Fern Stitch Embroidery on Handknits from Color By Kristin - Bloomsbury Gloves

Photo John Gruen Courtesy Sixth and Spring Books

The photo above shows my Bloomsbury Gloves knit from my Julia Yarn from my book Color By Kristin. I have now completed uploading the series of video tutorials on all the embroidery stitches you will need to decorate these gloves: French Knots, Fern Stitch, Lazy Daisy, and Spider Web. You can find them on a new link on my sidebar at left. I really do hope that some of you try to add embroidery to your handknits. It isn't hard - as you will see by watching the videos!

Here is the last one - Fern Stitch Video Tutorial......

After you watch it you should be also able to make the leaves on my Sunflower Pillow (pattern available as PDF download here) as shown on the close-up below:

Enjoy!

Lazy Daisy Embroidery Video Tutorial on Handknits from Color by Kristin

Here is number two of three videos I've just finished editing to help you learn embroidery on handknits. This video shows how to make Lazy Daisies - a very easy embroidery stitch. After you watch it, you should be able to make petals and small leaves on your handknits.

 

New Video Tutorial - Spider Web Embroidery on Knits

Do you know what "Spider Web Embroidery" is?  It is a technique that I add to many of my knits after they are complete. This embroidery technique isn't hard to do but it sure does look fancy. Here is a nice close-up of it. It is the dark green center of the flower.

You can see "Spider Webs" on the Bloomsbury Gloves from Color By Kristin. They are the center of the flowers. (The book is available on my website or at your LYS). Notice how they look raised - almost like sculpture... I love this look!

Bloomsbury Gloves from Color By Kristin Photo John Gruen courtesy of Sixth and Spring Books

They make the polka dots on this Felted Tea Cosy.....

Felted Tea Cosy from Knitty.com Spring 2006

And the large polka dots on these slipper socks...

Macarons Slipper Socks Available at Knitty.com Fall 2009

They are playful and fun to do and will give your knitting a new sense of adventure and style! And now I present to you a video tutorial on how to make a "spider web." I'm hoping that by having these videos available to you, you will be more adventuresome at adding embroidery to your knits. I teach these techniques at workshops. This stitch is usually the technique the students enjoy doing most! Give it a try! The video is also available on YouTube here.

The Felted Tea Cosy Pattern is available here on Knitty.com

The Macarons Slipper Sock Pattern is available here on Knitty.com

More Knitting Inspiration, Beth Brown-Reinsel, and a Sneak Peak at things to come....

Last winter, there was a great giveaway over at the Webs blog featuring my book Color by Kristin and enough yarn for a project from the book. The lucky winner was Carol Ozimek who lives in Lake Tahoe. Carol chose the "Over the Top" Shawl which I blogged about here. Carol writes a lovely knitting blog called "And All That Yarn."I bet Carol's Over the Top Shawl is going to come in pretty handy this winter in Lake Tahoe. Thanks for the photo Carol! You did an amazing job on the shawl!


So now a sneak peak at something that won't be ready for awhile..... Friday I spent most of the day with Beth Brown-Reinsel. Do you know Beth? Well, if you don't, you need to get to know her and all the incredible traditional knitting techniques she teaches. Beth is the author of the classic knitting book KNITTING GANSEYS and a true knitting master at many traditional techniques. She travels throughout the USA and abroad teaching. And guess what, Beth lives only 25 minutes from me in Brattleboro.

Knitting Ganseys has been the go-to book for this extremely popular sturdy fisherman gansey from the British Isles. (Old photo from this website here.) Originally published by Interweave, it was in print for 17 years. Amazing. When Interweave decided to let it go just this past year, Beth took it upon her to re-publish it herself. And not only has she self-published it but she has starred in her very own, professionally produced DVD called what else but "Knitting Ganseys." It is hot off the DVD press and you can order both the book and the new DVD from Beth's Etsy Shop here. Beth is an amazing teacher - so patient and kind and is a favorite teacher at guilds and yarn stores. Her video is a perfect companion to the book or for someone who isn't fortunate enough to squeeze into one of Beth's popular classes. Here's a little preview of it.



