Finally......

Two days of fixing up, uploading, and figuring out. Why does it all take so long. I took my laptop to the local library to upload, etc. Otherwise, I would still be sitting here, 4 days later, still trying..... Dial-up - what can I say? And all for this:

http://www.cafepress.com/kristinnicholas

Here's the link to my new Cafe Press site where you (and the world) can buy totebags and mugs with my illustrations on them. Six designs so far. Some are from my knitting and stitchery books, some personal artwork.

Hope you like. And thank you for the encouragement a couple weeks ago. I will be adding new illustrations to the product line-up as I can. Will obviously keep you informed.

Spread the word!

A Rooster's Life

This afternoon Julia and I returned from a trip to the paint store and library to find some white rooster feathers and a bit of blood in our parking area. My stomach sank – the white feathers could only belong to one being – Russell Crowe the Rooster. Upon further inspection of the area, I found some more feathers across the road and through the field and couldn’t find Russell. That was it – Russell had to be gone. He was such a nice rooster – never mean nor nasty, always looking out for his girls, gentle with children and cats and me.

I gathered up my thoughts and sadness and got onto the job at hand today. This is the last day without rain for awhile and I did some spray painting of some old wicker furniture I am trying to revive. Mindless work like painting and knitting and crocheting always helps me sort out my feelings and thoughts. I thought about Russell and all my chickens – their lives are short and it isn’t very often that a chicken sticks out from the flock. But Russell did with his regal beauty and fancy, high-stepping walk. I suspected that a fox must have gotten him – I had left the dogs inside to enjoy their chick guarding project. I decided right then that they must be outside from now on all day to protect all the critters around here. They sleep outside at night and that seems to keep the coyotes away from the chickens. They also keep the deer away from the garden (mostly).

When you have farm animals, things happen to them. Monetarily, they aren’t very valuable. If you eat chicken, you know what a 3 lb. chicken is worth in dollars and cents. I try not to get too attached to the farm animals, nor do we name many of them. Our dogs and cats are the exception and once in a while, a rooster or a chicken, a lamb or a sheep. I think - in my mind - that if there isn’t a name associated with a particular animal, it won’t hurt as much when they pass on, go to slaughter or disappear. But it always does hurt, no matter if they are named or not. I still feel bad, sad, and a real sense of loss.

The Farmer came home a few minutes ago. I mentioned Russell. And then he confessed to me – it was him – he ran over Russell when he drove into the yard. Russell usually moved but this time he didn't. It certainly doesn’t make as good of a story as a Mama Fox feeding her babies. But that’s what happened. And I forgave him although Julia hasn't yet.


I know by writing about Russell, I have all of you invested in him. I thank you for contributing the names to the Rooster Naming Contest back in April. Writing about Russell has made even me more attached to him. I'm going to miss looking for him every day and talking to him. Russell had a good long life for a rooster and it was only a matter of time. Most male chickens are fed in factory farms and slaughtered for food at 8 weeks of age. Russell was one of the lucky fellows. He was five years old, I'm guessing, and spent his days looking at the hills, protecting his hens, residing in my mudroom, eating worms and greens and waking us up at dawn. He had more than a good life - he had a fabulous life. At any rate, I’ll miss writing about him and trying to get a good shot of him pecking around with his ladies.

We’ll all miss you Russell.

Country Happenings

The sunflower field has been plowed and harrowed. Last weekend, The Farmer began planting the seeds. Between Sunday and Tuesday, the rain came down in buckets. Nothing compared to the people in the Midwest, but more than enough to rectify the dry ground of last week. There’s a real possibility that the seeds all washed away or will rot before they germinate. There is a reason he never starts planting until late June – the field can quickly become a quagmire and you have to start all over again. Time will tell…..

