro, Prayer for Peace.

Prayer for Peace, detail.

Takako Iwai, Circulation.

Circulation, corner detail.

Toshii Naoi, A Corridor of Memories, detail.

Meiko Hara, Spinning a Happy Moment.

Toshiko Tanaka, Peony Flower.

Peony Flower, detail.

Hikeko Ozawa, Nostalgia.

Mikiko Narita, Cool Breeze.

Cool Breeze, detail.

Mami Noda, Fragments of Snow.

Fragments of Snow, detail.

Norika Sakurai, Raindrops.

Harue Konishi, SYO #80.

SYO #80, detail.

Takako Oikawa, When Night Melts into Morning.

Keiko Ohno, Triangles to My Heart's Content.

Triangles to My Heart's Content, detail.

Hitsuko Kawano, Endless Waves.

Endless Waves, detail.

Valentine's Day Crafts, or a bunny for your honey

Happy - hoppy? - Valentine's Day.

So, Valentine's Day is approaching and I have leftover red wool yarn. What to do? Make a pom pom of course!

The new toy in my studio is a set of Clover pom pom makers. As you can see the language on the packaging is Japanese and my Japanese is non-existent; however, Youtube is filled with tutorials on making pom poms with this gadget.

Lamb's Pride yarn, Clover pom pom maker set.

Ready to cut yarn.

Sharp scissors needed to cut through all the wraps.

The only tricky bit is tying the pom pom - red yarn is looped around that grove you see in the image above to tie the pom pom strands in place.  Once wrapped around the groove, the two ends of the red yarn are pulled tight as can be and knotted several times.  It is difficult to pull the yarn tight enough to hold all the strands of the pom pom securely in place. I think old reliable waxed dental floss might be the way to go - it doesn't slip during tying, and is virtually unbreakable.  I will try dental floss with my next batch of pom poms, then overwrap with a matching yarn tie.

Two halves of the pom pom maker pulled apart - voila!

The bunny template is from https://mrprintables.com/pom-pom-animals-valentines-cards/ .  This site is affiliated with https://pommaker.com/. Their "donut" pom maker is cute but I found it harder to use than the Clover model. Could just be me. 

I printed the  bunny and bear templates onto card stock, being sure to print in "landscape" mode after enlarging the templates to "100%" in the top menu.

Bunny and bear templates.

Bear and tulips.