Brutal Honesty!

I am a honest person. If I don't like someone, I usually just ignore them.  If I screw up, I admit it. I may be sometimes flowery with my words but it is honestly how I think and write. I enjoy writing this blog because I am writing it for you and for me. I'm not trying to make a big company happy because I don't work for one. Goodness knows, no big corporation would put up with the assortment of things I write about. The Farmer and I work for ourselves, our family, our farm, our land, our art and craft, our animals and for the future of this patch of earth that we are caring for. Most people would think us nuts. Sometimes I agree with "most people" but I just keep going.

Many of my friends work on the fringe of the real world. Some own their own businesses, however big or small they are. They plod along, doing their good work, keeping at whatever it is they are trying to do for the world. Some of my friends are farmers - their dedication is to the future of the earth and to feeding their neighbors good and healthy food. Some of my friends are artists - their dedication is to the beauty of their art. Some of my friends are teachers - their dedication is to their love of learning and showing their students their way.

And then there is my very good friend Candi Jensen. Candi is a knitting and crochet designer and author. Candi and I met over 25 years when we were both working for yarn companies. Candi is passionate about her craft and about sharing her craft with others. That is why she began her PBS television show Knit and Crochet Now. Candi is the reason I am on the show and I thank her for the opportunity.

I doubt most of you know how these PBS shows work so I am going to let you in on it. A producer comes up with an idea and finds corporate sponsors to fund the production of the show. The producer has to pay a PBS station to tape, film, edit, pay for the "experts" to fly in, feed them, and then pay for all the post-production. If there is any money left over, the producer may be able to pay the host, the experts and take a profit. Let's just say that no one involved in K&CN is making anything off of it. The bare minimum to produce a series of 13 shows is $125,000. And this is bare minimum - everything done on the cheap.

Money is really tight for everyone now as if you didn't know. Candi's source of the corporate funding has pretty well disappeared. She is still out looking for corporate underwriters to support the knitting and crochet show and time is running out. She wants to tape a new season so that she can keep spreading the knitting and crochet love. It is an incredibly expensive proposition to say the least.

When the show gets aired on PBS, the individual PBS station does not pay Candi to air it. How crazy is that? The money you give your local PBS station goes to staff the office, pay for the airtime, the satellite feeds, whatever it is that makes t.v. happen. It's all a mystery to me.

Candi produces this show because she wants to keep the knit and crochet world inspired. She has devoted her life to the crafts of knitting and crochet. She wants to spread the stitching love throughout the television world so more people will pick up needles and stitch. It is a huge goal for her. She works alone out of a home office. She calls on friends to devote their time and skills to her cause (that would be me and the other "experts"). Designers donate their projects to be shown on the air. Maybe I get some publicity out of it all but that's not what it is about for me. I do the show to help Candi and so that viewers can better their skills of the crafts I am teaching. I hope that they will pass their skills on to their friends, neighbors, children and grandchildren so that the textile arts will endure for future generations.

So now I would like to ask you to help Candi out! If you have the means and desire, send the show some money so that it can go on. There is a PayPal button below. Click on it and donate what you can. Any amount will help. If you have a blog and would like to add the Paypal code to your site, email me and I can get you set up. Please SPREAD THE WORD!

If you prefer to send a check, send it to:

Candice Jensen Productions

708 Gravenstein Highway, #231

Sebastopol, CA 95472

And if there are any corporate people out there who are wanting to sponsor the show, please e-mail me privately and I will tell you how to get a hold of Candi.

Thank you all for whatever you can give.

My T.V. Show Needs Your Help! + a DVD Giveaway!

...... It's not exactly "my t.v. show" but I got your attention, didn't I? Some of you have probably seen me on PBS's Knit and Crochet Now. I'm one of the knitting experts (the other is Maggie Pace). I just heard from the producer Candi Jensen that yes, she is finally going to be taping Season 4 of Knit and Crochet Now. That's pretty exciting, isn't it? This means that I get to go to Detroit again in May and hang out with Candi, Drew, Brett, Maggie, and Robyn. It all has to come together really quickly. Let's just say FRANTICALLY QUICK!

Here's where I need your help! Candi has asked me for ideas of what to demo. I figure you all know what you need help with (techniques) or the kinds of easy projects that you would like to see. 

If you have a minute, would you kindly leave an idea or two in the comments section. If you can't get that to work, shoot me an email - there is a link on my sidebar to my email address.

