Slowly, my ideas for "Getting Stitched on the Farm" changed. As my readership grew, I realized that my blog was the perfect platform for me to share my life on a sheep farm living in western Massachusetts. Working alone as I do, I have come to treat my blog as my "watercooler." My blog sort of fills the space in my life I used to share with my co-workers, sharing my stories of lambing, raising chickens, and family stories.
For the next 4 days (Tuesday to Friday), I'm going to be holding a giveaway. Instead of my blog receiving presents, I'm going to be giving things away to one lucky winner a day. You only have until noon of the following day to enter. I'll draw a winner and contact them by e-mail.
Tuesday's prize is: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Colorful Stitchery and Kristin Knits donated by my kind publisher Storey Publishing Co.
To enter, you have to answer a question and leave the answer in the comments.
Today's questions is: Why do you read Getting Stitched on the Farm? Write whatever you like......
Can't wait to hear the comments. Make sure you leave a way for me to get in contact with you easily. I'll announce the winner Wednesday (the 18th) at noon and you'll have another chance to enter again with more fun prizes.
And I thank all of you for reading so faithfully!
Added 3/18/09: Thanks to all of you who entered and sent such lovely well-wishes to me, my family, and this blog. I was overwhelmed with your kindness!
The lucky winner of this drawing was PUNKIN. Congratulations to her!
174 comments:
I love reading what you have to say. I started reading for the knitting content and ideas. Then I got hooked on your life and what goes on in your world of farming. I love to see what you and your family are doing. I have been inspired by your books. Keep on blogging - your like an old friend that I drop in on every day to see what is new. Jackie in Ohio
I always read your entry first when Google Reader indicates there's a new post. It's a combination: I love your artistic style, even though I'm not much of a knitter and don't knit at all lately.
But I also love to read about your farm since I too raise sheep. I haven't lambed in a couple of years so it's nice to get my lamb fix online (and much much easier!). And, after reading your posts and seeing the photos about mud season, I feel much better about my own barnyard.
Diane
There are many little pieces to your story that I identify with--your love of textiles, your enjoyment of visiting historic houses, and your experiences with an ill baby. I enjoy your aesthetic that seems to come from a deep understanding of color, landscape, and history. Your blog reflects who you are and your life rather than the trends for living life which float around blog land.
Happy blogaversary!
Why do I read your blog? Well, I honestly don't know how I ended up here but I stayed because of the color. I remember being told "those colors don't go together" so often when I was young that I became very "safe". Color combined with knitting, crochet and my imperfect embroidery skills helps me expand on a personal level.
Your being within 30 miles of me is fun because I can relate to someone local. I'll never experience living on a sheep farm or growing fields of sunflowers so I do it vicariously through you.
Well. . .I only ready three knitting blogs regularly. I think I read yours because I feel like I am sitting in your kitchen withyou and we are just chatting. I love your photos. I feel connected somehow and that is such a nice feeling.
barbara.casey@yahoo.com
I read your blog because it's one of my connections to childhood, growing up on a farm. I read it because it's an inspiration (to me) to grow more sunflowers in our garden. Congradulations on your blog anniversary.
I only started reading blogs in February this year but what first drew me to yours was the lambs, I have a 'thing' about sheep and although I think they are stupid when they walk right across the road infront of my car on the way to work I just remind myself they did not get taught the green cross code (in the uk road safety is taught in schools as the green cross code!) anyway now I am hooked-started knitting and crafting and the rest so they say is history!
love
Lyn
xxx
Happy Blogiversary too!
I love reading your blog because as the previous poster said, it's like sitting at the kitchen table with you. I am always inspired and amazed by your colorful knitting. When I saw the pictures of the lambs living in the kitchen, I realized what a kind and patient soul you are. Keep blogging you are truly inspirational!
Dawn Andrews Easton, MD
Because I'm a fellow crafter, and because those little baby sheep are currently filling my spring time baby frenzy... hopefully they'll get me through it, because I really do relish in a full nights sleep
Happy B-day! I read your blog because my gradparents worked a farm and I loved being there as a kid ('cept with the rooster chased me!). Your blog reminds me of their love of the land and their animals. Granddad raised Quarter horses and Razorback hogs, so your life is very similar to their experiences and my childhood --- and really love your knitting, of course. Wishing you many happy years of blogging and lambing.
Happy anniversary, Kristin! I read Getting stitched...because I love your knit designs and sense of color and love learning what's behind it all. I love how you share about life on the farm, family, and your work...how it is all "of a piece" and a very colorful piece at that! Thanks for this blog and for your generosity.
Because I'm cooped up in an office all day long in western Massachusetts, and your blog re-connects me to the beautiful land that drew me to live here! An added bonus is that your photographs often become my computer backgrounds so I can "jump into" the scene at will, a la Mary Poppins and the chalk drawings. I love your blog.
I read your blog because I am a new knitter and have become fascinated with all aspects of the knitting life. That you live on a farm and are connected to the animal that provides us all fiber is just so inspiring to me. I am in love with the way of life your family is connected to.
Tamara
tamara@taloferiagraphics.com
Happy Anniversary! I love the combination of talents of you, your dh and sweet precious little girl -- nature abound, family love and talent, an all American way of life giving hope to readers! God Bless! Pamie G. pgraham@satx.rr.com
I read you because you're REAL. There are so many bloggers who blog to brag. You blog to share, and I'm thankful for your blogiversary.
I really enjoy reading about your life on the farm
about your family and LOVE seeing your photos.
Enjoy seeing your knitting projects and am amazed at your color sense.