So what were Beth and I doing Friday? I'll just say that we spent the day in my studio with a Flip camera. You'll have to wait until January to see the fruits of our labors. Hop on over to Beth's Etsy Shop for Beth's BRAND NEW DVD for a great gift for that hard to buy for knitting friend. And in January I'll be running a giveaway featuring some Beth Brown-Reinsel items so stay tuned! Boy, did we have a fun day - laughing our heads off. Lots of knitting bloopers! I wonder if Tom Bergeron is interested? I doubt it... Good weekend everyone! Better start the Christmas shopping soon!

More Inspiration from My Fabulous Readers

Continuing on the theme of inspiration from knitters out there in knitting land.....
From Donna Pilkington: "I emailed you a while back after knitting the colorful scarf for my granddaughter....she wears it all the time with her Corky (Fall River, MA) coat. She hates to wear hats and gloves so the scarf wrapped around the coat hood works well."

"For the glove part, I thought of making her fingerless mitts on a cord but reasoned that she would not wear them unless her Mom, Nonna and Zia (aunt) wore them. For Thanksgiving, we all wore our mitts as we walked DC. I was knitting them up to the last moment after making the last minute decision to drive thru the night given I 95 holiday traffic; the decision sorely cut into my knitting plan. I never did get a pic of all 4 of us wearing them but I send along a pic of my pair."


More from Donna: "I read the directions for your 'holiday gift' on your blog (thank you). For the ones I made, I did not do a thumb gusset as it would interfere with the color pattern. Instead, at the point of the thumb opening, I knit on stitches with waste yarn and then transferred them back and continued on in pattern, going back to that spot at the end and making the thumb. I was very pleased with the result and little Sophia indeed wears them, much to her parents pleasure."

The photo below shows Donna's thumb treatment:


I love these - don't you? And I recognize many of the charts from my book Color by Kristin. Nice job Donna!

From my friend Cathy Payson: "Hi KN: Attached are pictures of a Valentine Card I got. Chloe and Maxine are the girls from Chicago that I made the sunflower hats for. Cute! Just thought you'd like to see."


Here is the original link with a story about The Sunflower Hat. It is from my contribution to Mags Kandis' book Folk Style.

And lastly from Laura and in keeping with the season.....

"Hi Kristin -I just wanted to thank you for the inspiration that your style gives me. I love the play of color and combining two needle crafts to create a collage like expression. The design of the stocking was designed to show the joy and excitement of my new Great Nephew Erick. Thank you, Laura aka Flowerknitter on Ravelry"

Wow - isn't that the most beautiful Christmas stocking. Look at all the details! That lucky little boy Erick! And he won't have a clue how lucky he is until he goes to friends' houses and sees their plain Christmas stockings.

Happy weekend everyone! Keep the needles clicking.

Inspiration from Readers!

In the past week I have received a few photos and emails from knitters who are enjoying Color By Kristin, my latest book and some of my PDF Instant Download Patterns. If there is anything that is rewarding about writing books and designing, it is seeing what other knitters do with my designs and projects. I love to see the different color combinations they come up with. I thought I would share some of them with you today and if I'm lucky, I will share some more tomorrow.

From EuJane: "Hi Kristin:I'm a huge fan--your book swept the creative cobwebs from my eyes. I've been using EZ engineering and your palette/designs. I'll attach one picture--thank you so much for the inspiration!!--EuJane (my ravelry name is cellogirl2)"

EuJane made a take-off on the "Southwest-Style Wrap with Sleeves." You can see my original here. Isn't hers fab? Here is the link to the Ravelry page for this project.


Next up is a pillow from Lisa Elswit: "Hi Kristin - Just wanted to show you my finished pillow. I diverted somewhat from your pattern and had a wonderful time! Thank you for the inspiration! I took your class @ Webs. Best Wishes, Lisa"


Here is my original pillow which was featured in this post about the sadly defunct House and Garden Magazine which featured my work. This pattern is available on my shop page here and is called the Turkish Motif Pillow.

