They're Gone! Fall Color and More Color by Kristin Previews

Good news. If you ordered a book from me before Friday, I can happily say it is on its way to you. Saturday morning I loaded up the truck and drove all the books to a little post office in the town next door to us. The town we live in is so tiny that we don't have our own zip code nor a post office. I love the little post office in Bernardston where they know our names, smile every time we come in the door, give us a friendly greeting and give Julia stickers. It is just one of the things I love about living in a small town. With all the cuts and trouble the US Postal Service is having, I sure hope this small town institution can survive. People I know drive from the big town next door where there is a large post office - just so they can be treated nicely and escape the long lines at the larger post office.


Where else could I go where I would be welcomed with open arms upon walking in with a whole mess of work for Alice and Tony to do.


It was a beautiful weekend - the leaves are doing their annual show and although I didn't have enough time to take too many photos, nor do justice to the incredible natural beauty around me, here's a hint of what was outside our door.


Just down the road there was this lovely color combination of red leaves, lichen green and dark brown bark.


You all know how I look to nature for lots of color inspiration. I am constantly looking around me, making mental notes about color combinations I see, tucking them away in my memory bank. I never know when they will come out nor in what form they will take. So it was quite a surprise to see how strongly the colors in these photos correlate with another project from Color by Kristin.

This is a mitten and sock set done in my Julia Yarn. I used the same cuff for both the socks and the mittens - a 12 stitch floral Fair Isle design kniting in shades of Squash, Magenta, Lady's Mantle on a gray background. The edging of this set is a fun knitted loop edging. The mittens were knit in a 2 row stripe pattern and the socks were knit in a solid gray with color tipping at the heel and toe. Isn't it fabulous how this set mimics all the natural beauty found around here at this incredibly special time of year?

Today Was the Day and More Color By Kristin Previews

They have arrived! The books, that is. FedEx delivered me a huge shipment of my new book Color By Kristin, shortly after noon today. I was miraculously able to get all the books you all have ordered signed, addressed and packed up. Saturday morning Julia and I are heading to the post office to send them on their way to you.


I want to take this post to thank all of you who have ordered from me. As I was addressing each package, I couldn’t help but think about all of you who have ordered books from me in the past and who generously keep ordering them from me. I know all your names and have heard of all your towns. It warms my heart that you would order from me again. I know you can get my books cheaper somewhere else, albeit they will not have my curvy, swervy signature on them, and so my family and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I hope you all like Color by Kristin when you get it and that you will learn something from it.

This book is a bit different than most of my other books. There are 32 pages of front matter in it. For me, as a knitter and a designer, front matter is what counts. Front matter is what keeps a book in my bookcase. The descriptions of techniques, the inspiration to teach myself – exploring techniques that are presented in a book, the information that is included that will stimulate me to try things on my own, experiment with techniques and become a better knitter and designer - that is what I look for in a book. I was able to include a whole bunch of direction for you to design your own colorwork charts. There is also plenty of "how-to" for learning how to work with color, steeking, knitting technique, embroidery on knits and more. Information is what I look for in books and I’m hoping that Color By Kristin will be one of those books you go to in your own library when you want to experiment and start designing on your own. There are also over 20 patterns if you want to copy exactly what I did - and that's perfectly okay too!

I’m off to Detroit until Wednesday to film the fourth season of Knit and Crochet Today. I’m sure I will have a story or too. I've got a lot of knitting of "step-outs" to do before I go on the air. It will all get done, if not at the last minute. I’ve got plenty of books left and I will be packing up the orders you send me when I return on Thursday. Thank you to all you have ordered or are planning to.

In keeping with this week’s theme, here is another preview of projects from Color by Kristin.


I called this pair of mittens "Checked Mittens" and although they aren't exactly what I think of as checked - they are based on multiples of 4 and boxes or checks. These mittens are one of the easier projects in this book. The mitten starts out with a checked Corrugated Rib that alternates Lady's Mantle and Harvest Spice Julia to create a checked design. I love this stitch and hope to use it on further projects. The main part of the mitten is worked in a "windowpane" pattern to create boxes or checks. This project is sized for kids to adults so if you are looking for a gift project, check it out.

And check our Susan R's blog where she shows her "Checked Mittens." Susan was one of the students at the first "Getting Stitched on the Farm" Weekends back in early August. Soho, the Publisher of Color by Kristin, graciously sent each attendee an advance copy of the book back in August (see -- there are lots of secret things I don't share with all of you!). Susan was a bit color shy and she came here for the color infusion. It seems she learned! Great job Susan!