I started reading your blog for the knitting. I love color. But now, I am just as happy seeing your gorgeous pictures of lambs, sunflowers and beautiful scenery as I am seeing what you have been knitting.
Thanks!
Oh, that's an easy one! I love reading your blog because it puts me right in the middle of a life that's entirely different from my own. I'm 27, living in a tiny cheap apartment with my fiancé and my stash, and someday I'd REALLY like to live and perhaps farm in New England. For now, I read your blog!
I read your blog for a simple reason. I'm homesick for farm life, and your blog brings me a healthy dose of what I'm missing!
Happy Blog Anniversary! I read your blog because I am "green with envy" (get it...it's St. Patty's Day) of your lifestyle. I would come work for free at your farm on a weekend just so I could enjoy the animals. I'm just a stone's throw away from you in Vermont.
Love your blog! I check every day to see if you've posted. The colors, the sheepy sheep, the knitting, the interesting info about being a farmer.... I'm surprised your ears don't burn more the way I talk about your farm to all my knitting pals. 3 more years of blogging please.
I love living the farm life vicariously through you. In the real world, I don't think I could deal with the muck and the cold. Then there's the color you have throughout your home, and the little glimpses we get of your adventures with Julia. My girls are 17 and 22 and it's now a rare occasion when I can plan a day to excite them both.
I read your blog becuase I like the voice you write with. I enjoy your humor and your view of the world. I am grateful for the way you share the interesting bits, the joys and the travails of lambing and knitting and making a home on a farm. And I love your photographs!
Please don't enter me in the drawing... I already have all your books! Someone else should win. I just wanted to let you know why I read your blog.
I love your blog and it is the only blog I read. I live in Finland, in Europe and I happend to see a picture of your lovely jumper in a magasine. So I foud your blog and started to follow it. I love the same things as you: children, sheep, nature, winter, snow, old farmhouses... I was born at the Arctic Circle in Lapland. Your way of life is quite a familiar to me when I was a child. I never thought that you could live such life in the States.
When I first saw Kristin Knits in a bookstore, I immediately put a hold on the library copy - I LOVE your use of color! I have since purchased two copies of the book, one from you at a fiber fair. So, one day I was looking for an email address for you, and I chanced on your blog which I now check daily. You help me feel more connected to the entire wool process from the sheep to the final knitted fabric. Thank you!
1) Your sense of color 2) the realness of your voice, I love that you don't cutesify or make farm life into a Magical Mystical Lifechoice 3)your photographs 4) your projects- from sunflowers to textiles
(Not necessarily in that order!)
Happy blogiversary--and I can't believe you've stuckwith it on dial-up. You're a stronger woman than I!
I come here to relax, and enjoy the colors you present. I have a fair amount of your books, and always enjoy what you are doing.
I love getting a peak at the farm ins and outs... sprinkled with knitting stuff and those splashes of color! I also miss Massachusetts!
In my 20's I lived and worked on a farm. We had goats, sheep and a horse or two. I subscribed to your blog RSS feed because the pictures take me back to those dewy mornings walking out to the field. I can almost smell wafts of alfalfa. Love the lamby pictures..
I love seeing your pictures and reading about the sheep.
I started reading your blog when I first saw your book. Then I was intrigued by the farming aspect and all the work that goes into sheep. I'm also intrigued by the complete change of lifestyle you and farmer had. Those cute little lambs don't hurt either. ; )
I can't remember where I found your blog, but it was earlier this year when you were first putting the lamb pictures up. They were precious!
Happy blogiversary! I read your blog because I love your designs, your writing, and your color sensibility. And I get to experience life on a sheep farm vicariously and learn lots of new things.
I love to see the beautiful colors you put together when you create something with yarn. Oh, and those beautiful sheepy pictures don't hurt a bit either! Happy Blogiversary!
I love your color sense, and you indulge my fantasy of moving to a farm (without me having to do all the hard work of living on a farm)!
Because you are wonderful, lovely brilliant woman and I count myself lucky to know you :)
Why do I read it? A few reasons. It's interesting to read about your life post-career change. As a mom with young kids, I like reading about the activities and places you go with Julia. Finally, I love reading about your creative process. Happy Blogiversary!
I love reading about the farm and following all the activities that you share with us. Your color sense is amazing and inspires me. I love to see pictures of Julia and hear stories of her and I love your practical sensibilities in raising her.
Happy Blogiversary! I read your blog because I love your designs from way back when I first began knitting back in the 80s-90s. And because I love how you give us a window on a world I might not otherwise know. Now that I live rurally it means even more to me. I understand the farm life better and am continually awed at all you accomplish in the face of how much work it is to live and make a living from a farm. and lastly, because your intelligent and compassionate and funny self comes through so clearly! hugs, chica.
I have been reading your blog ever since I took one of your classes at Webs. I love hearing about your sheep and I especially love all of the photos you share with us.
I read your blog because you often say things with which I identify. Your childraising comments are especially welcome because I count you among the few people I "know" who treats her daughter like a person AND a kid (I could say a LOT more about this). I also like to show my own kids the lamb/sheep posts & videos. And, of course, I knit.
I enjoy reading about the things that inspire you from your everyday life... And all the cute photos, of course! Congrats :o)
Kristen - i love your blog. Reading it - I feel like I am visiting with a friend. I love the photos of the animals and the sunflowers and, of course, your knitting and handwork. Happy Blogversary!! :)
Maureen Michigan
trybusm@valassis.com
I read for many reasons- I am a knitter and your projects inspire me, I learn things, I love the farm stories and seeing the sheep, you write your blog in such a comfortable way that it feels friendly. You have inspired my sisters and I to start our own blog! You are a FAMOUS KNITTER and yet it "feels" like you could live next door and we would be good friends. And I want you to know how thankful I am that you share so much of yourself with us.
