Color By Kristin On Sale at Webs

Just popping in very quickly to let you know that my Color By Kristin Wool/Mohair/Alpaca is now on sale at Webs. Hop on over to check out all the beautiful colors and plan your next knitting project. 

Perhaps you own my books Color By Kristin and Kristin Knits and have been dying to make one or two of the projects. Here's your chance to purchase at a great discount. The two books are available signed in my web shop. 

If you are thinking anything at all about knitting with this lovely blend, I urge to purchase it now because it may never be available again. Just saying! Again - here is the link.

It's Ready - Kristin Nicholas' Easy Aran for Babies, Toddlers and Kids

My adorable model Emersen loving the camera

Thanks for being patient while I readied all my files for my latest knitwear design - The Easy Aran for Babies, Toddlers, and Kids. It's uploaded to my website here and to Ravelry here. It doesn't matter to me where you purchase it. While you are there, check out some of my other designs.

Emersen is so proud of her violet!

The yarn is of course my Color by Kristin Wool/Mohair/Alpaca distributed by Classic Elite Yarns. Remember the yarn is available over on the Webs Anniversary Sale here. It's at a great discount and available in so many gorgeous colors. Check it out.

These photos here are some I didn't use from the shoot. Wanted to include my Julia since she is feeling neglected on the blog lately.

Julia, Emersen, Marlee and the girls' Mom Shalee walking up a wood road

I designed this Easy Aran sweater thinking of beginning knitters who are just wanting to learn cabling. The cable repeats are worked over 6 and 12 rows and are easily memorized. I've included "written out" cable instructions AND "charted" cable instructions. The design features 2 x 2 ribbing trimmed with a rolled edge. There is very little shaping - only at the front neckline and the sleeves. 

This photo shows the neckline details

When I design, I think of the knitter - how they are going to enjoy the process. This project is about ease of knitting while working the cables which are the challenge to a beginner. But for all you more advanced knitters, this project is still fun to knit. 

The Easy Aran Pattern includes 3 photo tutorials:
• How to block a sweater
• How to knit a cable - both front and back cross
• How to sew in a drop shoulder sleeve
• 23 photos, 1 how-to illustration, 1 cable chart, 1 schematic, 11 pages
• More photos and information on my website

It is sized for from babies to larger children - all the specifics are over on my site. Hop on over to my website or Ravelry to purchase the PDF pattern for $6.00. If you have any trouble whatsoever with the download, please do not hesitate to contact me. It should be immediate but check your spam filter just in case it ends up there. 

Marlee's not looking happy with her big sister hugs

Thanks so much to my models Emersen and Marlee - the two beautiful daughters of our friends Will and Shalee. I need to design some more little sweaters for these girls before they get too big to model again. Hard to believe she used to be this small!

Julia loves these two girls

Sneak Peek at a New Knitting Design

It's been a while since I self-published a new knitting pattern. Here's a sneak peek at this one for babies and kids that will (hopefully) be released at the end of this week. Can't see much from this photo but I've got your interest, don't I? Fingers crossed it all gets done by Friday. Check back here. Knit in my Color By Kristin which is available ON SALE at Webs til the end of May.

Don't forget the Webs Tent and Fleece Sale. I'll be there Saturday selling our locally raised lamb. Check out the info here and I hope to see you in person. The Tent Sale continues through Sunday.

Mohair and Fair Isle - Oh How I Love You

I've always been a huge fan of mohair. It began when my mom made me a beautiful cabled cardigan when I was a little girl. You can see Julia wearing that sweater here. She was so tiny and so sweet and holding her favorite kitty Zoe Sophia.

When I began working for Classic Elite, their main yarn was La Gran Mohair. It was spun in the mill that was just outside my office door. It began as a looped boucle mohair and then was brushed on a giant carding machine, 80 ends at a time, to become La Gran. La Gran is still around, although it is now sourced from overseas. It is a gorgeous fluffy mohair yarn with a core of wool and nylon. La Gran takes dye incredibly and the result is a lustrous yarn which is great for quick knits. 

The other day I received the CEY web letter only to see a sweater that looked really familiar. I'm not sure if I designed it but I know I had a hand in it somewhere because I was the Creative Director at that point. Love the lacy drop stitch re-sized for the current silhouette. The pattern is free as a PDF Download and you can find it on Ravelry here. The lovely model is Mackenzie, daughter of Susan Mills, the CEY Design Director. I remember when Mackenzie was born on Valentine's Day 18 years ago! 