From Stephanie Woerner: "Hi Kristin - I thought you'd like to see the hat I made this winter using your Farmgirls pattern for my Knitting Olympics Project. I did not embroider it because it was going to a man and I wasn't sure what he'd think of embroidery. It was a dream to knit. Thank you for spending the time to create the pattern. I had a lot of fun with it and now my husband would like a version (he's open to brighter colors too). Best, Stephanie"


Here is the link to my original post about the "Farmgirls' Stocking Cap" Pattern. If you didn't read my first post about Farmgirls it is one of my very favorites I have ever written. Here is that link! The pattern is available on my Shop Page Here.

Signed copies of Color by Kristin are available in my Shop Page Here. I go to the post office everyday so if you need a copy of it for a friend or loved one - I can help you out!

Keep knitting everyone! Only 9 days left!

Back to School, Back to Work

I've just spent a couple of weeks doing pretty much nothing work/knitting/craft/studio related and spent every waking minute with Julia and a few with The Farmer when his haying/our farmer's markets' schedules worked. Now it is September 1st and Julia is back to school and I am overwhelmed by all there is that needs to be done! I know all mothers feel this way when summer vacation ends. We'll all get through it - just remember to breathe everyone!

In my haste to keep up the blog a bit while I was away I forgot to share with you all one really exciting thing that happened to me! I already shared with you this...


It is my newest design in the Fall 2010 Vogue Knitting. Knit in my Julia Yarn, of course. One thing I forgot to share with you is an idea for customizing this design using the many extra charts in the back of my newest book Color by Kristin. You might wonder what is significant about this. Here's the thing - the design in VK has raglan shaping and is an easy fitting design in a large range of sizes. Most of the garments in Color By Kristin are straight with drop shoulders. So this design gives you another shape to play with all the extra charts that are included in my newest book. In the book, I give complete instructions for how to plug in and substitute different charts. If you are trying to spread your knitwear design wings, this is a great way to begin. The book is of course available signed on my website here.


So here is the big news...... As I told Julia I've been waiting for 25 years for this one.... There is a two page article in the new VK profiling me! It's called "Kristin Nicholas, In Living Color" and it is in their new section called "Knit Life." Isn't that really great? Wow - I am over the moon about this. VK has always been one of my favorite knitting mags so it is a real honor to be included. Thank you Trisha and all the other staff at Vogue Knitting for this great feature.


And here is some more exciting news. Vogue Knitting is doing a giant event in their hometown - NYC! and I've been invited to teach at it. I can't wait! The dates are January 21 to 23, 2011. Here is the link to VOGUE KNITTING LIVE - THE EVENT!

Hope to see some of you in Minneapolis in a couple weeks where I will be teaching at the giant "CREATIVE CONNECTION!" You can check out all that is to offer here on their website. What a wonderful roster of teachers they have put together for all kinds of
creative endeavors!

That's it for today.... Back to work - ooohhhh - where did the summer go?

Never Not Knitting Podcast and Julia Yarn and Color By Kristin Book Giveaway

A little while ago, I was interviewed by the lovely Alana for her "Never Not Knitting Podcast." The interview is now up and you can find it here: http://nevernotknitting.blogspot.com/2010/04/nevernotknitting-podcast-episode-34.html

Being on a podcast is always a thrill for me. I sit here all alone doing my thing, wondering if anyone cares a bit about the stuff I'm working on and then along comes an energetic young woman who wants to talk to me and broadcast me around the internet. How nice of Alana to be interested and so kind. And by the way, Alana found me through the always wonderful Susan B. Anderson. So thank you Alana and Susan!

