Some of my new Oil Paintings.
Hello Colorful Friends:
October 1st is here and in our family, that is a big day. I won't tell you why but maybe you can guess. It involves chocolate cake. With the arrival of October, here in New England, we look forward to beautiful color and clear crisp days. I love fall and I try to be outside as much as possible.
I am glad to see September be finished. Our giant Great Pyrenees livestock guard dog passed away from bone cancer. Winston was one of the sweetest creatures on this earth. You can read more about him over on the blog.
My cutting garden is just about finished for this year. The zinnias are giving me their all in a fit of constant bloom. My favorite sunflowers are pretty much done. You can see loads of beautiful blooms over on the blog here.
Good thing the sunflowers were peaking in mid-September. Country Home Magazine came for a 2 day photo shoot feature that will run next spring. It was exhausting but will be worth it when it runs.
FYI - I've had a lot of questions about the photo shoots here at the farm. I do want to clear one thing up - I do not get any monetary compensation for these shoots. They are an extreme amount of work but also a source of pride. The resulting printed pages that are shot here at the farm help to spread my love of color and design to the larger world. They are also great exposure for my art, my books, and patterns. Every time I do one, I say "never again" just because they are so exhausting and invasive on my family. But then I forget..... Someone remind me next time!
Wondering about the header at the top of this newsletter? These oil paintings are some of my latest artwork that I have for sale in my Etsy shop now. Check them out here.
My last Creative Retreat of 2015 was this past weekend. I had four fantastic students who travelled from as far away as Arizona. The theme of this retreat was Color, Knitting and Embroidery. You can see photos from it on the blog here.
If you would like to come to the farm with a group of friends, I am happy to accommodate your own special group. I need at least 4 people and can do one and two day retreats. Need a place for you all to stay together? Our neighbors have just opened up their farm as an Air BNB and can accommodate up to 5 people. Check it out here. Any questions, please email me at kristinnicholas@gmail.com
The kittens have all left the farm. I snapped Fluffy the kitten the day he was leaving. Isn't he the sweetest?
I am totally jazzed to have a new DIY video being featured on the Houzz.com website. I demonstrate how to print faux wallpaper like I did on the stairwell in our farmhouse. I have embedded the video at the bottom of this newsletter.
This week, I've stumbled onto the following interesting things that you might like to look at too:
• Have you always wanted to make homemade Sriracha? Our friends at The Kitchen Garden have a DIY recipe for small batches on their website here.
• I can't get enough of the photos of artist Greg Irvine's house. WOW. Check it out here.
• Who says being 104 years old is too old to yarn-bomb your town with your handmade crochet? Check this out.
• I always try to accommodate special diets at the retreats here at the farm. A modified version of this totally delicious Vegan Corn Chowder was on the table on Sunday. The secret to this soup is Smoked Paprika - we didn't miss the bacon at all. You can order Smoked Paprika from Penzey's Spices here.
I have an upcoming trip to Madison Wisconsin in less than 2 weeks. I will be speaking at the Madison Knitting Guild on October 12th and teaching 2 classes. Check out the information on their website here.
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop me a note and tell me what you are creating this fall. Just hit reply and I will receive your message.
With colorful best wishes,
Kristin Nicholas
It is not too early to start thinking about
Christmas Stocking Knitting!
Kristin's Colorful Christmas Stockings features 5 different designs that use only one color per row. If you are a newish knitter and frightened of stranded colorwork, I highly suggest this design. ORDER PDF FOR $12 HERE.
Kristin's Creative Christmas Stockings is a bit more traditional in design, it features stranded colorwork in many different motifs. There are even extra charts for you to use to design your own version. Each of the styles is given in 4 different sizes. ORDER PDF FOR $12 HERE.
Watch my newest DIY video produced by Houzz.com. In 3 minutes, learn how I printed the stairwell in our antique home.
Here is the link to watch it now.
This is the first video of our farm and farmhouse produced by Houzz.com. In it, you will see our sheep, our dogs - including Winston, chickens, family, and colorful home.