Win a copy of Color by Kristin!

Edited on January 6th, 2010: The giveaway contest is closed! Thank you to all who entered and commented on Color by Kristin!

Hi Knitters,

I am excited to finally get the chance to review Kristin Nicholas' new book, Color by Kristin. I know it has already been reviewed in many knitting magazines, on Knitty, and on a variety of blogs. All have been favorable reviews. I don't mind adding to the reviews after the fact because I love it, too. Kristin Nicholas has been in the fiber industry for many years. Along with her vast experiences, which include being the creative director for Classic Elite for 16 years and having her own custom-made yarn line, Julia, which is distributed by Westminster Fibers, Kristin has a wealth of knowledge that only a few select people will ever have. On top of these claims to fame she is also the knitting expert on Knit & Crochet Now, the PBS show that is top-notch. She is wonderful on this show as you can see her fun, no-nonsense take on knitting. It is delightful and sometimes funny but always refreshing. She doesn't take things too seriously. I like that. She tells it like it is.

I first saw a preview of Color by Kristin at TNNA last June where Kristin was also debuting her new sock yarn, Best Foot Forward and some new colors in her yarn line, Julia. Both of these are beautiful yarn lines. I was immediately smitten with her book. I share a love of color and of embroidery with Kristin which makes her work incredibly appealing to me and apparently to others as well.
I want to show you some of my favorite spots in the book. First off, you feel like you are stepping into a little piece of Kristin's life on her New England farm. The photography was all taken on her farm and land. The photos include her home, her daughter and her friends and her animals. You get a sense of how color plays a major role in Kristin's life on a daily basis due to her environment. You can get a feel of her farm life on Getting Stitched on the Farm, which is Kristin's blog and a favorite of mine. If you don't subscribe, you should.

I love the back story on any creative endeavor and Kristin starts the book with a glimpse into her story. The tiny picture on the left is Kristin in the 1970's wearing an outfit she sewed herself. The lower tiny photo is Kristin and her husband, The Farmer. He's the one who stole the New Jersey girl's heart and turned her into a farm-loving fiberista. Aren't we all lucky that happened? The twists and turns in Kristin's life are inspiring. Her journey has not always been an easy one and she has an honesty about the ups-and-downs in her life. She is always positive and uplifting. Kristin is a hard-working woman and her successes and her large, dedicated group of followers are proof of her talent and constant appeal.

This sweater is one of my favorites. It is called the Child's Zip-Up Cardigan. If you have ever feared steeking or putting a zipper in a knitted garment, Kristin's directions will put you at ease. In fact, the entire book is like taking a class with Kristin right at your side, guiding your every step. All of the projects are knit in Kristin's own yarn line, Julia. The colors are rich and saturated. I highly recommend Julia yarn for any project. It is a worsted weight yarn that is a blend of wool, mohair and alpaca. It is nothing short of gorgeous and soft. In fact, I used Julia in Itty-Bitty Toys for the Princess and the Pea Set. It is the best.
The book focuses on fair isle knitting, which is color stranded knitting. It is fun and not as difficult as you may think. I love this technique and Kristin makes it simple for any level of knitter. Don't be intimidated by all of the beautiful colorwork. I am honestly telling you that you can do it! Kristin makes it easy. She has technique guides with clear illustrations, design techniques, embroidery techniques, edging techniques and best of all there is an extended Colorwork Chart Glossary! The glossary includes colorwork charts with repeats from 2 stitches all the way up to 30 stitches. Basically, Kristin is giving you the tools to create her designs but also she is giving you the tools and techniques to create your OWN beautiful colorwork designs. Color by Kristin is a book that will last through time as a great resource for colorwork. It is a book that belongs on every knitter's bookshelf.
Included in the book are patterns for mittens, pillows, sweaters for kids and adults, scarves, jackets, socks, gloves, blankets... They are all gorgeous and bursting with livelihood and color and joy. Kristin's experience as a designer makes her patterns clear as clear can be. It's like she can anticipate just about any question or concern that might pop up. This sets her apart from a newer designer who may assume that people will already know things. Kristin just knows how to make techniques attainable and simple! Her philosophy is anyone can do it!
I am always drawn to kids patterns and mittens and pillows in general. As far as Kristin goes, I love everything she does. The photo above is my favorite shot in the entire book. That is Kristin's daughter on the left, Julia (the namesake of the yarn line) and her friend. They are wearing two different versions of the Best Friends Pullovers. I want to make one of these for The Collector in the worst way. I have a bunch of Julia in a basket in my studio just waiting to be knit up into something fun and this may be it. I just need some time, right? Cute little girls they are!
I told Kristin that I think her next book should be a mitten/glove book! She just laughed when I told her this but it's true. I think she wasn't in the mood quite yet to take on another book project or even hear about one. I was just planting the seed selfishly hoping it would come true someday. She designs really cool mittens and gloves. They are like little pieces of art. On the page above you can see how Kristin uses embroidery to liven up her knitted fabric.
The embroidery absolutely changes and enhances her designs. I LOVE doing embroidery on knitted fabric and this is another one of Kristin's signature design elements. Embroidery on knitted fabric is not difficult to do and the results are always fantastic. It isn't like you have to have any previous embroidery skills to achieve these looks. Kristin uses the most basic embroidery stitches to get major effect. Plus she takes you step by step on how to do it. No worries.