And now to make the day even better, the fine folks at Westminster Fibers/Nashua Handknits donated 12 amazing colors of my Julia Yarn for a giveaway over on Alana's blog. Here's the link to sign up for the giveaway! Besides the yarn, if you win, you'll also get a copy of my new book Color By Kristin donated by the fine folks at Sixth&Spring Publishing. How's that for fun?

Stop on by Never Not Knitting to sign up and check out all the other podcasts Alana has done! As my Gram used to say, she's such a clever girl! Thank you Alana! The contest ends May 1st! Go sign yourself up!

Check This Out!

I just found this post by Kathy via my "google alerts." She made the Best Friends' Pullovers from Color By Kristin for her two granddaughters out of Julia and did an amazingly beautiful job. Congratulations Kathy! These are the first finished Best Friends' Pullovers I have seen and I'm so excited to see them. I hope her granddaughters love them! They are indeed lucky little girls.

Things are busy here but I'll be back soon. In the meantime, check out this video... sent to me by my friend Cathy Payson.

Chain Stitch Tutorial on a Heart Swatch

It's been a while since I've uploaded a video for you all. In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day Celebration, I finally finished editing this little Chain Stitch Tutorial which shows a knitted heart being embroidered with Chain Stitch.



This little swatch was part of the prototype for the designing process that became The Many Hearts Baby Afghan from my book Color By Kristin. Here's the photo by John Gruen from the book. Our little kitten Annika Sue is asleep on the blanket on a doll bed.


Here's the blanket hanging on a fence outside our farmhouse. The blanket is made by knitting 9 separate hearts. They are then sewn together to form the center of the blanket. A circular needle is used to pick up all the stitches all the way around the four sides. The mitering at the corners causes the blanket to grow. I love this project and I've heard that many of you are making it. It's a great project for a knitting group to make together for a new mom and her baby. Each knitter can make a square. The blanket can be passed around and each member can make a few of the stripes.


You can order a signed copy of Color by Kristin here on my Shop Page.

Every Day - The Same but Different

Every day during lambing there are regular chores. First off, is to check for newborns and to make sure no ewes are having trouble delivering. Next, each lamb and mother is put into a pen for a bonding day or two. Every lamb's umbilical cord is dipped in iodine to prevent infection shortly after birth.

All day there is the feeding of hay, haylage, water, and some grain to help the mothers' milk prosper. Every day is the same but different. Our guard llama Jeremy and donkey Eeyore live amongst the sheep and lambs. I really think they love lambing season and are keeping watch over all the little ones. I bring them each an apple every time I visit the barn.



When I look back on my blog over the past few years, I see how regular our year is. The colors on the blog in the winter are very brown, ecru, and mud tinged. There isn't a lot of bright dyed color in any of my winter photos, with the exception of a blue sky once in a while or a bright yellow water bucket, numbers painted on the side of a lamb, or Julia's hot pink coat and her multi-colored mittens. It's no wonder I crave knitting with color in the winter... every thing looks so bleak. Lots of cuteness but lots of neutral tones.

Here's a pair of Slipper Socks I made for my sister Lynn as a Christmas gift. They are from the Family of Slipper Socks from my new book Color by Kristin. I added my own little festive touch to them for my very colorful sister with the addition of a bobbled edge. You will find complete instructions for customizing all of the projects in the book in the Glossary section of this book.

Linda Perman of the LindaMade blog is hosting a Color By Kristin Giveaway over on her blog. She did a wonderful review of the book and even went as far as to make a baby's pair of slipper socks from the same pattern as my sister's above. Linda is an extremely talented crochet and stitchery designer who has lots of fun and colorful projects on her blog. She is the author of a great crochet book called Crochet Adorned.

Check out the LindaMade contest if you are feeling lucky! The contest ends tomorrow - Tuesday, January 12th. If you aren't feeling lucky, you can order my book directly from me on my shop page here.

