Sock Yarn, Snow Delays, and Happy St. Brigid's Day
Happy St. Brigid's Day Everyone!
Did you know that today - February 1st - is the solar midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox? In Ireland, this celebration goes back thousands of years and is most commonly known as St. Brigid's Day. It is also known as Imbolc which means "in the belly" in old Irish and refers to the pregnancy of ewes. This week I noticed the lengthening of the days - for the first time in a couple months, it was still light at 5 p.m. Hooray! Time to get out the seed catalogs.
I thought I would send this newsletter out early today because of the upcoming festivities surrounding football this weekend in the US. We are not much of a sport-watching family but we do know that many, many fans will be glued to the television this evening to watch the big game - hopefully with some kind of crafty project in hand.
Here in the Northeast, we had "weather" this week. On Monday we prepared for the "storm of the century" and luckily it missed us and we only got 8 inches. The storm hugged the coast and where my sister lives in eastern Massachusetts, they got over 2 feet of snow. We were relieved because deep snow makes farming very difficult - mostly all the removal to try to feed the animals. The animals do not mind snow - they just wait it out until it is over. The next day the sun was shining and life began to get back to normal. The little lambs and the sheep lived through it without any worries.
As the weeks go on, the lambs grow so quickly. Their looks begin to change and they start acting like crazy teenagers chasing each other around. They particularly like to play king of the mountain on one of the manure piles in the pasture.
The weather has caused many, many delays - including the shipping and receiving of my new book Crafting a Colorful Home. I shipped all orders dated January 18th and earlier on Monday - the day before the storm. Both UPS and the Post Office were closed here in Massachusetts so orders sat in warehouses and trucks. I am still waiting on the delivery of more books for the rest of my orders. Just wanted to keep you all in the loop because everyone has been so fantastic with the support that you have given me and my family. I feel like I have egg on my face because I want to have these orders completed and the books in your hands.
Because of the storm delay, I am extending the FREE Shipping on the book until the middle of February. I will also continue to include the Kristin Illustrated Bookplate and the set of Kristin Postcards. Hop on over to my website to order here. Below, you will find some sneak peeks from the new book of featured projects. The photo at the top of the newsletter is of the mural in our dining room. I include instructions in the book so that you too can paint your own mural.
Above and below I have included some more sneak peeks from Crafting A Colorful Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to Personalizing Your Space with Color. There are 21 projects in the book and 12 DIY techniques which are more home dec/DIY based. On my blog this week, I wrote about the creation of the Crazy Quilt Knit Swatch Blanket here.
For all of the sock knitters out there, I have just added 7 shades of my Regia 4 Ply Sock Yarn called Garden Effects to my Etsy Shop. You can find them here. I do not have a lot of stock - just cleaning out my studio to make room for some upcoming projects. Note that they are sold in sets of TWO 50 gram balls which is enough for an adult pair of socks.
Here are some interesting things I have found on the web this week.
• Betz White has an interesting post on her blog about how to source pretty wool fabric. If you are a sewer, check it out here.
• Joy the Baker has teamed up with King Arthur Flour for a great promotion centered on a Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread recipe. Lots of great prizes if you are a home baker. Check it out here.
• I have discovered another gorgeous British blog called The Bible of British Taste. Gorgeous homes and stories. I think the author (whose name I cannot find) is also a writer for The World of Interiors. She often photographs and shares the homes before the articles come out in the magazine. A fun sneak peek, especially if you do not subscribe to my very favorite magazine in the world because it is so very expensive.
• Are you or a young friend interested in Faerie Houses? I know my niece Olivia was always building them when she was a little girl. Sally J. Smith who is an Environmental Artist makes some pretty amazing ones. Check them out on her website here. There is even a PBS t.v. show about her.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work in craft and color. Have a fun Superbowl Sunday. Keep the stitches going - there are plenty of winter days left.
With best wishes,
Kristin Nicholas
In keeping with the eating and drinking theme of Superbowl Weekend, here is a fun and easy and colorful project from Crafting a Colorful Home. Instructions are included for making these simple and very easy polka dot drink classes.
In Crafting a Colorful Home, I include instructions for making and printing with stamps. I include many templates but also teach you how to make your very own patterns. This is the simple stamp that I used to print the stairs in my studio.
I used stamps like I show you above to print the fabric that I sewed the chair pad out of. It is an easy project to do and will give new life to an old and tired chair. I even include instructions for sewing a chair pad.
This photo did not make the book - there are only so many pages and so much room unfortunately. This chair pad project uses Sunflower Fabric of my own design. I used the same pattern for the Chair Pad in the photo above. You can purchase this print which is an oversized stripe design on the Spoonflower Website Here. They feature many different kinds of fabric. This one is the linen/cotton canvas. See the entire print in the photo below.
This is a duvet cover I made from my own Sunflower Design Fabric which was printed at Spoonflower. You can order it here. http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/kristin_nicholas It would make a fantastic tablecloth.
The projects above are all included in my new book Crafting A Colorful Home. Order a signed copy directly from me here on my website. FREE shipping, a Kristin Illustrated Bookplate and Kristin photographed postcards.
This pillow design is called Field of Diamonds and it is knit in the Fair Isle Technique in two colors. The extra shades are added later in duplicate stitch. It appeared in an issue of House and Garden Magazine. You can find the pattern on my website here for $6.00 or on Ravelry here.
My Turkish Leaves Pillow Design was also featured in House and Garden Magazine. It is also knit in the Fair Isle Technique with added embroidered trims. You can purchase it on my website here for $6.00 or on Ravelry here.