Early this morning there was a loud knock on the door. That usually means only one thing – the sheep are out. I ran upstairs to find some clothes and let The Farmer do the “Come on in” thing. When I got back downstairs, I found out that the sheep weren’t out. It was just Brad Baker delivering our annual invitation to the Landowner’s Barbeque put on by the Vermont Coyote Association. It’s an annual “thank you” for allowing the hunters "the privilege to use our land for their sport."

I’m dying to go to one of these events, but every year, I seem to have some other obligation. Once again, I've got to miss it this year. It's such a social contrast to last weekend in NJ sitting around a pool eating chips and dip. I’m sure the menu will be similar, it’s just the people who will have different interests.

Two weeks ago, the coyotes knocked down the electric fence and killed two ewes and that sweet little black lamb that was born up on the hill that I told you about not too long ago. It seems like a fine arrangement we have with the coyote hunters – there’s always plenty of coyotes around and no matter how many they manage to hunt, more still prey on our sheep every year.

The sheep are working their way down the giant hill they are grazing. Every evening, the fence gets moved a little giving them more grass to eat. The coyotes haven't been back since that night a couple weeks ago. It's hard to keep everything safe - we just try our best and deal with what nature throws our way.

Farm Update

Summer is upon us. Last week, I broke down and bought started vegetable seedlings from one of the greatest places in the world – Walker Farm in Dummerston, VT. I felt so totally silly, picking up a 6-pack of haricort vert bean seedlings. But boy do I feel like a genius now – my entire vegetable garden is planted with vegetables to enjoy in a couple months. I don’t have to worry about the seedlings competing with the weeds – the plants are already big enough to prosper. Now if we can get to that mulching, life could be easier.

The kittens have left our house….. Poor Mama Lilly Pons hasn’t stopped looking for them. My heart is breaking for her. Gretchen went to live with her half-brother from one of last year’s litters down in NJ. My friend Liz and her family adopted Mr. Sophie and Thomasina. I feel fortunate that we found such good homes for the sweet little things. It has been quite an emotional roller coaster for Julia - she takes her kittens seriously. The tears have been flowing like a river. Another heart-breaker for me, watching her. Things sure are quiet without the three little kittens chasing each other all over the place, waking us up at 4:42 in the morning, and knocking down stacks of magazines all over the floor as they jumped from pile to pile.

My baby chicks are STILL in the house. They’re not exactly babies anymore – their wings are all in and they are starting to look like official chickens. It’s about time they move on out to the hen house. But with all the rain coming and still more today, I’ve got to let the ground dry out a little for fear they will float away in the mud. When I do move them out, the dogs are going to be really bored. This is their standard operating position for most of the day – one dog on each side of the box, poised to herd the chicks if one escapes.

Truth be told, they are hoping desperately that a chick will escape so they can chase it into a corner until one of the humans saves the chicks from the dogs.

My hen house has been a drama in itself. I’ve had four setting hens for weeks now. I’ve given up collecting eggs because these old girls are determined to hatch something. On Sunday, one of the Silkies actually hatched a little one. She is so proud of her baby. Trying to get a good photo of the little thing is plain difficult. After chasing it around for a couple minutes, the mama finally lost her temper and flew wildly at me. I gave up… She definitely won that one.

Remember good old “Russell Crowe?” He is still residing in the mudroom. Over the weekend while Julia and I were delivering Gretchen the Kitten to NJ, six of my Aracauna laying hens moved in with him. The hens lost patience with the setting hens in the coop and are sleeping on the benches on the mudroom and are laying their eggs in in the grain boxes. At least we have eggs to eat. My friend Lori says I should just rip the mudroom off and burn it. I’m sure my mom will second that notion when she reads this. I know that with a little scrubbing and bleach, that mudroom can shine again. Not that it has ever really shined since I put the paint on it. It has been a downhill slide...... I always get such a kick out of looking at those perfect mudrooms in Martha Stewart Living or the swanky catalogs complete with the perfectly arranged boots all lined up in a row. Sure they are styled after working mudrooms in old farmhouses --- but please people - get real. Live on a farm a couple days without any extra housecleaning help and see what happens. Mud means mud! And it is brown. But water washes it off, thank goodness.