Kim
There are so many reasons I read the blog. One of the main ones though is just the inspiration. I just love the colour!! I need to get braver with colour. And of course I come here for the sheep. I can't get enough of the sheep.
Hey there, Kristin.
I read your blog faithfully for a layer cake of reasons:
The bottom layer is that I noticed your knitting designs many years ago in knitting magazines. I was highly impressed with the color and construction of your work. And the color. I know, I said it twice, but it bears repeating.
The next layer up was that I moved to the county without knowing you were here already!
Next layer--which is a big dollop of sugary goodness--Ann H at the Chamber casually mentioned "a gal named Kristin Nicholas who lives up in Leyden". That layer made me run around in little excited circles for a week!
Next layer up, I met you for the first time and really had to act normal and not make a complete ass of myself, even though I was squeeeeeeiing inside!
One last layer, which is a nice dense layer spiked with sweet currants, has been getting to know you over the last several years. The tasty currants are the times we've bumped into each other downtown, at the Fiber Twist, at the Fair, etc.
And the icing on this wonderful cake is the fact that you are a neighbor and fellow creative who goes through a lot of the same day-to-day experiences as I do. We both lead very crazy busy lives, and sometimes the best way for me to hear and see what you've been up to is to read your blog over a mug of good hot tea after the barn chores and morning household chores are done.
Such a wonderful cake! Happy anniversary of your blog, Kristin!
From the colors of your knitting and stitching to the day-to-day tales of the farm, what's not to love? Especially the sheep and lamb information. I have learned so much from your blog!
I came for the lamb and stayed for the knitting!
Little lambs, sunflowers, sweet family, colorful home, farm living, and the feeling that if we met, I would feel very comfortable with you! That must be kind of a funny issue, having so many people feel like you're a good friend because of what you write, but you don't know much about them!
Dear Kristin,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are just two blogs I read daily. Yours has always been a favorite-first. Everything about your personality & life is ART, which comes thru your blog. My top list of why I continue to read:your knitting colorwork,designs, embroidery,patterns for your inspiration, like textiles,the way you painted your home,(I'm currently painting my bathroom indigo blue, with Dutch tile pattern accents and my kitchen is orange) Of course, the animals, sheep & cats, the way you incorporate your family life into the blog and tell the realities of farm life. I hope to one day have a few goats or llamas or alpacas. ** What is also very inspiring to me is the extras you write about such as The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum ~ fantastic ~
It was great to read about it & show the photos to my son. I went there when I was age 14 and it absolutely had a wonderful art infleunce on me. I live in the midwest, but am a New England transplant and its great to see what's happening on the East Coast. I went to high school at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield MA on a full art scholarship and its nice to have a new connection to the area close by. I also like your blog for featuring other artists you have met, such as Julia meeting Peter Reynolds. That was exciting ! You are an inspiration to me, Kristin, as a creative woman succeeding in getting your talents to the world.
Julia yarn colors are gorgeous ~ as is Julia herself.
Best always ~
Sincerely,
Michelle Kennedy
MK - my friends tell me my initials stand for MustKnit.
YarnSoup@yahoo.com
p.s. The Farmer is a good sport with stories and photos.
Kristin,
I've been a fan of your knitting designs for years and reading your blog highlights your other talents as an artist, photographer, cook, wife and mother, author,...(the list goes on).
You are very down-to-earth and I enjoy reading about your life on the farm with the Farmer, Julia, and all the animals.
Thank you, and happy anniversary!
I originally come to your site because I saw your name attached to some patterns I have enjoyed and wanted to "meet" you. I have stayed because I enjoy reading about your creative efforts (with your daughter and family), meeting some "wool on the hoof", and reading about life on the farm. I grew up summering with my aunt and uncle on a small cattle farm way up in northern Ontario, and your farm life reminds me of that time and what the reality of raising/interacting with "food" animals is all about.
I read your blog because I miss New England and I love your knitting inspiration. You inspire me with all the beauty around you as well as remind me to chuckle at the fustrations of life, i.e. mud season. Thank you so much for your blog! I don't know what I would do without it! Happy Anniversary -- many there be many more years to come for your lovely blog.
What first caught my eye was a gorgeous photo of your sunflowers. Just like you I love color. But I have to admit the sheep farming is what keeps me faithfully coming to your blog!!
Why do i check in daily and read? Well, a few reasons really.... one, i guess i'm just nosey, lol. I also check in as i grew up on a farm in new england and miss it. I get a bit nostalgic and homesick so your blog fits the bill for this. I also love seeing what crafty project you are working on and having it open up new creativity for me. And seeing your family grow. I guess that all goes back to me just being nosey though huh! smile happy 3rd blogiversary!
I read for news about Julia, the lambs, and maybe the Farmer, too...and for creative ideas, like the little birch box houses. Also the ideas on color. So different from mine, so it's good for me to get out of my thinking routine.
Happy blog-iversary!
I'm so interested in the farm life experiences you share. The knitting and other crafts are the icing on the cake.
I read because I live vicariously through you. I work a 9-5 desk job, take care of my girls and my mom. And in my spare time I knit. I love your fearless use of colors. And strive to do that more each time I pick up my needles. Thank you, the farmer, and Julia.
I love the sheep stories! And reading your blog allows me to live vicariously through someone who has a completely different life than I.