The Day Before Real Life Starts Again

Oh, how I remember the night before I had to go back to school after Christmas vacation. My stomach was all tied up in knots and I could barely sleep. The entire Sunday before the Monday my four sisters and I would play with our Christmas toys and anticipate going back to school the next day, wishing beyond hope that Sunday or January 1st hadn't arrived. I’m sure there was a lot of bickering as there always was. I’m also sure my mom couldn’t wait for Christmas vacation to be over so she would have a bit of time to breathe. I remember crying in bed while trying to go to sleep. Sleep was so hard to come by that night…… I remember this all as if it were yesterday.

But it isn’t yesterday. It is over 40 years later. Yesterday, I spent a wonderful day with my daughter doing absolutely nothing. We didn’t leave the house except for a quick walk up the hill in the whipping wind and blowing newly fallen snow.

Julia lay on the couch working on her finger knitting, watching her new favorite DVD Full House (she has a crush on John Stamos). I worked a bit on my computer fixing an upcoming pattern for you all (stay tuned later this week).


Late in the morning, I made chicken stock. I emptied the bags out of the freezer full of all kinds of odd chicken bones, chicken carcasses and leftover cooking liquids. I save all the leftover bones from any meal we have with chicken, toss them in a plastic bag and stow them in the freezer until there are enough to make a huge pot of chicken stock. Sometimes I have to fight the cats for the bones – it’s pretty even – the cats are sometimes quicker than moi. How’s that for frugal? I always feel good about making chicken stock because I am actually making a meal out of something many people would throw away.

When The Farmer came home from checking on the new lambs, our chicken soup was ready for lunch complete with homemade egg noodles. Did you ever make homemade egg noodles? Really easy, no special tools required except for a rolling pin. Follow an egg fettucine recipe……

Then I coerced Julia into modeling her Christmas gift of “slipper socks” from my book. “Oh, Mommy, please….” Me, “please….” Her, “Should I do it just like Margaret?" Margaret is the model on the couch from Color by Kristin. “Yes, thank you.” It wasn’t much of a stretch for her considering she was already laying on the couch working on her finger knitting.


We watched our new Christmas DVD Julie and Julia, baked a batch of chocolate shortbread cookies, and drank tea and hot cocoa. It was a perfect day.


(Pillow in the background of the photo above from Color by Kristin too.)

Now it is today, the day life gets back to “normal." I couldn't sleep last night, just like when I was a little kid -- except that I was worrying about lots of grown up things that I hadn't thought about in a couple of weeks. I think that is the great thing about the holidays. You can suspend your life and forget about all the real pressures that are out there all around you every day - paying bills, visiting doctors, getting to school or work on time, changing the bald tires, paying the mortgage and taxes, worrying about the world, and of course, eating whatever you want. And so it is a whole year now until next year at Christmas when we can sink into our own little holiday heaven.

I hope you all have a Happy 2010 ahead full of color and knitting and stitching and creating. From our farm to yours.......

p.s. Susan B. Anderson of the Itty Bitty Series of knitting books is having a giveaway over on her blog of TWO copies of Color by Kristin. Check it out! Thanks so much to Susan for all the kind words about my book. She is one of the most talented designers I know and super nice to boot!

All about Pink Today

The other day I wrote about Julia's pink obsession. It was so much fun to hear about all the other girls and women out there who love or hate pink. It seems that every time I write a post about color, I get some really great comments. Color is such an important part of my life and so many other knitters, stitchers, quilters, and artists. It is great to be passionate about color because it just makes life so much more fun!

The other day, a couple of my good friends came over for our annual "build little birch houses" party. Let's just say it is now an annual event. Last year, on the day we were having our first "birch house holiday party" we had a massive snowstorm. After digging Clara's car out of the snowbank and having our neighbor Jason tow her up the hill, Kay decided to go home. Our first party was an event in its own. This year, the snow stayed away and we spent the afternoon covering little boxes with natural stuff. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season.


Julia wanted her house to be pink! What a surprise. Here's the house I made her which she glittered away in pink, pink, and more pink. (This isn't the easiest project for little kids - all the cutting and fitting of the birch bark is quite tedious.) I think the pink is beginning to grow on me!