Now, here are the most important things I want to mention.

Kristin has her own shop on her blog sidebar. Kristin's shop link is here.

If you are going to order a copy of Color by Kristin, order directly from Kristin. She will even sign the book for you or for someone else if it is a gift. What a treat to own an autographed copy of Color by Kristin. In the shop Kristin also sells 5 of her other books (I have them all and you should, too!), postcards featuring her beautiful photography (I have a couple sets of these and will never send them because I like them too much!), her painted canvas bags (yes, she is an artist, too, and I have a couple of these bags!) and her stitchery kits (I have two of these and one is completed the other is not, it is a gorgeous hand-stitched pillow on my couch!). Every product is divine.

Recently, Kristin has started her own online pattern shop. Now you can purchase individual downloadable patterns directly from Kristin. She has five patterns available as of now and they are wonderful. There are hats and mittens, a pillow, a sweater and hat set and felted bag. Be sure to check those out here!

If you haven't gathered by now let me say it out once and for all, I love Kristin Nicholas' work. I am a major supporter of everything she does. She is just as wonderful in person as she appears to be in any other form. I feel lucky to know her and to be able to say that she truly is a good, talented and smart cookie. She is humble and easy to relate to. I admire her so much. If you haven't listened to Kristin's interviews on Craftsanity or It's a Purl, Man, you must! Kristin is a storyteller and her stories are a good listen. I think she was interviewed on Ready, Set, Knit! with Kathy Elkins pretty recently. Look that one up, too.

I am extra-excited to offer you a chance to win a copy of Color by Kristin. Leave a comment on this post to enter. Say hello and leave your name, a link, something to identify yourself, a ravelry link.... tell me why you love Kristin:) Whatever you'd like. In a few short days I will randomly select two winners. Each winner will receive a copy of Color by Kristin! The winners will need to email me to give me their mailing addresses so I can pass those on to Kristin's publisher to send out the books.

Good luck and let the commenting begin!

best, susie

p.s. Thanks for the love and support of my new hat pattern, Ruche! It's been selling like hot cakes!

Ruche!

Hi Knitters,

I started this hat as a treat for myself a couple of days ago. Yesterday I really had some time to nail it down. I LOVE it! The yarn is the most decadent, gorgeous, soft, lofty treat ever. It is Blue Sky Alpacas Royal which is a 100% luxury alpaca. It is like nothing else I have ever tried. Delicious. It is light as air and the drape is dreamy. I want to knit a lot more with this yarn.