In keeping with my other on-going theme of "color immersion - exploration - inspiration" here's a photo of the wild blueberries that grow in our town. Our neighbors harvest the small, sweet wild blue berries (my Dad always called them huckleberries) every August. I spent a bit of time trying to get good photos of the berries at different times of the day this summer. I love the colors in this photo - the deep and washed out blues of the berries, the mossy and sunlit tones of the leaves and the rosy and cerise tones of the splotches on the leaves. The subtle nuances of a photo can inspire a piece of knitting, a room decoration or a painting. I can see these shades in the mittens shown in my book. Beautiful colors go around, don't they?

Fall Doings - Leaves, Breeding and Color

Fall color is really ramping up here in New England. Every day is prettier than the next. All I want to do is drive around in my car and look at the color or walk up and down our hill. The light is so spectacular this time of year – everything looks so incredible.

On Sunday I have to go to Detroit to tape a new season of Knit and Crochet Today. I am knitting, knitting, and knitting for the t.v. show and cursing under my breath the whole time. I really resent the fact that I can’t be enjoying all this natural color. I’ll be gone for 4 days and I know that when I come back, the beautiful oranges and reds will be gone.

This morning I decided to take in some of the color before I started knitting and writing patterns. I don’t want to miss fall – it’s my very favorite time of year. Our sheep are high on the top of our neighbor’s hill. It is quite a hike up there and I haven’t done it in a long time.


When I finally arriving, huffing and puffing mind you, I just took in the view. You can see forever up there. The trees haven’t changed too much quite yet so maybe I won’t miss fall and there will be some color when I come back.


Fall is breeding season for sheep. We have an assortment of rams to breed our sheep. (The ewes will begin lambing in late December.) We keep trying different breeds, mixing up the characteristics of our flock as time goes by. This year we purchased this Cheviot ram from a local sheep breeder, Launie York to add to our ram collection. Cheviots originated in the Cheviot Hills on the border of England and Scotland and so they are good, hardy sheep. Our ram is strikingly beautiful with his open face. As I stood there, I noticed he was in hot pursuit of a brown and white ewe. Not only was he in hot pursuit but so was a young Romney cross-bred ram. The Cheviot was standing his ground, not letting the other young ram get near the ewe. I didn’t stay long enough to see who won the prize. We have at least four rams in with the 205 adult ewes and we are sure to get a nice mix of breeds. The other rams we are using this year are of dual purpose breeds including Romney, Border Leicsester, and a Shetland/Romney cross. A few years ago we tried a Dorper cross and although his babies had beautiful carcasses, they had massive foot rot problems so we gave him up.


Here's a view looking to the east with Nessie looking particularly proud of her flock.


On my way back down the hill, I was looking and looking at all the amazing colors. Through the trees the sun was shining on a far away pasture. The changing leaves looked beautifully golden. There was a wild fall aster down low to the ground and I couldn't help trying to get a photo of one of my favorite color combinations - gold and purple. Alas, it was so windy out I had to go for a bit of art. The purple aster was blowing madly around making a blurry purple haze on top of the golden leaves.

Enjoy your fall day wherever you are.

Sunflowers at Sunset and a Colorful Hen Party

The other night Julia and I arrived at The Sunflower Field just before the sun was setting. This is one of the prettiest times of the day. As we were picking armfuls of the Giant Sungold blooms, the light got even prettier. The sunflowers began to glow almost magically as the light went lower in the sky. I ran for the camera and started snapping away.


This season's difficult weather has caused so many of the different sunflowers to blossom late. This variety, which I cannot remember the name of, usually is one of the most reliable bloomers, sending out multiple stalks of bright yellow flowers on rather short stalks. This year, they began so late but they sure looked beautiful the other night.


The sun began to disappear behind the mountains and the field went dark. I finished up my picking in almost dark, stocking the buckets for "sunflower fairies" to enjoy on their kitchen tables throughout the weekend. The season is sadly almost over. We've got a few more rows of plants that are about 2 feet high and we're not sure they will even bloom. They're trying hard and we'll see what the next couple weeks of weather brings.

To continue the previews of my new book Color by Kristin, here's a photo of the knit in the round yoke sweater I tentatively titled "The Duchess of Devonshire's Pullover."I think the colors of this sweater fit in nicely with the late season sunflowers. I wanted to include one of these traditional "knit in the round yoke sweaters" in this book because I think they are great for knitters just beginning to explore colorwork.