I began reading your blog because I so love your color sense. I first noticed it in a shelter magazine article about your home. I still have that article stashed away. When I then learned that you were an artist and fiber person, I went looking for you on the internet. Your blog continues to inspire me, both with your knitting and embroidery ( I made your tea cozy in exactly the Julia colors you specified.), and also with your farm stories. We also own a 200 year old farm and are trying to restore the buildings. As it is only our weekend place, we can't have animals there, so I love to hear about your adventures lambing.
Thank you for all your posts. I always am grateful for them.
Raised on a farm, living in sunny California, I love your blog- the weather, the mud, the animals, the truth you speak so clearly. You portray your life and family so well, so simply, without embellishment. And the touches of fabulous color of your knits, your home, your textiles your flowers just make it that much better. A bright spot in the world!
I love your creative ideas and I have come to care about your beautiful daughter Julia and the handsome Farmer. Started reading your blog when I bought your Colorul Stitchery book and I wish we lived closer - I'd go to all of your classes!
A fellow stitcher in Rochester, NY
Color! I love how you use color!I also love your paintings!
The little sheep in the kitchen got me hooked! Continue to enjoy all you have to share. Thank you and congrats on 3 years!
Happy Blogiversary! I started reading you because I had your book and I loved the designs, and then because I had read a profile of you that described your career trajectory and the way your life changed after you had Julia. You are such an interesting person and your unique sensibility and perspective come through in every blog post. Your life is very different from mine (so is your knitting, actually) and I find the encounter energizing and broadening. Blog on and knit on!
I read for three reasons, Kristin:
1. Your talent with both words and images uplifts my day.
2. I have used your knitting instructions with success in the past, so what you say has established credibility with me.
3. Your color aesthetic is so different from mine that it challenges the limits and broadens the parameters of what I see as possible and acceptable.
If I am lucky enough to be chosen, you may contact me at: vicki@jumproductions.com
Happy Blog Birthday!
I love reading getting stitched on the farm for both knitting/fiber stuff and to hear about your day to day farm experience. As someone who is also trying to make some kind of crafty career in what is-- relative to where I used to live (NYC)--the middle of nowhere, I feel like I can relate to your writing. And what the heck, I love the idea of living on a farm some day, but I probably won't get to, so I like to live vicariously through you!
Your blog reminds me that I have plenty of room to downsize and simplify my life...besides, it's cheaper than a subscription to Real Simple magazine :)
I read your blog because I like it. I love your sense of color. I knit, although I am not in your league. I like the stories about the sheep, your daughter and life on a farm. So different from mine. I love the sunflowers too!!!
Happy Blogiversary, Kristen! I read your blog faithfully because I love your colours, designs, photos, attitude and family/farm stories. I live far from you on the other side of the continent in a Canadian city so I love to share vicariously in your farm life that's so very different from mine (except the knitting!). You've inspired me to paint my house more brightly, take more photos and to plant sunflowers. All the best, hon'!
I started reading because I am a fan of your work (I love Knitting for Baby). I keep reading because I love hearing about the life on your farm and of course the knitting too.
I used to live in Massachusetts and I love seeing the pictures! And, I love the colors in your work (and the sheep!)
Aside from loving your knitting and all the wonderful colours you share on here, one of the reasons I stop by is to be instantly placed back in Western Mass.... the pictures on this blog remind me of the wonderful farming environment there..... I have missed the Pioneer Valley dearly the past 3 years that I have been away...so I thank you for providing a way for me to still feel connected!
It's like a little taste of home. I grew up in nearby Greenfield and reading your blog is like taking a little journey around the area with you. I enjoy the talk about lambs and lambing, about living on a working farm and raising a child in this world. Not to mention your usage of color is awe inspiring and so much fun!
I check in every morning to get a down-to-earth, sweet-as-pie take on farm and family life onthe other side of the US. Also I've been a Nicholas fan girl since your early days as a designer.
Kristin,
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Your blog is the first knitting blog I was ever exposed to (hop over to Susan B. Anderson today - I posted a comment there referencing you)- since then (2 years ago, I think) I am a daily visitor. I love your "realness", talent, stories (The Farm Life, Julia, The Farmer and you) and sharing. It feels, as you describe like your watercolors and for me connects me to great souls with both "like" and "different" worlds...all the while inspiring and supporting one another. Thank you.
I like reading your blog because it's
interesting. However, an added bonus
is all of the color!
I read your blog everyday to see the beautiful pictures of the sheep and sheep dogs and also to read about your sheepy adventures. I LOVE IT!
I love your blog because I secretly want your life. Okay, it isn't a secret anymore! Every entry on your blog is like looking through a window into your life of farming with sheep and dogs and everything else you mention. I love looking at your adventures through your pictures and your talented prose.
Thanks for your blogging; I so enjoy it!
Kelly
I read your blog for the lambies, and for a spot of bright color on a gray day, and for the sunflowers, and for your stories of life on the farm. I've laughed, and even cried with you over the years. And rejoiced to find that Cora was indeed still with you!
Happy Bloggiversary!
~Amanda
(I am gr8aunt on Ravelry, you can reach me there).
Hi, I'm delurking to say I love your blog! I read it for the farm stories and I love it when you post a combination of hand/needle craft and farmpictures. It was so much fun following the lambing season :)
Happy Anniversary! I read your blog for several reasons:
#1 you post things like the lamb races--which my entire family enjoys.
#2 you are living a life I romanticize --so it is always nice to get a dose of reality from you.
and
#3 I love to knit and you inspire me.
I just found your blog. I am a new knitter and just think you are inspiring. Blessings.
I like reading this blog because it gives me great ideas and I love the feel of "simplicity" that I get from your words, pictures, and thoughts. I guess I like living my life vicariously through you!