And so to continue the Pink Talk, here's a project I've been knitting for Julia as a Christmas gift. The pattern is The Family of Slipper Socks from my new book Color by Kristin. Julia has been hinting that she'd like a pair. I knew they had to be pink or pink themed. I dug through my knitting bag and pulled out a bunch of pinkish Julia Yarn. Then I combined it with pink and magenta's complement (on the color wheel) green.


I just love complementary color combinations. I use them all the time in my work. Although many people find them garish, I think they are just so much fun! Think pink zinnias against their green leaves or magenta cosmos - just beautiful and so cheerful. Just what I want to knit on a snowy day in the midst of winter.

So here they are. I used lots of colors for the garter section. I kept mixing pink and green shades into the garter stitch. To avoid having all the ends on one side of the slipper, I used circular needles and kept slipping the work back in forth. Sometimes the garter stitch was regular Knit 2 rows. And sometimes it was Purl 2 rows. Get it?


Oh, wow, and all those ends to weave in, you say? I don't mind at all. I keep them by the telephone with a tapestry needle and weave in while I talk. It goes fast and the result is so pretty.


Here's the inside of the work.


And here is the outer side of the work.


I'll finish them up and post another photo next week once I get the edging on them.

There's still time to ship books before Christmas! Once again, I'll gladly sign them to you or a loved one. Hop on over to the shop, if you are interested.

Happy Weekend Everyone.

The Odyssey and Jane

I'll be over down at The Odyssey Bookshop in So. Hadley tomorrow from 2 to 3:30 for any local knitters who would like a signed copy of any of my books. I'll be bringing some projects for touching and feeling. There will be other authors there and sounds like a festive event. Please come and say hi if you can! (Oh, my, I just found out who else is going to be signing - I'm soooo excited to meet some of these people I have heard about and read for years.)

I'm sure you all know and love Jane Brocket's blog Yarnstorm. It is one of my favorite reads. Jane is such a great photographer and writer. I admire all she manages to fit into her on-line presence considering she is also a mom to three, a wife and a writer of many books. Check out her blog if you don't know it. And her book The Gentle Art of Domesticity which was published here in the US by STC.

The other day Jane included my new book Color by Kristin on her Wednesday post. Thank you Jane! I love how she mixes in all kinds of things to her blog. I think that's what makes it so appealing to me. There is crafting, baking, and all that kind of thing and then she adds film, writing, poetry, and all kinds of other bits and bobs. Jane has a new quilting book coming out in January. Let's hope someone brings it into the States!

Book Signing Holiday Event and Color by Kristin Preview of The Little Shepherd's Scrap Yarn Scarf

First up, I'll be at The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA this Saturday, December 12 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. I was very happy to be asked to come to their "Holiday Author Event." If you have never been to The Odyssey, it is a wonderfully warm and friendly bookstore just across from Mt. Holyoke College. It has 3 floors filled from floor to ceiling with all kinds of books. I love browsing in this store! There's a great kids section, lots of wonderful cookbooks and craft books, and wonderful fiction and poetry. I'll have lots of samples with me from my new book and would love to meet you. Stop by and say hi!

My new book, Color by Kristin, has been written up a bunch of wonderful blogs - By Hand, With Heart, LapDog Creations, WhipUp, Art You Wear, American Gypsy Living, and ColorJoy. Thanks to all of you who are helping me spread the COLOR KNITTING FEVER! You are very generous! (I'm sorry if I have missed reviews. I try to link back to blogs as a common courtesy but I'm not perfect.)

This morning, I just realized that I haven't quite finished previewing all the projects from Color by Kristin. Today, let me introduce you to my handsome little friend Matthew who modeled The Little Shepherd's Scrap Yarn Scarf.

Matthew goes to school with Julia and often helps us with our sheep - moving them, setting up stuff. A couple weeks ago, he and another 11 year friend, Ross, helped me re-roof the chicken coop run. Matt loves to be on our farm and around all the animals. When I asked him (and his Mom and Dad) if he would like to be in my book, he said "I'm all over it. Cool." His sister Bridget is in the photo with Julia of The Best Friends' Pullovers.