After writing and re-reading this, I think it is the animals who are winning around here. “Animals rule” (as Julia would say) here on our funny farm.

Beautiful but ......

How can something so beautiful that smells so sweet .....


cause such grief?

Around here, wild roses (also called multiflora roses) are nothing but trouble to any farmer who is trying to keep their pastures healthy and productive. They come up everywhere and before you know it, they are huge mounds of prickery shrubs that get bigger by the year. Our sheep will eat them when they are young and tender but once they get to be any size, they become shade for them.

As with most invasive plants, multiflora roses were imported to the U.S.A. by well-meaning botanists way back in the 1860's. The plants were used as rootstocks for ornamental roses. I'm sure those grafted ornamentals thrived if the wild roses in the pastures around here are any indication.

The Farmer does what he can to get rid of the roses in our pastures. Mostly he mows them down with his bush-hog on the back of the tractor. But sometimes, they are in a place that can't be reached - in a ravine or in a wet, swampy spot. Or under an abandoned truck in a field.

In the fall, the wild turkeys and birds, eat the beautiful red rosehips. In a day or two, the seeds come out the other end, complete with a fertilizer packet..... All ready to go in the spring. It's pretty much a lost cause. Or a lesson in vigilance.....

You probably know from reading this blog, that I've got a thing about old trucks. They are the perfect photo op - an old discarded thing that starts to become a bit of beauty. This red truck in our neighbor's field is surrounded by these crazy roses, cascading over the hood making their own bit of sculpture - both man-made and natural.

I'm sure you have something in your life that is also beautiful but causes you grief. I guess we all have to appreciate the good with the bad.

Sunday

Early Sunday morning calls relayed the news of a sheep escape. Three quarters of the flock were grazing a fresh field up the road. The fence was down and tangled but fixable. Who knows why - they looked peaceful and happy enough Saturday evening. Must have been up for a late night adventure.

Late Sunday afternoon, before the escapees started grazing, we all went to move them back with their friends. Julia and I were awaiting their arrival patiently - doing what we were told.... The sheep were a half mile up the hill. They knew they weren't where they should be.... It was a matter of The Farmer taking Phoebe and Nessie to boss them back towards where they should be.

Here they come.


Then they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw us blocking the road.

The Farmer was taking his sweet old time for a leisurely walk down the hill. Upon his arrival and a "Hey! Ho!" off they went. You see that arm flapping thing he is doing? Before our dogs, we both did that a lot - It would take a couple hours of arm flapping to capture a small flock. With two collies you can do that amount of work in about two minutes.


Things were getting back to normal. Phoebe puts any dreams of sheep escape to rest.


The sun was setting and they found the rest of their friends.

Oh My My My

They are getting sweeter by the minute. Gretchen (the tabby stripe) leaves next week. Awwww. I'm hoping I'll find good homes for the other two shortly. It will be lonely without them here.

That was quick!

When I left for Columbus, my peonies were still in buds. Now, less than a week later – they are sadly almost over. And I missed them. The horribly hot and humid weather must have put them in super fast motion – from buds to faded blooms all in a matter of 6 days. I trimmed back the spent buds and I’m hoping I get a bit longer show.

Oh how I love the frilly, ruffled blooms full of the sweetest fragrance. Until next year. How sad to see you go……

Adventures in CandiLand

No, I didn't spell it wrong. Although I spent many hours playing Hasbro's Candyland in my youth, lately I have been involved in a CandiLand of a completely different kind. And it's not at all candy related - it's a world about yarn and knitting and crochet

If you've been reading this blog, you know I was in Detroit a few months back taping two seasons of Knit and Crochet Today for PBS which will begin airing next fall. This was a great experience for me. I have never been very comfortable with t.v. appearances but after that much time in front of the camera, I've got the fear out of my system. I feel much more at ease.