I was just in introduced to your site from Susan B. Anderson's blog. I am working on the Wee Bunny for Easter from Wee Wonderfuls and couldn't remember how to do a French knot. Your tutorial was so good! I think I got it! Thanks so much for offering the giveaway!
Tracy
tracylouie@yahoo.com
I love following your blog for the wide variety of fiber-related information, the tutorials, and the vignettes of life on a sheep farm. Thank you for keeping it up!
Lovely photos, touching writing, and lots of soul. I've been reading Getting Stitched every day for 2 years. We're expecting our first alpaca babies this year and reading about your farm has been so helpful. It puts things into perspective for newbie farmers like us.
i was reading susan b. anderson's and she referred to you so i hopped on over to check it out. now you too will be part of my 'favorites'.
I read in order to learn more about knitting and sheep.
Hi Kristin!
Actually, I am living vicariously through you by reading your blog. I've always had a passion for knitting.
To me you are living the IDEAL life, spending your days stitching, with the sheep and the border collies just outside your back door.
Thank you for all your cheerful sharing!!
Becky
rpetten@wowway.com
First I go to see your farm life. My BIL and his family raise sheep. My son has gone over many times to hay, clean out barns, shear... Around here farming is common and hard work. I love to see your photos and how you bring this every day life into the world to share. You show it with dignity and it is inspiring.
Then I start looking at your wonderful knitting :-) Love your color pallets.
I read your blog for inspiration. The very first knitting books I bought were 2 sweater books that you had written at Classic Elite. They are still my very favorite sweater books. I love what you do with color. I love your designs. When I discovered your blog, it was like getting a fresh dose of Kristin Nicholas every day. Fresh inspiration.......... with sheep! I now not only get Kristin sweaters, but ideas for all kinds of stuff. Kristin, you are da bomb!
i read your blog for many reasons. i love sheep, i love your colorful knitting patterns, your lifestyle and your darling daughter. Your photographs are fantastic and i love reading about the farm happenings. Cora and all the other mama's are so sweet.
Why do I read your blog? I like reading about your life on the farm. I like the pictures and stories of the animals. But it is not just that. It is also your creativity, the fiber arts, your style. It is everything combined.
At first I read your blog to enjoy your knitting and marvelous color sense. Now, it is more for comraderie as a farmer. We don't a huge herd at this time but not so long ago there were many, many cashmere goats jumping around our old stone walls. Now, it is just a few goats, sheep, horses, chickens and a beloved 7 year old boy who kick up their heels around here.
Lisbeth
I read your blog because you make me feel right at home. You represent all that I love about New England (I lived in Boston for 9 years) and I am strongly drawn to the area. I love hearing about the sheep, your daughter and The Farmer and of course, the knitting. You have much to be proud of. Congratulations on your success!
Traci
tracihans@aol.com
I like sheep and crafts. Especially seeing what others are doing with their craft and how they can live a life so different from my own but still have something in common.
I started reading because I love your knitting, but have now come to enjoy learning about your farm & your life there. I live in the suburbs of Chicago, so my life is very different...and farming around here is still quite a different thing from what I see on your blog.
And, the lambs are so darn cute.
You knit
and you are a Beav!
d_karen@hotmail.com
I began reading for the knitting content, but more and more I find that I am enjoying hearing about the daily life on a farm. I read your blog so that I can vicariously live the farm life. Land is too prohibitively expensive here where I live, making for very few farms around. I love the pictures of the lambs and the donkey, too!
Thank you for the colorful inspiration.
I love reading "getting stitched on the farm"! I love hearing all of your lambing stories. I love your photos the most. And because I live in Eastern Mass, I enjoy reading about someone who is almost a neighbor, as I live vicariously through the lovely stories of farming life. Thank you for sharing!
Linda_m_fisher@hotmail.com
I feel like I've stopped at a dear friend's house and we're catching up on all that life has brought our way. (Yes, I know, blog lurking doesn't fully qualify as a conversation, but in my mind it's a conversation.) :)
It's refreshing! I enjoy the pictures of the farm and varied topics of discussion and the new tutorials!
I love all the posts, but especially anything related to your animals! And sunflower photos!
(not to mention anything knitted)
I have learned so much about sheep farming! *wink*
(((hugs)))
Happy Anniversary!
I started reading your blog after seeing an article in Interweave Knits magazine. I keep reading your blog because I love your colorful knitting and crafts, your beautiful photography, and hearing about life on your farm. Although I live in the city now, I grew up in a rural area and much of your blog sounds like home.
Thanks for treating us with the give-aways!
I love your color sense and artistic vision. I also grew up on a farm in Maine, so I love your farm stories, even when they are sad.
Sheep pictures? It's inspirational and a great way to connect to the land and the animals through someone (you) who's living the life. Congrats on the blogiversary!
I read Getting Stitched on the Farm for COLOR inspiration. I absolutely LOVE your sense of color!!!
I love reading about your family, the farm and the many escapades of the lams during the spring/mud season. Keep up the great work.
Hi Kristin,
Just read through all of the kind comments and decided to add my own. I learned to knit with the book Knitting for Baby. I first learned about your blog when you submitted a design to Knitty and it was mentionned in your bio, and have followed along since. I have the two books that you are giving away. I have enjoyed both.
I live in suburbia on 1/3 acre. I grew up in the country, and long for the day when my husband and I can move back to the country and have a farm much like you and your husband. Reading your blog helps me stay connected to my dream. For the brief time I am reading your blog, I don't have to think about my job or my patients, just what is happening with you that day, i.e what lambs were born, etc. I am living the life I wish I could have by reading your blog. I love reading about the sheep, the Farmer, your creativity and your daughter Julia. The lamb races is by far my favorite post! Congrats on your blogiversary!