Matt is wearing the easiest project in the book and one of my favorites. It is knit of about ten different colors of Julia and is a great stash buster. I worked it back and forth on a long circular needle. I'm not going to give away too much here about the project, just suffice it to say it is easy, fun to knit, and a great learning project if you are timid about working with different colors. There is NO STRANDING on this project for all of you who are fearful of working with two colors in one row!

This project is a great choice for beginners and will fit anyone - children, men, and women! The concept could easily be turned into a cosy "scrap yarn afghan" (I'll have to add that to my list!)

As always, you can purchase my books on my website here and I will be happy to sign it to you or a friend. A signed book makes a really nice Christmas gift for any knitter (even you) so drop any hints you want and I'll be happy to set up your husband, mom, boyfriend or friend. If you want the book signed specially to someone, please make sure you add those notes in the "special instructions" section of the order. If not, I will just sign the book generically. If someone isn't web savvy about ordering, they can down-load my order form and send me an old fashioned check. You'll find that Printable Order Form Link at the VERY END of my Shop Page. And thank you for your support.

What could be better on Christmas afternoon than spending time leafing through a new knitting book? Sounds like an ideal day to me.......

The Blog Tour Continues and Introducing THE QUARTERS CAP - a new PDF Downloadable Pattern from Kristin

First off today, I'd like to thank Wendy Johnson of the immensely popular WendyKnits blog for participating in the Blog Tour for Color By Kristin. Wendy is also the author of the popular Socks from the Toe Up. and has a new book coming out next spring called Toe Up Socks for Every Body. Wendy asked me some interesting questions about how I developed the Julia Yarn. And she did a very thorough review of the book. Wendy has two copies of the book available in a drawing, so check out the post here. Thank you Wendy!

And thank you to all of you who have been ordering my new book signed by me through my on-line shop. I can't tell you how much buying direct from me helps us keep this little farm a-running. But please, if you have a local yarn or bookstore selling the book, pleeeeeeaase buy it from them! They need your business more than ever in these difficult economic times!

Now onto what's new here on the farm. I've been busy doing a bit of designing and desktop publishing. Actually, the designing and knitting has been done for eons - it's the desktop publishing that has been done of late. For the past couple years, I've had some lonely little patterns for sale on my website as PDF downloads. I have meant to add to the colletion but life has been too busy. It's only now that the Farmer's Markets are over for the season and that I am not working on another book that I have had time to learn Adobe Indesign and really get my on-line pattern shop going.



Just in time for holiday knitting, I'd like to introduce The Quarters Cap, now available in my shop for immediate down-load. This is the greatest little cap. Here's why you might want to knit one for family and friends for the holidays.

1. The Quarters Cap is knit back in forth in garter stitch with clever and EASY short row shaping to create the crown of the hat.

2. It is sized in 4 sizes - from Baby to Adults.

3. This is one of the most addicting projects I have ever designed. I think I have knit about 10 of these so far! I can't stop! Neither will you be able to....

4. The Quarters Cap is a great stash buster. I knit it with odds and ends of my Julia Worsted Weight yarn.

5. It is a colorful project, but not too hard or colorful for those color-shy knitters.

6. Teenage boys love this hat! My nephews (that's them in the photo) came from Brazil last Christmas without a warm hat. I knit these for them over the Christmas holiday and they never left the house without them. And you probably all know what a hard nut to crack teenage boys are!


7. The Quarters Cap can be knit color-blocked in 4 colors or striped in 2, 3 or more colors. Your imagination is the limit.

8. Men love this hat or let's just say The Farmer loves it. It isn't too tight because the garter stitch stretches out comfortably around the skull.


9. Little girls love this hat - just ask my Julia.


So, hop on over to my shop and order yourself up a copy of this pattern. It is $4.50 and only available here on my site www.kristinnicholas.com.