Check out the current colors of La Gran Mohair here.  Gorgeous. I hope I can make Julia a La Gran sweater soon because she loves my old Parisian Brown La Gran cardigan that I still wear that is over 20 years old.

It is my LOVE of mohair and all fine fibers that led me to design Color By Kristin, my 50% wool, 25% alpaca, 25% mohair yarn which is distributed by Classic Elite Yarns.  This blend is so luxurious. Trouble is ----- it doesn't really look spectacular in the skein put-up. It looks rather ordinary. But try knitting with it and you will be hooked. First of all - it is the color that grabs you. And then the way the yarn glides over the needles. The alpaca adds a beautiful softness and drape to the yarn. The mohair adds a gorgeous sheen. The wool adds stability to tame down some of the exotic qualities of the alpaca and mohair (i.e. stretchiness and lack of shape keeping qualities). 
  
Color By Kristin is of course, my current favorite yarn. Maybe your yarn shop carries it? Perhaps you can talk someone into gifting it to you! Amazing colors and so nice to knit. All of the patterns In my PDF Download Collection are made of this yarn. 

Here's another new Color By Kristin design called Basilica. This is in the new Cathedral Book published by Classic Elite Yarns.

I designed this sweater with beginning Fair-Islers in mind. (Thanks Meg of CEY for the tip that even some very proficient knitters are still afraid of Fair Isle.) The colorwork is done at the edges of the sweater where there is no shaping. It doesn't take long to work the colorful bands and then it is all smooth sailing with solid stockinette stitch. Here's a back view.

The edges are worked in my favorite Reverse Stockinette Stitch Ridges. I love how they curl backwards into the fabric. You could change the colors up easily. I used Deep Forest 3212, Julia's Pink 3289, Sunflower 3250, Rock Henna 3255, and Coleus 3260 for my version.

There are plenty of other incredibly gorgeous Fair Isle Designs in the Cathedral Book just published by CEY. Most of them are designed by the incredibly talented Susan Mills, the current Creative Director at CEY and Mom to Mackenzie. Check it out here. 

I know it is gift knitting season and you probably aren't thinking about learning Fair Isle at the moment. If you want to combine learning Fair Isle with a Christmas Stocking, check out my Kristin's Creative Christmas Stocking Collection. Here's one of the pretty designs - a Christmas tree border with a circle motif. Here it is plain, without embroidery. 

Here it is with the Fair Isle border decorated with simple embroidery stitches.

  
All part of my PDF Download - 6 designs, 4 sizes for $12. Check it out here and order on my website. Or order through Ravelry here. You do not need to be a Ravelry member.

Happy Fair Isle and gift knitting everyone!

Day Five - It's Here - Launch Day of Kristin's Colorful Christmas Stockings - My New PDF Pattern

Thanks everyone for putting up with the Colorful Christmas Stockings Previews this week. I've had a busy week working on my manuscript re-writes and getting this Christmas Stocking Pattern in order for you all. 

Here is the last stocking in the Collection ------ it is called Stripes Both Ways. It features a two color garter stitch border. You sew the cast on and bind off edges together and then pick up and work it down traditionally.

As with all the other stockings in the new collection - you'll only need one color in a round. That's the beauty of all the designs - you'll end up with a very colorful Christmas Stocking but there is no need for stranding and following charts. 

The pattern is ready for sale NOW. Here are the specifics.... Kristin's Colorful Christmas Stockings includes five different designs. Each is a colorful design but is knit with only color in a row or round. Two of the stockings combine back and forth and circular knitting. There is one very simple cable pattern and one more advanced cable pattern. There is also one very easy striped version. Here's the cover of the pattern.

If you are new to knitting stockings, Kristin's Colorful Christmas Stockings is a great choice for you. You'll be able to increase your knitting skills as you work your way through the collection. My friend Cathy Payson, who helped me with the tech proofing, told me this is going to be her "go-to" stocking pattern now. Stockings make a great wedding or shower gift. They make nice baby gifts too. Or a housewarming gift. It's nice to build up a stock-pile to have as gifts. 

The beautiful yarn I used in the lovely color range is my Color By Kristin distributed by Classic Elite Yarns.  Here they all are hanging on our barn.

The price is $12.00 for 5 designs.

Here's some more great news - I've started a Kristin Nicholas Knitalong over on Ravelry. Come join in the fun during this Gift Knitting Season. 

You can purchase the pattern from my website HERE or over on Ravelry HERE. As always, thanks for your support of my work, my family, and our farm. 

