Adélaïde at the castle.

If you’ve been following this series, you’ll know that Adélaïde was the name of the historic botanical artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté , and about whom I posted previously, and her story is that she grew up to be a painter in her own right, just as her father. When I finished the daughter variation of the pattern in the beginning of December, knowing I wanted my niece to model it, I put it in a drawer and it has been waiting to be properly photographed. Well amidst the Christmas flurry of plans, the moment arose with the timing of perfection; the moment when my niece was free, home on her winter break from university, and the moment where the steady forecast of rain cleared for the afternoon, so we got in our cars and shot from opposite ends of the Mayacamas range, toward the castle, the approximate halfway point between, and nailed a perfect photo shoot in a very short time. The sweater is quite small, knit and designed for a young girl of eleven, and barely able to be worn by my niece, who is now a seemingly tall woman of twenty . . . but as the art gods are always on our side it seems, with a little tugging adjustments on the sweater between shots, we managed to wonderfully stage Adélaïde, the Daughter of Redouté Roses for its unveiling. Very pleased am I to see the lovely botanical motifs captured with the stone of the castle, the best place ever to show off the knitted things, and I’m so grateful for the beautiful spontaneous moments shared with my niece!

 

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See all posts Redouté Roses

Sweater Success !

My beautiful younger niece met me at the castle today.

It was so spontaneous!

I am so lucky and grateful that she could do it, because she is leaving back to university in a few days . . .

. . . but even more so because it was such a cool morning

after an impossible record heat wave we’ve had.

She is at home in the castle walls,

having been here so many times to model the endless sweaters . . .

so gracefully, and so genuinely.

And she gave this new design much needed relevance and proportion

because of the super voluminous shaping.

Both looked so lovely when she wore them, but I gave her the grey one, as it is casual and played down, and she loved it the most! I think its everybody’s favorite actually.

Redouté Roses pattern was posted earlier today over here And so now I can put all the yarn away, clean up the loft for a clean slate, and go for a nice walk in the woods, because with the help of my niece’s spontaneous rush to Calistoga for an impromptu photo shoot at the castle, I am now done & dusted with the project. I do think I want to make another one day, cropped dramatically, that would be so fun! (See all posts in the series)

January at the Castle

Yesterday I was finally able to meet both of my nieces at the castle, to give my eldest niece her Fisher Vest and to take a few photos in the swiftly darkening light of the very late afternoon.

I haven’t seen my eldest niece for over a year, since the last time we met in the middle of the worst of the California covid surge, to shoot these photos , remember?

She has been so busy with life as it just flies by us at times, and the pandemic has not helped either. But I must report, she is doing excellently in spite of it all.

We only had minutes before the light was too low, so only time for a few shots. Her birthday was end of the year, and I made her some fingerless gloves, snipped the tips off of the prototype which I had hidden away in a drawer, and ripped back. Fingerless gloves? She loved them. She is also wearing Aria Stole, which sweetens up the vest just a bit more, don’t you think?

Youngest niece stood by as photo assist (we had photo shoot for her & new design last September) and I couldn’t help but take one or two of her, for today she returns to university, and it will be months again before I see either of them. I loved the short time we spent together, closing it with an early dinner on the patio of Villa Corona Taqueria in St. Helena, it was a perfect whirlwind visit!

Solo sweater success!

Youngest niece and I met at the castle today, we took some photos, and then had a picnic in the dappled shade of the oak trees. It was a lovely last summer visit before she leaves to college.  The Sol Inca sweaters have been tucked away for over a year waiting for the day both my nieces could model, but today only my youngest was able to make it. I hope to get another duo photo shoot of them over next winter solstice, but these shall have to suffice for now . . . just a hodgepodge . . . Sol Inca, Calidez Vest, and also a sneak peek at a brand new design that is not quite ready for it’s debut, that is coming just around the corner. Ok, now click 1st image in mosaic and go see the slideshow! 

Patterns: Sol Inca, Calidez Vest , Aria Stole, and Mystery Vest not yet identified.

SOL INCA design came from a well spring of curiosity, where from I researched culture and made many relevant posts in series “Gifts From The Sun”.

Sweater Success!

Today we met at the castle for Autumn Sweaters 2020.

They are wearing my latest sweater design  Sol Inca,

 the “afterthought” pullover. 

The sweaters were so long in the making . . .

jenjoycedesign© sol inca at castle 16

and in the waiting even longer to get together . . .

then with so many tourists milling about the castle, we just made it quick.

Although fewer photos were taken, as usual my nieces were fabulous! 

In closing, SOL INCA design came from a well spring of curiosity, where from I researched culture and made many relevant posts in series “Gifts From The Sun”.

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(click 1st image & see entire slideshow) Â