The hat fits so nicely. It's comfortable, covers my ears, clings where it should and looks fantastic! I am thrilled with the way this turned out. The stitch pattern involves increasing and decreasing to get the rippled effect. It is simple but interesting, too, which is the best for this busy time of year. It makes for perfect knitting by the fire. There is nothing more difficult than a kfb (knit in the front and back of the same stitch), and a k2tog (knit two stitches together). Easy, peasy.
I am calling this new pattern, which is available for purchase in my pattern shop, Ruche. Here is the dictionary definition of ruche:

ruche (rōōsh)
n. A ruffle or pleat of lace, muslin, or other fine fabric used for trimming women's garments.

[French, from Old French rusche, beehive, from Medieval Latinrūsca, bark of a tree (used for making beehives), of Celtic origin.]
ruched (rōōsht) adj.

Perfect, right? Beehive, bark of a tree, pleated, ruffled, they all fit the bill. Viva La Roooosh!
The Collector took the photos this morning. Not bad for a 10-year-old.
Here is some information you might like to know:

Size: To fit an average size woman or large child with a head circumference of 20-22 inches.

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Royal (100% luxury alpaca; 288 yards/100 grams), 1 skein in Vermillion #711

Needles:

US size 3, 16-inch circular and 24-inch circular needles OR size to obtain gauge

US size 3, double-pointed needles set of 4 OR size to obtain gauge

Materials:

Ruler or tape measure

Stitch marker

Scissors

Yarn needle

Gauge:

6 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch

Abbreviations:

k knit

p purl

k2tog knit two stitches together

kfb knit in the front and back of the same stitch

rnd(s) round(s)

st(s) stitch(es)

Click here to order the pattern for Ruche!

Ravelry page for Ruche is here!

The pattern cost is $4.50. Please remember that I personally send out all patterns from my shop via email with an attached pdf pattern. Sometimes there is a slight delay because it is not automated, it's me doing all of the sending! I try to be as prompt as possible.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy this beautiful, lush hat as much as I do!

best, susie

p.s. Two of my patterns made the Best Knitting Patterns of 2009 for Whipup.net. Check it out here! Thanks, Ramona, for letting me know.

p.p.s. I have a new free pattern available on Spud says! Check it out here!

Kitchen: Kitschy to Modern

Hi Knitters,

Here is my old kitchen. I wish I had an even older photo because this version is after my do-it-yourself remodel about 8 years ago. Our house was built in the late 1970's. The really old kitchen had dark brown wood cupboards. I painted all of the cupboards inside and out in white. I knocked out the inside panel on the upper cupboards and had glass put in. Over the stove there was a vent and more cupboards that we removed to open it up. There was a dropped plexi-glass ceiling that had florescent lights, big tubes of lights. Why? It was awful. We ripped all of that out. A good friend of ours did all of the electrical wiring and added new canned lights for us. No more florescent lighting.

The back splash was so fun. I collected tiles and mugs and silly stuff and created a funky mosaic back splash. It was so funny and fun. The kids even painted tiles that we broke up and added to the mosaic. I had shelves and 2 big chalkboards and a filing system that hung on one wall with a cubby for each child. It was a funny little kitschy kitchen and we used it hard for years.

I spent about 4 months remodeling the original kitchen into the updated version above. I did everything myself. I walked around in paint stained clothes and hair for months.

The problem was that with four children, three of which are big adult-size now, we simply could not fit in our kitchen comfortably. Entertaining for a sit-down meal was out of the question. Even adding a couple more people left us without enough places to eat. We had a large farm table and benches to sit on. You had to shuffle sideways to slide into your seat and once everyone sat down you could forget about getting up again. It was tough and uncomfortable.

It was time for drastic action! The wall with the double oven was knocked out completely and the kitchen was gutted and every inch was reworked. We also added a sliding glass door and a deck onto the back of the house. We added all new windows which really brightened up the room.

We started last June and the new stone back splash was installed and grouted last week. Now you can look at the entire process! It was painful to say the least but we are in love with our new kitchen.