If you are a customer in Canada or Overseas, use the Ravelry link as my website doesn't handle orders from other countries. Thanks.

Color By Kristin Giveaway! of New Fall Colors Inspired by my Garden

(This is a long one folks - but it is good so read through because I have a great ending for you.) I was so glad to wake up yesterday morning after arriving home from Detroit very late Wednesday night to find that the frost had stayed away and my garden is still blooming and growing. Good news for me -- I will have flowers for my book photoshoot next week and won't have to spend money. 

Autumn is my very favorite time of year. The light is so gorgeous, the air is so crisp and the colors take on a gold glow. I love the garden flowers when they are getting towards their end - it seems their color is extra rich. It may be my imagination, but I think it is that the angle of the sun makes everything just look gorgeous. I love how all the plants fall over, creep around and just make the last ditch effort to set seed.

No surprise --- I used my garden flowers as inspiration for the New Fall 2013 Colors of Color By Kristin. If you have been following my designs over the years, these colors probably look familiar. When Classic Elite Yarns brought my favorite blend (formerly called Julia) back to life last season, they couldn't bring in all the shades. This year, they wanted me to choose 6 new shades and here is what I came up with.....

Leading off the pack, Blue Thyme 3220. This color is a lovely light teal shade - it is a complex teal - not just a blue green. It has hints of red in it and it mixes beautifully with all the other colors. I didn't have any thyme in the garden this year but I've photographed it with some lambs ears and lacinato kale.

Next in line is Coleus 3260. This is one of my favorite dark shades - not purple but more a very dark maroon. You can substitute it for any dark shade. It will add a richness to any garment.

For fun, I photographed it with the new shade Lady's Mantle 3235. When I plucked the coleus from the garden, I couldn't believe the synchronicity of the moment - the edging of the coleus was exactly the same as the new Lady's Mantle. Gorgeous.

Here Lady's Mantle 3235 is photographed with a Green Envy zinnia. Love those flowers although they do not produce very well for me. 

 

Anemone 3295 is such a useful purple shade. Here it is photographed with Verbena Bonariesis.  
 

Rock Henna 3255 is photographed with Hot Biscuits Amaranth. This color is a lovely dark rust with overtones of red and gold.

Lastly, how did we exist without Sunflower 3250 Color By Kristin? I'm not sure. 

You can download a color card of the entire Color By Kristin color range here.  You will find the new colors on the bottom of the color card. 

Here's what I have for one lucky winner today -
one skein each of the new colors of Color By Kristin.

and one copy of each of the new two new pattern books - Color By Kristin Books 4 and 5.

Here's how you enter..... Answer the following question in the comments section.
Which is your favorite of the 6 new colors of Color By Kristin?
Lady's Mantle?
Blue Thyme?
Rock Henna?
Coleus?
Anemone?
Sunflower? 
What will you do with the yarn if you win it? 

Contest ends Tuesday October 15th at 11:59 p.m. Please US Addresses only.
PLEASE LEAVE AN EASY WAY TO GET A HOLD OF YOU - E-MAIL OR RAVELRY ID.

And because I am sharing here today - check out Cleo - a fun Fair Isle scarf made with lots of the new colors of Color By Kristin. I knit it on short circulars and edged it in a flared rib. You can find the pattern here on Ravelry. "Heart It" if you like it. The pattern is from Book Five which is available at your local yarnstore or on Ravelry here.

Harvard Square Baby Meets Kate

Years ago, I designed a sweater for the book I co-authored with Melanie Falick Knitting For Baby. (Great book - still in print!) We called it Harvard Square thinking that the kids who would wear the sweater would end up at Harvard. The sweater is on the cover of the paperback version of the book. Remember it? Really sweet and fun to knit.

I heard from many people that they would like to make the sweater for large bodies, i.e. themselves. It took a few years (okay, over a decade) but this past winter, I re-worked the design in my Color By Kristin Yarn and loosened up the gauge. Here it is....

The pattern is now available through your LYS, Ravelry or from Classic Elite. It is in Color By Kristin Book Five. The sweater is called Kate, not Harvard Square for Adults! Here are the finished measurements:
36 (39, 42½, 47½, 51, 54)” - I went a little math crazy. It is a drop sleeve so easy for beginners.

I used the following shades of Color by Kristin: Deep Blue Sea, Yarrow, Geranium, October Leaves and Espresso.