I'm kind of chicken crazy. I have raised egg laying chickens since the 1980's. I love all the different colors the birds come in. I thought it would be fun to include my brood in the photos we took at the farm. Here, my friend Shalee looks to be having quite the conversation with the birds.

Here's a close-up of the bottom sleeve and sweater edging showing the several color garter stitch.


So where did "The Duchess" come in? In my studio, I have a photo of The Duchess of Devonshire feeding her chickens in a fabulous silk ballgown at Chatsworth, her family's magnificent estate in England. My sister Laurie sent me the card several years ago and it makes me laugh everytime I look at it. (The photo was by Bruce Weber.) If only I could look so elegant feeding my chickens every morning. Instead, I slop around in Blundstones and old pants. But my chickens love me all the same. We wanted to use the postcard as spot art in the book but were advised not to for legal reasons. Here's a photo of The Duchess in a snappy coat that I found on the internet which has a similar feeling.


In the end, we titled the sweater "Hen Party Pullover" but I will always think of it as "The Duchess' Pullover." I love the how the Pumpkin and other fall-inspired colors turn the traditional "knit in the round" sweater on its ear.

Cosmos at End of Growing Season 2009 and Bloomsbury Gloves

I have grown cosmos in my vegetable garden for years and years. I like the variety Sensation best. They grow tall as miniature trees, spreading out over all the rows of flowers and vegetables below as the days in September shorten. It seems my cosmos plants never seem to kick in in the flowering department until it is almost time for frost to take away all my tender annuals. As the days shorten and frost threatens, I race outside before the sun sets to pluck some of these lovely blooms to fill vases throughout the house.


Although there are many different varieties of fancyish cosmos available, I like the simple beauty of the plain and simple Sensation best. Cosmos aren't pink nor are they purple, nor lilac, nor fuschia, nor lavender. When trying to describe the color of a cosmos, it seems there is no other way to say it but "cosmos." I love how the center of the cosmos flower is an acrid shade of yellowy green. Cosmos are just one of nature's perfectly designed complementary color combinations.

In my new book, Color by Kristin, I use many complementary color combinations in the projects. Here is a preview of the Bloomsbury Gloves which are one of my favorite projects in my new book. They are named after the group of artists including Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, and Virgina Wolff who lived in the Bloomsbury area of London in the early twentieth century.


These gloves are relatively easy to make if you have knit gloves or mittens before. They are made out of my Julia Yarn in the colors Magenta, Velvet Moss, Deep Blue Sea, Lady's Mantle, and Coleus. They begin with a sculpted border. A large floral cuff is made in the Fair Isle technique following a rather simple floral chart. I say this because after the twelve rounds of Fair Isle knitting are completed, the rest of the gloves are knit with one color at a time. (Cut the finger off the glove in the photo, sorry - no time to re-take!)


Although the finished gloves appear rather difficult and complex, the fun bits are added with embroidery stitches after the knitting is done. The left motif below shows a cuff flower undecorated. The right flower is in progress - the center of the flower is made by embroidering a large "spider web" on top of the knitting. French knots were stitched between the reverse stockinette stitch ridges.

Here's a detail of the finished embroidered flower with a French knot in the center.

Below, the cosmos flower from my garden is sitting on top of the embroidered glove. At the right you can see the decoration on the upper part of the hand of the glove. The flowers and leaves are made with lazy daisy stitches and fern stitch.


You can order my new book Color by Kristin here on my website. I'm hoping to have a shipping date tomorrow for anyone who was kind enough to order books from me. Thanks!

Good Morning Sunshine!

My mom used to say this to us every morning! What did your mom say to you?

Kitties and Knits - You Can't Miss

Last November (wow, it's been almost a year!) we had the photoshoot here at our farm for Color By Kristin. At that point, there wasn't even a name for this new book. I was scrambling, as I always do, to get all the projects done. The book had been in the works for a while, there was a project list, and as time went by, I just kept checking off the projects:
Designed? check.
Pattern Written? check.
Project with a Knitter? check.
Project back from Knitter? check.
Corrections made? check.

On the bottom of the list was a project called Fingerless Gloves. In my last book, Kristin Knits, I did a pair of fingerless gloves with floral embroidery which were very popular so I figured I had better follow up with a Fair Isle version. Here's that project below from Kristin Knits (photo by Kevin Kennifick).