Funny little mosaic strip left all alone on the wall. No more handmade kitchen for us. We loved it but it was time to move on.
Ugh.
Yikes.
Love the old linoleum you find under other flooring!
There is the new doorway to the deck. This adds so much light to the room.
Filmy Green from Sherwin Williams, the best color ever! I have had three people I know paint this same shade in their homes since it went up on my walls. It's beautiful.
Hard wood floors are the best.
Excitement ran high as the new cupboards arrived. It was like a giant puzzle.
The lighting is simple and beautiful. No counter tops yet.
Taking shape.
I LOVE the stone back splash with the gray grout and how it goes with our counter tops and wall color. It is heaven on earth. The Ming Green tile is from TileArt, a Madison tile shop on Monroe Street. The counter tops look like concrete, all speckled gray and fun.
Joy! The back splash is so sleek and cool. I can't believe it is in my house. I go crazy over stuff like this. I like it so much.
The sink was filled with cookie sheets, maybe I'll take another photo when it is clean and empty. The sink is one huge deep basin, no divider in the middle. I am in love with my huge sink and the faucet is so cool. It has the nozzle that pulls out and can be used like a sprayer. It is such a joy.
There is so much seating now. We have storage drawers built into this big bench that is under one of the windows. All of the cabinets are birch wood. To have storage is a new thing to me.
We have two islands. One is a breakfast bar with seating for four. The other island holds our stove. This is the first time I have ever had a gas stove. That is a treat.
We can all fit around our table comfortably now. I can't tell you what a difference the new kitchen has made in our lives. We love everything about it.
I am a baker. I love making cookies and now I have 3 racks in each oven. These are convection ovens and boy do they work fast. I have had to happily adjust to speedy oven time. Now I can bake an entire batch of cookies at once. That's a thrill.
When I have been out on the road so many knitters have asked me about the kitchen. I was waiting for the last bit to be finished up before I posted on the project again. I haven't even hung any artwork back on the walls yet. I am enjoying the clean freshness of it all, I guess. I will get to hanging some things on the walls again soon.

This is the first time in my life I have ever had something new that we created from scratch. I am so appreciative of it all. I am used to always making do and now I don't have to so much.
From my kitchen to yours, happy holidays!

Much love and good wishes to all of you, sweet friends.

best, susie

p.s. The cookies are my mom's ginger snap recipe with chocolate Kisses plopped on top. Yum. They were gone in a flash. Not kidding.

Snooty Snood Deux

Hi Knitters,

Fast and furious today! Late last night I hurriedly finished a second Snooty Snood by Gina Hills. I will be giving it away for Christmas. The Collector gave me permission to take her photo this morning but threw in a brusque, "Hurry up!" So I jumped to it as ordered. She is on fire over Christmas.
Baby Alpaca Grande Tweed, color 100. 2 skeins, none left. US size 13 needles.
There are some funny mistakes in this one but I am okay with that. I'll never tell and it looks good to me!

Pattern link.

Ravelry link.

I get asked this every time, the yarn cubbies in the background are old and from Sundance catalog. I don't even get that catalog any longer, is it still around? I used to order from there every once in a while. Cool stuff. Robert Redford style.

I've got to run. My boys' high school swim team is coming over for dinner tonight for Chinese. That's close to 40 people total. My older daughter had already planned a sleep over for three friends as well. Poor planning. All I have to do is provide the house and make dessert. Everything else is being taken care of for us. It should be fun but I need to clean and bake and clean some more!

One other exciting bit of news is that my oldest son has just been accepted in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is so excited as it is the only place he has ever wanted to go to college. He only applied for one other school. I've never seen anyone so set on one school. There was no doubt in his mind. I would have felt so sad for him if it didn't work out. But it did! Phew!

We have a long family history at the UW-Madison with loads of family members going to college here, including my husband and me, and my dad who was a professor at the UW-Madison for over 30 years. The campus is the reason we grew up and lived in Madison, I was born shortly after my dad got his position on the faculty. My husband played football for the Badgers as well. In general, we are just Madison people through and through and we love it to death here so it isn't hard for us to understand why my son feels so strongly. In fact, I feel good that we have passed on our love for our great little city and our great big college.