Loretta P.
(zaraspook on Ravelry)
I read because you're living my dream. I want a small sheep farm, and I thoroughly enjoy learning about your adventures as the mistress of your homestead.
I have been living on a sheep farm in central mass for the last 6 months and it is all new to me so i enjoy seeing the escapades of your farm and then am prepared for this farm. I am also a professional knitter and weaver so your blog is a great fit and on the top of my blogs to check everyday.
Happy 3rd bloggin anniversary!
Why do I read Getting Stitched on the Farm? Great posts, creative ideas and it makes me smile!
~ Kathy C. (Oregon)
I found my way to your blog because of your fabulous knitting designs. I return for each post to be inspired by your creativity and your stories of real life on a farm (the whole family loves the animal photos)--it is obvious that you are doing what you love.
I read your blog because I'm a country girl stuck in the city! I grew up helping my brother with his little herd of 4-h sheep (suffolk). I entered stuff in the county fair each year and when I was a Senior in high school, I won the Style Dress Revue! Wow! A purple ribbon! So I read your blog and wish I was home again.
ppy Anniversary! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to enter- I'm in Norway- but I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you for your blog. I love the way you write, I love your knitting and sense of colours, the way you combine embroidery and knitting, but most of all I enjoy everyday farm life! To see your sheep, and follow your year on the farm- similar, but still so very different from my sheepfarming-is a daily treat. It's so matter-of-fact, so down to earth, and I think we need someone who tells us about that life too. It's not all about stock exchange and real estate, it's about all the rest of us, with our knitting and crafts, families, animals, vegetables, mud season, snow, and sunflowers;-)
Take care- I hope you'll be around for many more years to come!
I love your blog and read it because of the farm and the art. Not a knitter but some of those who I love are great knitters.
I love your photography, esp. of sunflowers and sheep. And since I have a daughter who's ten, I enjoy reading about your adventures with Julia.
Happy Blogiversary! I started reading your blog because someone mentioned it and I thought it might be interesting to read. I stayed because I really enjoy learning about life on the farm, as it is far from my daily life.
Because you don't just blog about one thing! The variety of info and gorgeous pictures intertwining your farm, family, designer and author topics are what keep me coming back. I enjoy your blog very much! I love the idea of it being your watercooler. I need a watercooler in my solitary work, so maybe your blog is my watercooler too! Thank you for three fun years.
I read your blog because it is a combo of things I love--farm animals and fiber arts. I never know what topic you will blog about, so it's never the same thing twice.
I love reading about the sheep and your photos are gorgeous. I also enjoy seeing Julia interact with the sheep. It reminds me of my niece (now 20) when she was younger and we visited relatives on a dairy farm in VT.
I began reading your blog for my young daughters. My 11 year old is a self-taught knitter. Both she and my 9 year old enjoy embroidery too.
I haven't learned to knit with needles yet (only on a hoop) and I'm brand new to embroidery. But I love supporting my daughters and seeing your beautiful creations.
I've also enjoyed the lovely pictures & thoughts that you share about your farm.
I read your blog because I have always loved your knitting designs. I'm a former New Englander living in Florida, and I am so homesick sometimes, your photographs really help me get through the blues.
By the way, my boyfriend is a professional photographer; he says that you should offer your photos for sale.
Cathy/Spiffypaws
I've been reading your blog for about a year now. I started to read for the knitting content but lately I'm loving all the baby sheep pics. I'm amazed at all you manage do with the farming, knitting, book-writing, photography, etc.
Happy Blogaversary!
Tina Chamberlain
I've been reading your blog ever since I got back from Stitches East. Your color class was inspirational, and I love to follow what you're doing--knitting, stitching, farming and raising your daughter so beautifully!
I like the stories about the farm and raising sheep. I grew up on a grain farm (my dad had had enough of animals when he was growing up). I know machinery and bringing in the harvest but it is so fun to learn about the raising of animals portion of farming.
I also enjoy the techniques and tips you give on knitting. Your instructions are so clear. Thanks for a great blog.
Susan from West Fargo, ND
Hello Kristin,
I discovered your blog quite by accident and was instantly hooked! Quite frankly, it is because you are living my dream! (Mud and all!) At the moment, I live in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, but I long to move to a more rural area and raise Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats and a few chickens!
I taught myself to knit a few years ago, though I do not possess anywhere near your level of skill! I am grateful for the little video tutorials you have been posting, and I enjoy watching you on Knit and Crochet Today, as well.
Thpictures of the sheep, lambs, dogs, donkeys and other critters, and I adore reading about your country life. Thank you so much for letting me live vicariously through you! I hope that, some day, my life may mirror yours to a degree. God bless!
Obviously, I hit a button by mistake while I was still editing!
What I meant to say is: The pictures you post of sheep, lambs, dogs, donkeys and other critters are just beautiful, and I adore reading about your country life!
Sorry for the goof!
Wow, look at all the posts. I will not read them but tell you that I love the beauty you capture of life on the farm. Wendell Berry kind of
real life writing, work with the land and hands! Also reminds me of Madeleine L'Engle living in
northwestern Conn and her writing.
Although she was a writer and not a knitter, it's life in the country! ( A Circle of Quiet)
email is thebuck@mindspring.com
Bonnie
Yours is the first blog I read every day.
I have always loved your work and was happy to find the blog. I started out reading for the color inspiration and soon fell in love with the photos and farm.