I think the reason fingerless glove patterns are as popular as they are is because they are small projects, actually half mittens and they are really quick to knit. They make great gifts. And with everyone lowering their thermostats, I hear more and more friends say they wear their gloves at work, while working on their computers, and while knitting.

As the photography deadline approached, I just kept putting the fingerless gloves off. They were small, there would still be enough time. Finally, I had 5 days left before photography and I didn't want to be a failure in Diane, my Art Director's eyes. I stayed up very late one night, swatched, wrote the pattern and called my friend Susan who is the quickest knitter I know. She already had leftover balls of Julia Yarn from other book projects so yes, she could make a quick pair of FG. Yippee.

Then I pushed the envelope a bit further and designed a hat pattern to match. Yes, Susan was also able to make that. The day before the shoot, an overnight envelope came and in it were these gloves and matching hat. I opened it and loved what I saw.

We just so happened to have a sister and brother pair of kittens last fall named Tommie and Annika (after characters in Pippi Longstocking). They were (and still are) such good looking kitties. I decided we should use them in the photos in the book. They were really used to being held (thanks to Julia) and so they would make the perfect props for the knits. Here's Tommie and Annika in the arms of Margaret the model, looking totally adorable.


Oh, and about the gloves, they have a floral knit solid color border. The Fair Isle patterning is easy to do (the repeat is over 5 stitches). But what makes these gloves really special is the addition of chain stitch, running stitch, cross stitch, and French knots to the colorwork pattern. Embroidery on knits isn't hard to do and it is so worth the trouble to learn.

Thanks for all the book orders yesterday. Keep them coming. I'm hoping to update you on the status of the books before the weekend. Please don't forget that if you want them signed to you personally, you must fill in the "special instructions to merchant" section. If you can't figure this out, send me an e-mail after you finish the order. Here's the link to the shop page on my website.

The Sunflowers Didn't Freeze

Saturday morning, as I was zipping by the sunflower field on the way to FiberTwist, I was overjoyed to see that the frost stayed away from our flowers! Friday night, I cut so many flowers and brought them into the house, for fear that it would be another year until I would get to enjoy the beautiful flowers. I stuffed flowers into every vase in the house.

Yesterday, I realized I have barely posted a photo of the flowers here. Doing all the Farmer's Markets has cut into the amount of time I have to photograph and enjoy the field of flowers that is finally blooming. Let's not even mention all the struggle to even get the flowers to come up between all the rain, rain, and more rain this summer.

Yesterday, a neighbor stopped by the field while I was picking flowers. She said, as everyone has this year, that she thought we weren't doing the sunflower field this year. Driving by the field in July and August made me feel super frustrated. It just looked so pitiful and lonely and sad. Even though The Farmer and I were trying to get the plants to grow, the weather wasn't cooperating. The hours we spent planting and re-planting, weeding and tilling didn't show.

But then last week, the rows that survived really did start to strut their stuff. The buckets are full of flowers to buy. Different varieties are blooming daily.


So, if you are local, stop by and take a peek. Buy a bunch of flowers for a friend. They are stunning!


I love this up-close image of the developing seeds, the dew and the petals.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by at FiberTwist on Saturday in Greenfield. It was so much fun to meet you and give you a sunflower from the field and a postcard! I love putting faces with the commentor's names and meeting silent readers who never comment. It's nice to know that my blog puts a sunny spot in everyone's day. I got to hear about how our kittens are doing at different reader's homes. Evidently their mama's hunting skills have been passed on to her progeny. I even had two readers drive up from NYC - what a trip that must of been. I sent them off to the sunflower field after visiting with them (and selling them some lamb chops!). Thanks for coming ladies. Bringing the lamb turned out to be a very good idea. It seems that not all knitters are afraid of eating lamb! I was pleasantly surprised to meet all the omnivores and sell them some of our fine pasture raised lamb.

Thanks for coming everyone!

Color By Kristin Book News

I have really fabulous news for you all today. My new book Color By Kristin is in the country and in a warehouse! I don't have my copies yet to ship but I should have them by the end of this week, if all the stars align properly. Fingers crossed!

I am so excited about this book. The Farmer thinks it is my best one yet. He never says much about my books - probably because he has to live through so much of the back story and birthing of the projects, photography, etc. He is just happy when they get out there and start selling. But it is sweet, never the less, that he likes it so much.