What a gift for the season. I don't need anything else. Now, I get to breathe a big sigh of relief.

Happiness lives on!

best, susie

Christmas Past

Hi Knitters,

How are you? Is everyone knitting for the holidays? I hope so. In the past I have knitted my heart out for Christmas but this year has been a little different. I haven't had the time to knit for gifts. I am okay with that though. I started thinking about past Christmas seasons and knitting and crafting I have done. I thought I would take a stroll down memory lane.

The first project that came to mind is the Grinch Glove design I made a couple of years ago. The Collector loved these. The Grinch Glove pattern is a free pattern on my sidebar if you are interested. It is just a good glove pattern for kids, too, if you don't want to add the Grinchy-ness.

I love the heart on the palm. It reminds me of the book, The Kissing Hand. The link for The Kissing Hand book is in the free pattern post linked below.

Here is the link for the free pattern for the Grinch Gloves.

Here is the link for the Ravelry page for the Grinch Gloves.

I knit this set several years ago for a different project I was working on. The other project was then changed and became Itty-Bitty Toys. I was very happy to get to include The Christmas Set in this book.

The Christmas Set is one of my favorite sets of toys. I remember feeling so excited about it when I finished. I brought the set to my mom's house to show her. She just loved it. My mom loved details and I remember her examining the Santa so closely. We even pulled out her old Polaroid camera and took some photos of the set in her kitchen. I still have those Polaroids. In fact, one of those photos is on a bulletin board in my studio. It is a sweet memory that I think about every time I see The Christmas Set. It is good.

My mom was a fantastic seamstress but she didn't knit. She always told me that knitting was more difficult than sewing, at least to her. I remember one time, many, many years ago, I was on a plane sitting next to her. I was knitting an acorn off the top of my head. She asked me, "How do you know how to do that?" I said, "I don't know." She thought that was so funny. We laughed at my silliness.
I think the beard and the eyebrows are my favorite features on this little guy. They turned out to be so good.

Here is the link for the Ravelry page for The Christmas Set.
Remember this project last year? I made several of these Santa Hats. The pattern for this is in Handknit Holidays. The Collector is still proudly wearing her Santa hat this year. This is a perfect, festive holiday hat. I even did a tutorial on how to line a hat using this hat as an example.

Here is the link for the Ravelry page for the Santa Hat.
I knitted up these fun little things last year, too. I have given the hat and the sachet tree away. The Snowman? I still have him. I made the pattern up as I knitted, it's not written up anywhere. The tree sachet is a free pattern on the Purlbee if you are interested. It is on their sidebar along with lots of other free patterns.
The Santa Baby ornament is another free pattern on my sidebar. You can knit this up in a jiffy if you still need a quick gift. It is easy and teeny tiny.

Here is the link for the Santa Baby Ornament free pattern.

Here is the link for the Ravelry page for the Santa Baby Ornament.
Last year I had this idea for these tiny snow people ornaments using wool felt balls and sequined felt rings I purchased from here.
I stitched them together with a needle and thread but you could glue them instead I suppose. I cut a tiny triangle of orange felt to stitch on for a carrot nose. Then I took a black Sharpie and made dots for the mouth, eyes and buttons. This is a fast and sweet project, too. I gave a bunch of these away last year as gifts.

The scarf in the background is the Eleventh Hour scarf made out of Blue Sky Bulky. This is another great free pattern available on the Purlbee.

Well, I hope you are doing better than I am this year with your gift knitting. I am not ready for the holidays at all, not one bit. I have so much to do and so little time. I am one of those last minute people.

I want to give you an update on a few things before going today.

I did a fun interview with Petite Purls for their winter issue. Also, the Lamb from Itty-Bitty Toys is being offered as a free pattern on their site. Here is the link for the Ravelry page for the Lamb.

Knitty included a review of Itty-Bitty Toys in their Cool Stuff section of the new winter issue. Here is the link for the Cool Stuff page. Knitty's Cool Stuff selection always makes me want everything they select. It is a fun read.