Francis
I read your blog because you have a wonderful writing style and I love reading about your farm. The stories and photos of your family, farm, animals, and knitting always makes me smile. Thanks for providing one of those little things in life that just makes it better.
I enjoy your writing. I like to read about your farm and the sheep, and the flowers and your knitting inspires me, as does your artwork. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I began reading the blog after receiving Kristin Knits. I just wanted to know more about you and your life on the farm, and your family. I look forward to reading your posts, and find inspiration in the comments as well as your posts. Happy Anniversary!
After reading previous comments, I realized that I don't have any original or witty to say. I stop by frequently and check in on what you are up to. I like to read about life on the sheep farm and whatever else you feel like to share. Child rearing, being frugal, work ethic ... I identify with all that. Thanks for sharing
Congratulations on 3 years of blogging! Without a doubt you are one of my favorite pattern writers, I think I would have to say that I have knit more of your patterns than any other single designer/pattern writer. As many of your other fans, I love your sense of color and can only dream of a life on a farm and knitting for a living. You are blessed.
I have only started reading your blog in the last 2 months and it makes me SMILE!! Just looking at your pictures on the farm is refreshing to me. I feel you are a close friend and you are telling me about your day and how exciting that day is. So keep those story days coming cause I'm hear to listen. Thanks!!!
I read this blog for inspiration in my own projects, and to see the cute sheep pictures!
Even though I am a knitter, I found your blog while searching for embroidery and I got hooked! I love your use of color.
I have even used your blog as a learning tool for my daughter who is ten and enjoys reading the lambing stories. She has even written mini reports for school about your blog stories. As far as S is concerned, Julia is one lucky girl to be living on the farm.
Best always to you, The Farmer and Julia.
Congratulations on three successful years of a truly refreshing, up beat, and creative blog. It is like a friendly conversation with family and friends about the daily life through the seasons on a family farm in western Massachusetts. You provide information, inspiration, and encouragement through your ideas, tutorials, photography, and related posts. Thank you for your time and effort. It is greatly appreciated.
It has been so neat reading about your sheep, especially during lambing season. You write so well; it makes reading your blog so easy and enjoyable.
I love reading about life on the farm. I also like your color sense.
I do so enjoy reading about your life on the farm - it is so unlike mine. I am also amazed at your creativity - what must be going on in your head!
Keep up the outstanding work!
Sandy in NJ
Pecsan114@optonline.net
I started reading for the knitting but then I became hooked on the farm, how much your family loves and supports each other and how openly you share it all with us. And I still don't knit well!
I remember the first day when I realized that several designs I'd seen in different places (and couldn't get out of my mind) were all your designs. I think it was when I found your stitchery book, actually.
When I found out that you had a blog, I came here and never left.
Kristin, your designs make my heart jump and then beg me to knit them. I just don't feel that way often. Maybe Lucy Neatby and Priscilla Gibson-Roberts have inspired me in the same way, probably nobody else.
I often design in 2-3 colors, you seem to start with five. I am afraid that nobody will want to knit something in five colors, yet clearly (I look around in Ravelry) they do it for your work.
I mean, I knit things for myself in 18 colors but I've been afraid to do that for my designs... and yet you prove me wrong. That is inspiring.
Your work encourages me to continue to follow my own instincts and inspiration. And when I see your work, I know that I am not the only one who does not just "love color" but whose life literally *revolves around* color.
My mother grew up on a small farm, and your stories mesh with what I've heard from her. I am a citygrrl (our lot is 32 feet wide where a city bus is 40 ft long, and we live 30 blocks from the state capitol). I love being a citygrrl.
Yet I've always had a sense of gratitude for those who will do the muddy work of raising food and animals, on behalf of those of us who are too wimpy to go out in the rain.
And the stories of moving the sheep from one pasture to another? I could never have imagined. I always laugh out loud when I read those entries. It is just amazing to see that from this vantage point. I could not see it any other way.
Keep it up. For some reason, your posting alone on the farm, makes us all out here feel that we are not solitary, ourselves. Funny how that works.
My life is more pleasant (and more inspired) since I found your blog. Thank you.
LynnH
I read your blog, Kristin, because I love your photos and your prose. And you were very kind to me when I called and talked with you last year. In a way you're a hero(ine) to me because I would love to publish my patterns and photos some day.
I read your blog (and your books) because your stitchery gives me ideas for my own knitting and embellishing and I feel encouraged to try.
ddswift (at) gmail (dot) c o m
I read for the beautiful projects, I wish I were so talented! And the stories are fascinating tidbits of life on the farm!
Sam
superbutterfly12@yahoo.com
I love reading your blog, because it is so down to earth....A look into the life I wish I had for myself and my family...I love to hear about your life, of Julia and the farmer, of the 4 legged critters who inhabit the farm inside and out...Your beautiful work, your love of color, as I too love color....the way you combine techniques...I just love it here...and you know what, I for the life of me can not even remember how I first came about your blog, almost a year ago....BUT I vist when ever you post....
Happy 3yr Blogaversary.....
Love the way you write! I think others have said it far better than I...but I really enjoy reading the blog. Thanks!
Carol Perecman
perecman@mindspring.com
Today is my birthday - I'd love this book as a birthday present :) :). I read your blog, in the beginning because of the fiber content, but now because your life is so different from mine and so interesting. I love the colors you use (no drab ones!), I enjoy hearing about the sheep and Julia and The Farmer and so forth. We meet a "real" person and their life when you write.
Happy Birthday, blog!
www.ukrcolumbine.blogspot.com
I read your blog because I enjoy it. It's very different from my day to day life, and it's a refreshing pov for me.