If you have been waiting to order a signed copy of Color By Kristin from me, I think I can safely say, now is the time. Click here for my webstore. I really appreciate every order I get from all of you. Writing books is an unbelievable amount of work, as any author will tell you. The small percentage I make from the sales of each book is minuscule. But when I sell them to you, signed, my percentage goes up and it really helps keep this old farm going. Enough begging for today..... If you want the book signed to you, or to a friend, make sure you fill in the special instructions section on the order form. Otherwise, I will sign generically!

By all means, if your local bookstore or yarnstore is selling my book, buy it from them. Those retailers work so hard to stock yarn and books and the competition from the big box retailers and on-line vendors is fierce. Small town America would be nowhere without its retailers, lining Main Street with things for all of us to buy and a person behind the register. I can't stress this enough... Support your local merchants if there is one near you. I know that many blog readers have lost their local bookstores and yarnstores and so I can give you another option by ordering my books, signed, from my website.

If you have ordered a book from me, you will see it before the expected date of November 2nd. I will let you know when the books arrive at our home and when I get them to the post office to be winging their way to you.

I'm going to share a few of the photos we didn't use for the book on my blog over the next couple weeks. There were so many good images but alas, there is only room for one for each project. That way you will also get a bit of a preview. All of the location photos were taken by my friend and talented photographer (and all around very nice guy) John Gruen and I thank him for supplying me with the lo-res images to share with you.


Here's your first preview. This is a shawl I call the Over The Top Shawl. We didn't use this photo because it was more of a mood shot showing the vista and valley below. We did all of the location photography for this book either in our house, in the yard or on our road. This view is shot at the top of the hill on one of our neighbors' hayfields. From there you can see all the way down to Springfield and Connecticut beyond.

The shawl is knit in my Julia Yarn (50% Wool, 25% Alpaca, 25% Mohair) as are all the projects in this book. It is knit in the round and steeked, then cut and you make the fringe out of the steek yarn. I know this sounds confusing but it isn't and makes sense once you sit down to do it. It's a technique I have been using for years and introduced in my last book Kristin Knits is the Coleus Scarf shown below. You can still purchase signed copies of Kristin Knits on my website. (Photo by Kevin Kennefick.)

Keep popping back in to see the previews.

See You at FiberTwist Tomorrow!

First off, they are predicting frost tonight. It already feels like it. I've got to spend the day harvesting sunflowers, zinnias, and whatever else is still alive in the garden. This is always a bittersweet day in the year and if we're lucky, our sunflower field and our garden at the house will escape the magic 32 degree temp. We shall see. I didn't even make any pesto for the freezer yet and with all the stuff that it going on here, I don't think it is going to happen.

Julia and I will be heading down to Greenfield to set up at FiberTwist at Greenfield High School tomorrow a.m. If you read this blog and come by our booth, please mention that you read this post. I will have something special waiting there for you. It's going to be a beautiful day for a drive all you eastern Mass readers! The leaves are turning here and there are some fabulous bits of red in the swamps along Route 2. Colorful leaves and wooly things, what more do you want on a Saturday!

Besides my books and postcards, we're also going to be selling our Leyden Glen Farm's frozen lamb meat. I'll have an assortment of cuts with me. Frozen meat travels well but if you want me to bring you a lot or want special cuts held for you, please either e-mail me or call. You can find more information on our "Leyden Glen Lamb" website.

Note: I don't take credit cards - only cash and good checks!
Also, we are out of sausage right now and our ground lamb supply is very low.

And by the way, did you see the new Saveur Magazine with its cover feature "Why Lamb Rules." Wow - what a great bunch of recipes. Gotta buy a few copies of this one to keep.

Franklin County (MA) FIberTwist this Saturday

Julia and I will be setting up a booth at Franklin County's Annual FiberTwist this Saturday at the Greenfield High School. If you have never been to this fiber event, here's your chance. The best way to describe it is a "mini-Rhinebeck." Lots of nice things to buy and look at. Free demonstrations of spinning and knitting and all fiber good things. Nice food. And all without the massive crowds and lines. (Greenfield is two hours west of Boston and 1 hour north of Hartford, just south of Brattleboro, Vermont.)

We'll be selling our frozen Leyden Glen Lamb, my books and my postcards featuring our animals, floral still lives and knitting related images. I'll be happy to autograph any books you buy.

I'll have a sample copy of my new book for you to peruse. Stop by and say hi. Check back later in the week. There's more FiberTwist fun to come from me!