I'm sure you're wondering how I got involved in the whole t.v. thing. What the heck is a farmgirl doing knitting on PBS? I have my good friend Candi Jensen to thank for it. I met Candi 24 years ago at my first TNNA show in Chicago. I was on my first day on the job at CEY and Candi was the Creative Director at Crystal Palace Yarns. We were both working similar gigs at small yarn companies. She was friendly with Pat Chew and so Candi and I became friends. Through the years, as our careers have changed and morphed, we've remained "yarn and design sisters." She has been so encouraging and supportive of my choices over the years and for that, I am eternally grateful. I am honored to be her friend.

It is through Candi that I became involved in PBS t.v. Candi is the Producer of Knit and Crochet Today and I've been along for the ride. And quite a ride it has been. There's been a lot of trial by fire and acting upon impulse but I appreciate being included.

Here's Candi with Brett Bara (the fabulous new host of K&CT) at The Emmy Awards in Detroit last weekend. The show didn't win their "How-To" category but boy - what an honor to be nominated. They were beat out by ABC News' breast cancer how-to show. What tough competition! Here's a photo of the upcoming cast of Knit and Crochet Today taken at our party at TNNA this past weekend. From left to right, that's Candi Jensen, Brett Bara (Host), Drew Emborsky, Maggie Pace, Robyn Chachula, and me.


Thanks so much Candi, for taking me on my adventure to CandiLand! XO

There's a great interview with Candi over at Yarn Market News. If you like to know the back-story in the yarn world, you'll find her background fascinating. What a talented, fun, and fabulous personality she is.

Columbus was Hot!

I am back from TNNA in Columbus. What a whirlwind. I set up my little booth all day on Friday and got it looking ship-shape. Here's what it looked like before it started getting picked apart by sales presentations.

It was fun to be back on the trade show floor. I didn't get to leave my booth and look around for fear that I would miss a possible contact or customer except for two really quick lunches. On Saturday, I taped a t.v. segment for Knitting Daily which will air in the upcoming year. It was very nice to see many of the good friends I have made from around the world during the 24 years I've been in this business.

The two days I spent in my little booth were very gratifying. I met so many shopowners that loved my new book Kristin Knits. They had all done very well with it and were contemplating ordering or did order my Julia yarn from Nashua. Hearing this from yarn storeowners made the show and trip very worthwhile for me. Toiling away in my little basement studio without a lot of human contact makes me a bit odd.....


It was also really great fun to see so many faces that are attached to the internet world. Here are just a few new and old friends I got to share some words and laughs with: Robyn, Drew, Drew, Maggie, Amy, Jillian, Carol, Franklin, Marly, Kim, and Annie. I only wish I met more since I know they were there.

But honestly, the best part of the few days was meeting all the owners and employees of the local yarn shops throughout the USA and Canada who ventured to the market. Owners of Local Yarn Shops are the hardest working people in this industry. They have to do it all - from hiring and firing, receiving yarn, paying bills, emptying the trash, cleaning the bathroom, organizing class schedules, teaching classes, making bank deposits..... The list goes on and on for these totally unsung heroes of the yarn world. TNNA trade shows are the perfect opportunity for these women (and a few men) to make friends with fellow LYS-owners throughout the continent, swap ideas, learn about what is new. They are such undervalued individuals that it makes my heart hurt.

Next time you go into your LYS, thank them for being there. They don't have to be, you know. And boy, wouldn't you miss them?

Poem by Julia

Lots of "end of the year" stuff is coming home from Julia's 3rd grade adventures. Here's something so cute, I thought it appropriate to share here on my blog.

Everybody Needs a Cat
by Julia

Everybody needs a cat
Because they are so cute
And fuzzy
And marvelous.
They are playful
And like to be petted.