The new patterns for Spud and Chloë are up for preview. To celebrate the new patterns I am hosting a giveaway on Spud says! (my other blog). Click here to check it out and enter. You still have a tiny bit of time to enter over there to win the incredibly cool and vintage looking Spud & Chloë pencil bag and your choice of one of the new patterns. I will be picking the two winners very soon so enter quick. Maybe even later today but for sure tomorrow the winners will be selected.

Well, maybe next year I'll get to knit and craft a little more for Christmas. This year I am just looking to Christmas past.

best, susie

Stitchers Crossing Event

Hi Knitters,

I brought the Itty-Bitty trunk show to my neighborhood quilt and yarn shop last weekend and I had such a good time. I love Stitchers Crossing. This is the shop where my sister and I took the quilt class last fall. I could spend hours in here and in fact, I have! Speaking of my sister, she stopped by to see me on Saturday even though she was in the middle of shuffling her kids around town. I made her take a photo with her side of the sister doll. See, that doll is actually her! Isn't my sister cute? Love her and I couldn't make it through life without her by my side. She's an awesome sister.

If you look up on the top right of the shelves of yarn you can see a bunch of Itty-Bitty Hats knitted up. The shop taught a class this fall using the book. I think the students could pick the hat they wanted to make. Gael taught the class and she is wonderful and helpful and nice. She has great samples of all sorts of projects knitted up for the shop. Stitchers Crossing is a quilting shop and yarn shop. It is a nice mix of both.

I didn't get great photos of this event but it was a nice event with a steady stream of interested knitters. I had quite a few people stop by with books owned by others to get signed. I always am surprised at the effort people make to get their books signed. I had quite a few Christmas gift books to sign. I had a few people stay for quite awhile, which was fun. Then you get to visit a little longer. There were kids, parents, friends, grandparents, moms... it was a nice variety of knitters.

I am pleased to say that the toys are holding up really well after all of the hands and travels. It is good to see that they will stand the test of time. I haven't had any repairs as of yet!
This is madtownmama on Ravelry. She came with her two little kids, who are adorable and sweet. She has already knitted two wrap me up puppies from the book. They are so sweet. It was great to meet her in person.
The Collector came and was great company. She brought her knitting and a bunch of drawings she is working on. She looked around the shop quite a bit. We left with a little bit of fabric she picked out. It had sparkling dragonflies, okay? We can't resist that.
My sweet, dear friend Laura stopped by. She is one of my favorites. She took both of my girls and me out for breakfast on Sunday. It was a good weekend to get to see her twice. What a treat. She taught three of my kids for first and second grades. It was a lot of years. She is such a good friend. I am a lucky girl.
Sharon is in the background taking a photo. She is the owner of the shop. The woman on the left is Katie. She came from Milwaukee to see me and came right at the end of the event, I was heading to pack up when she arrived. I am so glad she caught me. The driving was bad due to the snow. My husband came right at the end, too, and took these photos. I love Katie and have met her before. She works at Loop Yarn Shop in Milwaukee. Remember she made me mosaic knitting needles and a bear cake? I do. She just graduated from college a couple of days ago. Congratulations, Katie! I hope to get back to Loop sometime this spring for another event, it is in the works. Thanks for coming. It was so good to see you again. Katie has good energy.
The woman on the right works at the store. She had me sign a book and then she told me she was going to place orders with her daughter, the knitter, for various toys! It was cute.

The most exciting development of the day is that Stitchers Crossing is planning to carry Spud & Chloë after the first of the year! Madison knitters are now going to have a local spot to get their Spud & Chloë yarns and patterns right in town!! I am so excited about this. I will be sure to get you more information when this develops. This is great news and I really hope the Madison knitters will come out in force to support Stitchers on supplying this line locally! I get so many requests from local knitters and now we will have it at our fingertips.

I love Stitchers Crossing! Thanks for hosting me. I always have fun at this beautiful shop!

best, susie

p.s. Here are the Ravelry links for my two new patterns that will be released in January for Blue Sky and Spud & Chloë. Three Brrr Bears! Hop! I'll tell you more about these soon!