The color combinations are endless! I swatched up 3 versions and this is the one CEY wanted. Wish I could find the other swatches to share with you. 

NOTE: It is a bit short and cropped so for those of you who want to cover your belly, you will have to add some length. If you are worried about looking FFFFAAAATTTTT (I know you!) use stripes made of darker colors that are of similar color value to make the stripe pattern more subtle and less horizontal. What I mean is replace the Yarrow and the October Leaves which are the lighter colors with darker shades. Get it?  

Hop on over to Ravelry to favorite it if you do that kind of thing.

Color By Kristin: Book 3 + Giveaway

So excited to present you all with the photos from Color By Kristin Book Three published by Classic Elite Yarns for my Color By Kristin Yarn. Susan Mills, the Creative Director at CEY, and Betsy, CEY's owner, wanted to give knitters who prefer working with wool and animal fibers a new collection to knit and crochet with this spring and summer. 

Are you a knitter or crocheter who prefers wool and wool blends all year round? I am - I do admit. It has been years since I made a cotton project. I just like the way animal fibers feel and react on the needles. I like the resiliency and the colors that animal fibers dye.

There are six patterns in Book Number Three. Most of the projects are accessory based. They are fun and colorful and not too challenging. The granny cowl is called Tommie and Susan designed it. Talk about Granny Chic! Love this.

Susan also designed the delicate lace and cable short sleeve cardigan below named Delilah. Delilah is our calico cat who was born here at the farm last summer.

 

Like the past two Color By Kristin Books, the projects are named after our kitties. We are running out of cat names! This pretty scarf named Cole is a cross between a shawl and a scarf. I designed it. It is knit in the round with a steek that is then cut and fringed back to make the trim. At the end, I added the centers of the flowers in Spider Web Stitch embroidery. The nice thing about making a scarf in the round this way is you don't have to knit many inches and it is complete! In the round is the only way to go for Fair Isle Two Color knitting if you ask me.

Here is a back view.

Mia is a bag designed by Tian Foley. It has a cabled base and a bit of colorwork at the top in an easy to remember Fair Isle Pattern. What a cute market bag or book bag.

 

Next up is Nat. It is a tiny cowl that can be worn under a coat as a turtleneck to keep the chill away. Not much knitting in this one. I designed and knit it in a "afghan" stitch which mimics the crochet ripple. It's a great pattern to use to experiment with color and to use up odds and ends. I worked it back and forth and then seamed it because the pattern worked easier (read - less frustrating!) back and forth as opposed to in the round.

And now for my favorite design in Book Three - It is called Brie. I made the easy garter stitch scarf first. At the bottom of one end I added a multi-color sunflower design. This sunflower is NOT in my new book 50 Sunflowers to Knit, Crochet and Felt. It is new for this pattern. We dressed Emily the model in a Mary Poppins style hat and made a band of real sunflowers. So fun.

All of the photos were shot here at the farm last September when the sunflowers were blooming like mad. They made a great backdrop to the colorful knits.

You can purchase the book at your local yarnstore or directly from CEY. Cost is $10.95. You can also purchase single patterns in automatic PDF download format via the CEY website.

I am not selling the patterns but I am giving away TWO Color By Kristin Book Three to 2 of my lucky readers!

Here's how you enter: Answer the following question:
Tell me what you like to knit or crochet with during the summer months and what kinds of projects you have planned. If you don't knit in the summer - tell me that too!

I'll pick 2 lucky winners and get the books out to you next week. Contest ends Sunday evening at 11:59 p.m.

As always, PLEASE LEAVE AN EASY WAY TO GET A HOLD OF YOU - e-mail address, Ravelry ID, or blogger ID. If your number gets pulled, I need to be able to get a hold of you! Good luck everyone!

Contest is closed. The winners have been notified and I'll be sending their books out to them this week. Thanks everyone for your comments and for entering! Kristin

Welcome 2013 + Sebastian Gloves Finished!

Welcome to 2013 here at "Getting Stitched on the Farm." Thanks always for popping in and checking on what we all are up to. 

If you are me, you're thinking - OMG - all those ewes are going to be delivering lambs soon. It's mind boggling to me and I have my fingers crossed. Once we get into it, there will be no time to think about what is happening. Somehow, we will make it through.

I'm not much for looking back on past year's nor making resolutions. Tried it a couple times and just fell back to my own habits. I do know that 2012 was a busy year for my family and I and that is good. I have been laying the groundwork for upcoming things and although it seems forever for them to happen, they will in due time. Like I tell Julia "Be patient and do not wish your life away." So this year, I'll be having some new things to share with you. Stay tuned. I'm just hoping for a busy year for 2013 too!