Thank you!

p.s. The pattern has been proofed by my fabulous tech-editor Lori and is professionally designed and published.

Colorful Feet from Color By Kristin

First off, let me thank the lovely Anne of Knitspot for being part of my blog book tour. You can read her review of my book and an interview she did with me over on her blog post today. It seems that Anne is heading to is a big knitting retreat on the other side of "the hill" in Williamstown that I was not aware of organized by the brilliant Clara of Knitters Review who also has a new book out. (The Hill is the mountain range between here and there commonly referred to as "the Berkshires.") Oh, I am so out of the loop and in my own little world.... Maybe I will get to go one day.

That said, back to my world. I know knitters are starting to think about Christmas gifts and what they can make quickly for all their special people in their lives. Which leads me to the lastest project from Color by Kristin -- The Family of Slipper Socks.

Here's the back-story on this project..... When I was a little girl, my grandmother always made us Christmas presents - handmade nightgowns, crochet vests, lace choker necklaces with embroidered beads. Gram wasn't much of a knitter - in fact if you asked her, she would say she couldn't knit. And she really didn't knit much at all - except for one particular pattern for garter stitch slipper socks. I remember the first year Gram knit me a pair of her pom pom trimmed slipper socks for Christmas in a beautiful maroon color to match my bathrobe. I put them on and didn't take them off.... Every night, I wore them to bed and I credit those slipper socks for my habit of always wearing socks in bed! I loved them to death.

Many years ago, when I was working for TYC, I went on a yarn buying trip to Greece. It was a whirlwind trip full of adventures and misadventures (so much so that it could be an entire chapter in that memoir of mine.... just joking about the memoir). I had the chance to visit produce and bric-a-brac markets and pick up Greek made crafts. At one of the stalls in the antique market, I found 3 pairs of ancient, handspun, moth-eaten slippers.

I snapped them up, brought them back to the States and quickly stashed them in my freezer for safe keeping (so the moths in the US don't get at them). These handknit slippers are one of my favorite things in my textile collection, I must say.

Those Greek Slipper Socks are shown above. Knit at about 9 stitches to the inch out of very tightly handspun wool, I always wonder who made them. The other thing I wonder about it how they survived so long. They really are beautiful little works of knitting art.

For Color By Kristin, I wanted to include an easy version of The Greek Slipper Socks, designed at a friendly gauge of 5 stitches to the inch in my Julia Wool. This project is given in 5 sizes from infant to man's average. Surely you have a loved one who would like a pair of these to snuggle in all winter long! The project begins with garter stitch for half its length - what could be easier! Then it moves on to a little bit of colorwork. I finish the toe with a very easy what I call "mitten shaped tip" that works beautifully on a project like this. I could see adding a giant multi-colored pom pom to a pair of these. For the book project though, I wanted to keep it simple so that it wouldn't be too intimidating for newbie color knitters! Below are 3 of the slipper socks I knit for the book.


And lo and behold when I went to the mailbox the other day, I had a package waiting for me from my friend Therese Inverso. I love Therese's packages - they are always filled with some little textile treasure that she thinks I should add to my collection. In her latest envelope was two pairs of slipper socks. A red and white pair....

And an orange and black pair.

Both of them have little bits of embroidery on them. They seem to be knit of a handspun wool. Therese said her friend Camille knit them for her. Camille is from Iran. Don't you like the center point shaping and the band of colorwork around the upper sole? How lovely. And how lucky am I? Thanks so much Therese!

So you see, the slipper sock thing goes around the world, doesn't it? Make up a pair or two for a Christmas gift if you can fit it in. In fact, I think I'll try to make my little Miss Julia a pair. Poor kid - she's like the cobbler's children with barely a handknit item anymore, now that she is getting bigger.

Enjoy the day! And all of you knitters on the other side of "the hill," have a great time with Clara and crew! As always, don't forget you can order a signed copy of my book from my shop or purchase it at your local yarn store.