And here's what I have for your work/help.... I will be doing a random drawing on Monday. The winner will receive two DVD's including all the shows from Seasons Two and Three of Knit and Crochet Now!

In other knitting news, I'll be at Webs in Northampton, MA on Sunday, March 27th from 1 to 4 p.m. for their Author's Event. Should be a fun afternoon! You have to register but it is free. Check it out here!

Interrupting The Farmer for an Important Knitting Announcement

This Saturday, January 23rd, PBS's Create TV station is holding a Knit and Crochet Now Marathon. Check your local channels for listings. Create TV is one of PBS's digital signals - on our WGBY it is 57-004. I might not cable or satellite or high speed internet service but I get PBS's Create TV! How amazing is that? For those of you who don't know, I am a "knitting expert" on this PBS t.v. show. I go to Detroit once in a while to tape segments. It's been a fun experience and I am over my television appearance jitters for sure.


Julia is threatening to watch her mom on t.v. all day long. I will stay far away from the t.v. when I'm on - I hate to watch myself on t.v! I'm glad I have been given the opportunity, don't get me wrong. Here's the link to the new Knit and Crochet Now website. There are awesome free patterns on it, videos, and you can sign up for the weekly newsletter. The new season is just beginning (we taped it in October). I don't think they will be showing the new season but they will have all the past seasons on this "marathon." Here's the line-up of the shows and the times they will be broadcast. What a way to spend a Saturday - knitting and watching t.v. It all begins at 6:00 a.m. EST. Check it out here! But don't forget to go outside and take a walk!

In other knitting news, I'd like to introduce you to a new, very easy, but extremely colorful "Kristin Nicholas" creation modeled by our own "Julia." Available in my Shop as a instant PDF download, Julia named this sweater and hat set her "Cozy Cap and Pullover." This sweater has been in her rotation of sweaters this winter and it is surely her favorite. I think she may be the only child at her elementary school who wears wool and animal protein blends! We'll see how long this wool-love lasts! She is already showing a partiality to cashmere. I hope she finds a good job! When I look at these photos from ten months ago, I can't believe how much she has changed in looks. Here she looks like a child and now, she is changing so quickly it is scary. It's a good thing I took these photos when I did!

The incredibly beautiful photo I took of Julia in March of 2009 served as our Christmas card this year (see below). What a moody shot. I didn't know what I was catching that day because it was late and dark and the sun was low. You can see the crocheted flowers on the yoke of the sweater which dresses it up a bit. I added French knots to the flowers to make them more realistic. I've got 2 videos on my sidebar I made for you - one for the simple crochet flowers and the other for how to make a French knot.

Let me tell you a little about the day we took these photos - I know you all will get a kick out of it. It was late winter and the weather was finally getting a little warm. Spring was in the air and sugaring was finished. I had finally finished this sweater. In the back of my mind, I was planning to do a bunch of new patterns that would be available on my website, not in my books. The grass was threatening to turn green. Green grass was not the look I was going for so I knit in great urgency. I crocheted and embroidered the flowers, sewed them on and hoped for an overcast day. As luck would have it, no sun was out and the grass only had an inkling of green to it. I picked Julia up from school and told her she had work to do. I promised her $10. Off we went in search of a place on our hill that wouldn't look too springy.

Poor kid, I make her work. I'm not the best photographer and I need to try a lot of variations to get the image I want. The first place we went was our neighbor's field where our sheep often graze. There I got this photo and the Christmas Card. I love the colors, the cloudy sky and Julia's cold look.


In this photo, Julia was dancing. Aren't those red boots the cutest? They were inexpensive rubber boots I picked up at the grain store. Sadly, they no longer fit here. Thank goodness the sweater still does.


Next, we hopped in the truck and moved on to a woodland scene with leaves that were already laying on the forest floor for at least five months. It was still pretty and I loved how the colors of the sweater popped out from the brown and gray background.


I hope you like this new pattern. The yarn and sizing specifics (it is sized for toddlers to children, no adult sizing) can be found on my website here. Here's the thing - even if you are a beginner, you can knit this sweater! It is knit entirely in garter stitch (knit all rows). The stripes are made by alternating colors every second row - it's easy - trust me. The yoke is made all in one color. The instructions are given for knitting the neckline in the round so some purling is involved there. But, if you knit the neckline with one shoulder seam open, you would be able to work the garter stitch back and forth and then sew the seam closed. You can order the pattern here on my shop page.

