Mid October News from Kristin Nicholas Designs
Hello Colorful Friends!
As winter is getting closer, my thoughts are turning to firing up the woodstove in our cozy little library/tv room. All winter long, you will find me sitting in "my chair" either reading or working on some kind of project with a needle, thread or yarn. I love my chair with the down cushion (scored at a junk store for $35 back in the late 90's) so much that I handprinted the fabric for it with a paisley motif and had it upholstered by a friend. That is it above.
If you live in the country and heat with wood, you know about the mad dash to purchase or cut wood that will keep you warm during the cold winter nights. We are in that mad dash right now as our normal wood supplier doesn't have any this year and The Farmer is in no shape to go about cutting down trees after his recent hip surgery. I know that many people cannot even fathom thinking about where their heat comes from but it a real thing here in the country. I am always picking up sticks by the side of the road for a pile of kindling because once the snow comes, they will be hidden. Good kindling is essential for starting the fire. Here is our little woodstove with the tile surround by me which is a project in my new book Crafting A Patterned Home (signed copies available here).
The weeks are flying by. I'm doing two farmers markets each week and before I know it, I am loading the truck again with our farm raised lamb, my tea towels and books and the tent and freezer and off I go to either Amherst on Saturday or Northampton on Tuesday. They will be over soon and I am looking forward to that break because I have a lot on my spinning plates. Speaking of......
This week, I have been busy in the pottery studio making vases, mugs and platters that I will be decorating with my painted designs for my upcoming 4th Annual Holiday Open House. My friends and I have set the date - December 1 + 2. More on that soon but mark the dates if you have been wanting to take a road trip to western Massachusetts to get inspired with color and pattern and to pick up some handmade holiday gifts. For those of you who live too far away - I will be selling the ceramics and my new Tea Towel designs on-line after the Open House is over.
Here are some of the links I have found interesting recently:
• Can you imagine stumbling into this button shop?
• There is a great article on the difference between Craftsy and Bluprint - the online teaching website that was privately owned and is now part of NBCUniversal. I learned something which is good considering I teach a Crewel Embroidery Class with them called Stitch It with Wool. It is available on both their sites.
• The new issue of Selvedge (coming soon) called The East looks awesome. More about it .
• Another shake-up in the publishing world at Hearst Magazines. Read about it here. I loved what Sophie Dow Donelson was doing with her tenure at House Beautiful - and now she is gone.
• Must make this. It is the time of year and our farmers markets are overrun with freshly harvested mushrooms from the woods.
• I have just discovered this company that makes gorgeous marbled paper and homegoods out of them. All in the British countryside. Gorgeous.
• This video about The Winchester House in San Jose is fantastic. I would love to visit.
One of the most useful things I have ever knit are wool coasters from my PDF Download Pattern Swirly Twirlies. I use them every single day below my morning cup of coffee. They are quick to make and would be a great Christmas gift. You can order the pattern for them here on my website or over on Ravelry here. More photos below.
Thank you for reading. Enjoy the weekend. I love to hear from you all. If you want to send me a note, just hit reply.
Yours in color and creativity,
Kristin Nicholas
www.kristinnicholas.com
getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/
Here is a video of my Talk at Google. I went to Cambridge, Massachusetts and spoke at their offices there in late June.
A fun video of our farm, our farmhouse, and my family. Our farm is located 2 hours from Boston and 3 1/2 hours from NYC. We are at the northern most part of western Massachusetts bordering Vermont. Our farm is 15 minutes off of Route 91, the north/south highway connecting Montreal to NYC.