First Snowstorm + Thoughts + Etsy Shop

Hello Colorful Friends!

Yesterday, we had our first big snowstorm of the year. We got about a foot of snow - beautiful white fluffy stuff. Overnight, it warmed up to over freezing so that this morning there was so much condensation that visibility was incredibly low. Now, a cold wind has blown in, the fog has lifted and all that melty snow slush is turning into ice. Ahhhhh - New England weather.

As I was sitting housebound yesterday - the Winter Farmers Market had been cancelled because of the bad weather - I thought about all the local retailers who were counting on the dollars coming in this weekend to stay alive and viable for another year. I'm sure the internet sales were racking up because no one on the east coast could go anywhere to shop. I constantly live in on-line/local flux - promoting my on-line pottery and needlework supply business and selling our local lamb to local people. Business today is complicated and I think you have to have a hand in both worlds to survive. So I guess that is what we are doing here at the farm. I thank you all for your support - whether through sales, kind notes, your reading and moral support.

Yesterday, I thought about doing a newsletter to steer people to my internet on-line Etsy Pottery Shop. But what I really wanted to do was sit tight, keep filling the wood stove, and make believe Christmas wasn't coming and I wasn't worrying about how much pottery I would be storing until next year. I chose to do the latter. It might not have been the best choice for my bottom line but Julia and I had a great day spending the entire day together watching movies (recommendations on my blog here), making pom poms and knitting. I think it was a good decision - Julia won't always be living here with us and our time together is precious (cliche as I may sound).

My On-Line Etsy Pottery Shop will be open through Monday evening the 19th. My last day for shipping will be Tuesday the 20th. I'll resume after the first of the year.

I have a new notecard design. It is of one of our ewes out in the snow. Printed on glossy stock - set of 10 cards and 10 envelopes. Blank inside so perfect for sending notes at any time of year. $12.50. Buy on my website here or on my Etsy pottery shop here.

A couple weeks ago on my blog, I wrote an article about why I'm not writing knitting patterns for publication anymore. The article has been viewed over 13,000 times and the comments are pretty interesting. You can read it here. Bottom line is - I'm not done with knitting - just not writing patterns to publish right now.

Here are some fun things I found on the web:

•Color your own Christmas cards here. Free.

•Why people are still buying cookbooks even though they aren't cooking as much anymore. Via the LA Times here. Not true with knitting books.

• 100 Artist's Studios. Love this.

• Lola Ehrlich used to be the Editor in Chief of Vogue Knitting. For the past 20 years, she has been making incredible felt and straw hats. See them here.

• I found some pretty downloadable Gift Tags to print out and use on gifts. Check them out here, here and here.

• I may have mentioned this Gingerbread Recipe before, but it deserves a second mention. Really good and sticky - everything gingerbread should be. No icing necessary.

• Vickie Howell has a new podcast. She is a very good interviewer and speaks with a varied number of artists and business people in the crafts field. Check it out here.

• This pub - The Still And Star in Spitalfields, London has been saved. Can't help but think about what would happen to it in the USA.

• My farmer has discovered a new (to him) BBC tv series on YouTube called Lambing Live. He's thinking about lambs coming soon (February) and is enjoying watching other farms during their lambing seasons. (Julia and I call him a sheep geek.)

My best to all of you for a Happy Holiday Season. I won't be back in your in-box until 2017. I look forward to sharing more with you then. Thank you so much for reading and supporting me and my family.

Yours in color and creativity,

Kristin Nicholas
www.kristinnicholas.com
getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/
www.leydenglenlamb.com

p.s. There is still time to knit a dog sweater or a Christmas stocking for holiday festivities. Below are 3 of my very versatile and popular designs. Both are available on my website and on Ravelry. Links below.

This easy to knit Garter Stitch Dog Sweater Pattern comes in 8 sizes. Available on my website here or on Ravelry here.

Two of my Christmas Stocking Patterns - $12 includes 5 or 6 patterns in each collection.
Kristin's Colorful Christmas Stockings available on my website here or on Ravelry here.
Kristin's Creative Christmas Stockings available on my website here or on Ravelry here.

Pom Pom Garland Tutorial

A fun video of our farm, our farmhouse, and my family. A good preview for sure if you are thinking of coming to our Open House December 3/4