I think that the simple striping of garter stitch looks so much harder than it is. If you want the stripes to stand out and look stripey, make sure you choose colors that contrast greatly. If you want a more subtle stripe, then chose colors that aren't as dark and light. I used my Julia Yarn in Magenta and Espresso for the base stripes and Blue Thyme for the yoke. There is no end to the variations you could make to this simple striped sweater and cap.

Here's the question for the weekend. This is always something that fascinates me when I go around teaching or run into knitters on the street. So many times they say to me "I only knit. I don't know how to purl." It always blows my mind that there are many people afraid of the purl stitch.

So, do you only knit? Or do you know how to purl too? Do you like to purl or do you disdain it?

The Farmer will be back next week with more answers to your questions. And of course I will have more lamb photos. See you on the tellie (telly?).

A Free Early Christmas Gift for All of You (OR What You Can Do While You Are Recovering From Turkey)

Here's a little project I designed for the Newsletter Readers of the t.v. show I am on PBS called Knit and Crochet Today/Now. Each issue of the television show's newsletter features a free project and a show "expert" connection. I'm the featured "expert" this week. I was asked to design an easy project and the Snowflake Embroidered Ornament Set is what I came up with.

The set includes two snowflake ornaments - one crocheted and the other knitted. I used my Julia Wool/Mohair/Alpaca Yarn in Spring Green, Natural and Geranium, of course. I think they would also be fun in many different colors. You'll need some Elmer's Glue and some cardstock to mount them on.

I knit and crocheted all of these in one night so you can tell this isn't the hardest of projects. The embroidery was completed on all six ornaments in less than an hour.

Download The Snowflake Ornament Collection now and make a few of them while you are recovering from your Thanksgiving Turkey dinner!

Another Color by Kristin Preview + I'm Back from Detroit

I'm back from Detroit after taping six new segments for the upcoming season of Knit & Crochet Today. I'm rather exhausted and trying to fit back into my normal every day life which I welcome.


On my way back, I spent quite a few hours waiting for a plane at the Detroit Airport (which is very nice). I picked up some mags I usually don't read, except for when I am on business trips. In the new issue of MacLife, I stumbled upon this two page spread about Dinglab's Laptop Sock made of "eco-tex" certified 50% acrylic/50% cotton yarn. I just got such a charge out of seeing knitting in this magazine.


Which leads me to my next preview from Color By Kristin. It is a Felted Laptop Cosy which I think is miles prettier than this Dinglab cotton/acrylic version. My laptop cosy is knit in the round in my Julia Wool/Mohair/Alpaca yarn in a lovely Fair Isle pattern and garter stitch stripes using colors Lady's Mantle, Deep Blue Sea, Rock Henna, and Magenta. I designed it to fit 3 different sizes of laptops. I just sent it off to Soho to participate in the traveling trunk show of "Color by Kristin" projects, otherwise I would sure be using it! The finished felted cosy is so thick and lovely. You can order signed copies of my new book here.

Here are some scenes from "behind the scenes" at Knit and Crochet Now - yes, that is a new name! The new season will start airing in January on over 125 PBS stations. There are so many really great projects this year. It was great fun demo-ing them all. I spent hours and hours with Candi Jensen (the Producer), Susan Levin (Candi's assistant and author in her own right), The Host Brett Bara, and "experts" Drew Emborsky, Maggie Pace, and Myra Wood (Robin Chachula's replacement while she is on maternity leave).

Here is the staging area we hung around in while waiting to go on the air.


Here are the needles, hooks and tools we used on air that were supplied by one of the underwriters - Boye Needle Co.


Here's my crocheted afghan and embroidered pillows decorating the blue velvet couch. Don't they look great?? So cheerful.


Here is the overhead camera that films the close-ups of my hands as I am knitting. You have to be careful to hold your work under it and not stick your head into the frame. It's a bit difficult but after some practice I was all set. That is Brett, The Host and Fred, The Floor Manager in the bottom right of the photo.


Here are the stairs where Brett, The Host, introduces and closes the shows. Each time she is filmed, the lights and cameras have to be moved.

Here is the table I demo-ed at.

Here are my "step-outs" all lined up and ready to talk about. Yes, I had to knit all of them.......

Here's more stuff necessary to make the show.



And then, my camera died! These photos don't include the "control room" and all the folks sitting back there!

All in all, this was a great experience. I am so much more relaxed at appearing on t.v now - it's even fun!

I'll be at Stitches next weekend - on Friday and Saturday. When I'm not teaching, I'll be in the Westminster Fibers booth so stop by!