Exciting news from the Houzz front. Our Farmhouse was Number 6 in most bookmarked stories in all of 2012! And it was Number 1 in most bookmarked for Most Colorful Houses. Very cool for me - sitting here in the middle of nowhere - to know that my style of decoration and use of color is appealing to people far away. I know it should not be all about the numbers but they do impress when they are good (and so many times they are lackluster - as when one of my new kniting books comes out and I check on the Amazon ratings under Best Selling Knitting Books and they barely crack the top 100). The Houzz thing is a pat on the back which I appreciate. I also appreciate the luck of meeting the photographer Rikki Snyder via Sarah Zimmerman who had the idea to photograph for Houzz. And who introduced me to Houzz considering I didn't know the first thing about it in August.

Enough Kristin enough. Onto the knitting that is finally finished - my Sebastian Gloves from the Knitalong. Here's the first pair - I made multi-colored fingers because I could. This is the version with the ribbed border. They fit great and they are for me! I am in dire need of a new pair of gloves. I actually used odds and ends of my Julia Yarn which is the exact same yarn as my Color By Kristin. I had a head start because I actually made one of the gloves last spring as the prototype for the pattern.

Here's the second pair which have the flared border. Again, I had one of these finished last spring too! I decided I would add multi-colored embroidery to these because I can't get enough color. To further mix up the colors, I added a reverse Stockinette Stitch Ridge at the border. To do this I picked up at the edge with dpns and work 2 rounds of purl. Then I bound off in knit stitch. I used two different colors which were used in the embroidery. And I am keeping these also! Selfish maybe but I need gloves and I never get to knit for myself - I'm always knitting for a deadline and sending a project into the great world. I'll keep one pair in the car and one in the house. It's cold here in New England!

I'm sure it is time for some selfish knitting at your house too. If you want to try the Sebastian Gloves, you can order the pattern by clicking the button below for $6.00 by clicking the button below. It will be immediately sent to your in-box. 

My best to you all as we start the year fresh and new - full of possibilities. Pray for peace. I know I am.

Random Knitting Thoughts and What I'm Knitting

I had a great Fall 2013 planning meeting with Susan Mills, Creative Director of Classic Elite Yarns, the distributor for Color By Kristin this week. Susan and I have worked together for many years and it is so nice that we are once again working together now that my yarn is with CEY. We cooked up dozens of handknit pattern ideas in a short time. Only problem is ideas are easy - it is the sitting down, swatching, writing the pattern and then knitting it that takes so long. 

I often think that there are "idea people" and there are "doing people." "Ideas" are easy - at least for me. I come up with new ideas all the time. Some are good and some get thrown out the window. Some are good but there is no time to make the project happen. It's the "doing" that takes commitment,  hours - days - months of working to get to the finish line and actually produce a finished project whether a book, a knitting pattern or just a pair of mittens.

The other day I overheard some knitters talking at our local library. They were talking about the price of yarn, number of balls needed for a sweater, etc. The scope of the conversation was that they weren't willing to plunk down $100 for a project that in the end might not fit them.  I thought about this all the way home and the entire next day as I was working on a photography project. Do all knitters think this way? Do they not want to risk their hard earned dollars on big projects? Is it more fulfilling to knit smaller things where fit isn't a big problem? After all if a hat doesn't fit someone it is easy to find a head it will actually fit! 

Interesting thing for me to think about as a handknit designer. I'm always trying to figure out what to design next. What do you think? Do you knit sweaters or only little things? Would love to hear your thoughts if you have the time.

I'm almost finished with the two pairs of Sebastian gloves I have been working on. Here they are - just waiting for some embroidery to make them more colorful. Pattern is available here. 

 

I'm also working on a Knit It Felt It Tech Cozy. I'm doing the "random" colorway in shades of blues, purples, chartreuse, and gold. This is it before felting. Looks a mess, doesn't it?

Here's the inside with all the color change ends hanging. Nice thing is you don't have to weave in the ends because they will tangle together when felted. 

 

I'll felt it this weekend and share it with you soon. Love this pattern from my PDF Collection. Comes in 4 sizes to cover all kinds of techie things. Each size includes instructions for both Fair Isle and solid versions. Makes a nice addition for a holiday tech gift you may be giving someone. You can buy it in my Shop Here or on Ravelry Here.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!