I love reading your blog since it's so unpretentious and you do so many different things. I love hearing about Julia and the sheep and seeing those dogs.
I live in an apartment in Paris so reading your blog is refreshing and while I have never lived on a farm and know that I probably couldn't adapt at this stage, I do intend to try and live in the country when I'm no longer obliged to work.
congratulation!
If I am to late to enter it's okay because I have no idea what time it is at your place :)
But I like to answer the question.
I read you blog because I like it:
I love sheeps and all the pics of lambs and sheep make me happy,
I love your colors - bright and happy,
I love how you turn simple looking things into beautiful and joyful things with your needlework,
I like how you write about your family and how honest you are about your feelings.
Best wishes from Iceland :-)
Sigrun
I love reading about your life — the farm aspects of it, the raising of a child and livestock, and all. In particular, I like seeing how you integrate your art with the rest of your life. I also like getting some additional insight into your artistic aesthetic, beyond what's available in your books.
I come here because I'm a knitter and I love your colorful knits. I also love seeing your sheep pictures. I guess I yearn to live on a farm.
I read your blog because there is something in me drawn to farms (I connect it with being born in rural VT). I found your blog after reading "The Dogs of Winchester Downs" and found that your blog was a way of keeping that book going. :) And, since I like to knit, and am becoming more of an avid knitter, your blog also is an inspiration that way. Finally, since I love photos, and usually only read blogs with lots of photos, yours is one I am drawn to. Happy Blog Anniversary!
I love your photos and thoughts about what inspires your need to create. I also like reading about your lifestyle in general. I live in a city, but I miss the country - so this is a nice escape for me.
It is refreshing to see a side of life that is related to knitting, but is not the knitting itself (or at least not always.) I also like that the posts are not too long - just long enough to read quickly and move along!
I started reading your blog because I love your knitting patterns, and I keep reading because I love the photos and the fibery goodness! Thanks :)
I like several others started reading for the knitting. Then I got hooked on your life and what goes on in your world of farming.
I'm on spring break with my son right now but when I get home I'm going to be adding your blog to my blog roll. I hope that's okay with you.
Kim
kimmorrow@tx.rr.com
Oh gosh, I've been a reader now for a while, but I can't remember what got me started. Probably just a click away from Ravelry maybe, but you are one of my few clicks that turned into "reader." I think at first I was looking for inspiration. I love your color and embellishments. I quickly fell in love with your life. The photographs of the sheep often get right clicked to screen savers. Right not the ones in the kitchen still have my heart. That itty bitty one peeking over the magazines is calling my name! Soooo, it's everything, your life, the farm, the photography, the projects (loved the painted pillows on the shed porch!) I LOVE IT ALL!
I have been an avid reader. One of my favorite things in addition to seeing your beautiful use of color was the recommendation to read Little Heathens. I also recommended to my 83 yr old Mom who also enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
I love love love the pictures and stories of the lambs. I've always wanted to live on a farm, but realize I'm probably not farm material - so I'm living vicariously through you!
I love learning about your life that is so different than mine. I've never lived on a farm; I'm totally a city or suburb gal, but so enjoy learning how different it is and seeing your wonderful pictures.
judi7597@bellsouth.net
I love sharing a bit of your life on your farm. Your animal pics are wonderful as are the flower pics.
I'm retired and also miss the watercooler time. Reading blogs lets me feel like I'm participating in some frequent discussions of what's going on.
I saw your designs and fell in love with them, because of the colors and the way you use them. Then I found your blog and I like the way you talk about your life. It´s so sympathic to hear about your farmer,your daughter, your animals and about you.
I thank you, that you share all that with me. It lights up my days.
Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland von
Anja
mueller.hude@web.de
Why do I read your blog??? I love the stories about your daughter, the farmer, and the animals. You write it all is such a readable fashion that I feel like I am talking to an old (as in how long I have know you not in how old you are!!!) friend. Love hearing about the day by day accounts of the sheep. AND I also love to see your hand knits and hear about how you produce patterns and choose yarn including the colors. Well, heck, I love everything textile and especially yarns. Thanks for taking the time to write this blog.
I read your blog because: I love the stories you write, I love the pictures of the farm, and I love seeing what you create. Thank you for sharing with us! Gail
It's not yet noon in my time zone, but it would be in yours, so I doubt I'll be eligible for today's prize, but that's okay, I still wanted to comment and say, happy blogiversary to you!
I only discovered your blog in the past few weeks or so, I think. I probably landed here due to knitting content, but it was the farm pictures and talk that really drew me in to your blog. I love seeing the lamb pictures, and just hearing of a way of life (farm life) I've never experienced. Sort of living the dream vicariously, I suppose.
Too late for contest (had a sick grandchild yesterday) but I read your blog almost daily! I enjoy reading about the farm life & your creativity!!
You refresh my resolve! I own a yarn shop in Saratoga Springs NY, and without knowing what I was doing, bought myself a 72 acre farm for my 50th birthday. No neighbors for miles, no cell phone. Raising sheep, llamas, chickens, etc....by myself...gardens...LOVE IT. Commute an hour to the store.
Through your site, I have learned how to lamb (might rent a ram next year), keep the color going, stay inspired. And if your farmer has a friend, I could use him.
I think you're SO inspirational....I know it looks all beautiful on blog, but also understand the work involved.
Hope to get you to our shop for a workshop someday??? (Saratoga Needle Arts).
Cindy
i originally came to your blog as a knitter and admirer of your designs. But i LOVE your flock, your family and the stories of your farm life.
My favorite book is Weekend Knitting!
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