I can't wait to dig through the other piles of stuff that she has done this year. Off for a "girls lunch out" with my sweet child who I'm going to miss while away at TNNA this coming weekend.

Back to the Past

I've been digging through some old things, looking for memories of Pat Chew for a little "memory-fest" that is going to happen after the Yarn Group Meeting at the TNNA Show on Sunday night. I didn't have much luck at all finding any photos for the slide show Trisha and Doreen from Soho Publishing/Vogue Knitting are putting together. I never took many photos at work of work events because it was always "work" to me. As I was digging through my boxes of photos, I did find lots of photos to jog my memory of my family life over the years. Things I hadn't thought about, places I went to long ago. Sweaters I can't fit into anymore. Dogs that have left the earth. Photos of my Dad when he was young and loud and so alive.

I only found one little box of stuff left from my office at Classic Elite. It's pretty hard to think about 16 years of my creative life bundled up into one little box of barely anything. But when I left, I was so ready to be done. I think that's a normal thing for anyone when they leave a job and start a new chapter of their life. I just wanted to leave it all behind and get on with doing the best job I could do with our daughter Julia. At that point in her life, everything was very precarious for her - so many surgeries - and we just didn't know how she would do.

Now it is almost ten years since Julia was born and she is thriving in her own little way. Her hydrocephalus hasn't been a surgical problem in many years. We just keep our fingers crossed and deal with the other challenges she has with as much patience and understanding that we can find within us.

I'm going to the TNNA Show in Columbus for the whole weekend. Leaving The Farmer and The Farmer's Daughter to entertain themselves for a few days all by their lonesome. I'll be setting up a section of a booth that the kind folks at Westminster have rented for me to display my wares. It's funny to be going back and doing the whole trade show - dog and pony show - thing again. It's also sad to know that Pat Chew won't be there ever again.


When I was digging through my stuff, I came upon this little gouache I did of socks on a clothesline. For awhile I've been toying with putting some of my illustrations up on Cafe Press to be put on bags or t-shirts. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this and if it is even worth my time. I've got lots of little paintings I've done - some are yarn related and some aren't - and I'm wondering if there is a way to market them on the web. Etsy maybe? Anything to generate a little cash.

I would appreciate any feedback anyone has for this. I don't have a lot of time in my life for researching and experimenting so I'm opening this up for ideas. Thanks so much. You can find my email address at the left.

At any rate, if you will be at TNNA, I'm doing a booksigning Sunday afternoon (I think it is at 2 p.m.). Westminster is giving out tickets for the books and you have to come then to have it signed and pick it up. First come, first serve. Hope to see some of you in Columbus.

You're Invited!

Big news! The PBS television show that I taped in April for the upcoming year has been nominated for an Emmy Award! How great is that?

We're (that means all of us involved in the show) are hosting a party this coming weekend at the TNNA Show in Columbus, Ohio. I know that many industry people (shopowners, editors, and yarn store executives) read this here blog, so I'm taking up today's post to invite YOU ALL to celebrate the success of this show. Come share a glass of wine and some nibbles and get some inside scoop on what will be playing on your local PBS show next season.

If you are interested in your store being an underwriter for the show on your local PBS affiliate, we'll be passing out the info on how to do it.

Hope to see you there!

It’s an
EMMY PARTY!

Please join us to celebrate
the Emmy nomination of
Knit and Crochet Today... and the
debut of two new seasons!

Come meet host Brett Bara and
experts Kristin Nicholas, Maggie Pace,
Robyn Chachula and Drew Emborsky

Sunday, June 8 from 4-6 pm
TNNA Booth #1008, Columbus, OH

www.knitandcrochettoday.com

For more information contact:
Candice Jensen Productions
candijensen@earthlink.net
510-663-4633

Too Much Cuteness

I've been holding out on you all. Here's something to make you smile today. Gretchen, Mr. Sophie, and Thomasina.

Enjoy!