Mid November News from Kristin Nicholas
Hello Colorful Friends!
Autumn is rushing past us as we head towards the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the USA. Here at the sheep farm, we spent two long days at the beginning of this week with three "blade shearers" shearing our flock of sheep. I wrote about it on my blog Getting Stitched on the Farm HERE. There is a short video below.
I am knee deep into painting and glazing my pottery for our upcoming 3rd Annual Holiday Open House. Here is a photo of the top shelf of the kiln as I opened it this morning. All of these pots have to be gloss glazed and then fired again. Each firing takes over 10 hours. I hope to have lots of colorful pieces ready for my sale. Fingers crossed! I've also designed some new textile patterns that I am sewing into linen and cotton tea towels. I'm going to be mighty busy over the next couple weeks sewing and glazing.
I know many of you live far from here so you won't be able to get to the Holiday Open House here at our farm in western Massachusetts. No worries - I will be listing the remaining pottery and tea towels on my Etsy store in early December.
My friends who are joining me - Gail (aka The Kangaroo Dyer) and Deborah Garner - are also busy making. My daughter Julia will be selling Christmas ornaments. Scroll down for photos of both Gail and Deborah's beautiful work.
Hope to see some of you here. Bring a friend with you. It is a very joyous and fun event. Besides sharing our colorful farmhouse which will give you lots of inspiration for decorating, you will get a preview on many of the projects from my upcoming book Crafting A Patterned Home. Bring a cooler and pick up some of our pasture raised lamb for holiday meals. Here are the directions to our farm which is 2 hours from Boston, 1 hour from Hartford, and 3 1/2 hours for NYC. Bring a friend. Refreshments served.
Don't forget to scroll down to see Gail and Deborah's work.
Here are some fun links for you to explore today.....
• I love a good tweed - either fabric or yarn. Kate Davies is now selling a traditional Irish Donegal tweed. She wrote about visiting the mill HERE.
• There is a lot of wooly goodness going on over on the Wovember site here.
• Do you know Garden and Gun Magazine? It's a crazy title but it features lots of gorgeous photos, recipes and stories from the Southern US. Check it out here.
• One of my favorite blogs is Ruth Guiding's Bible of British Taste. Recently she has been posting more frequently. Her archives are worth a trip down the rabbit hole. Check it out here.
• Nancy Zieman, one of the leaders in the home sewing industry has sadly passed away. I really enjoyed a podcast interview with Nancy on Abby Glassenberg's While She Naps podcast. You can listen to it here.
My best for a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating.
Yours in color and creativity,
Kristin Nicholas
www.kristinnicholas.com
getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/
www.leydenglenlamb.com
p.s. If you know anyone who might enjoy my newsletter, please forward it to them.
My friends Gail Callahan and Deborah Garner are also busy making. You probably know Gail as The Kangaroo Dyer. What you might not know is besides yarns, Gail also dyes gorgeous silk fabrics. Here are a few of her colorful creations that will be for sale at the Holiday Open House on December 2/3. Gail is also the author of the best-selling Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece.
Some of Deborah's handmade jewelry and colorful textiles which will be for sale on our porch!
More of Deborah's gorgeous textiles and jewelry.
Shearing is one of the major events in a year on any sheep farm. It takes a lot of coordination and moving around of animals to gather them and the shearers all in one place on one or two days. We are relieved it is over for another year. The sheep look to be in fine condition as they go into the winter months. The shearers leave a bit of wool on them for warmth. Taking the wool off them closer to shearing will make it easier for the lambs that will be coming in January to find their mamas teats. (VIdeo by Terri Kerner.)
Here are some popular knitting patterns for Christmas Stockings designed by moi. Both patterns are pdf instant downloads.
Traditional and Colorful Christmas Stocking Pattern
PDF Download - 6 Designs
$12
Buy it here or on Ravelry here.
Very Easy and Versatile Christmas Stocking Pattern
Only One Color per Row or Round.
PDF Download. 5 Designs
Buy it here for $12 or on Ravelry here.
A fun video of our farm, our farmhouse, and my family.