Thanks, Thoughts, and Textiles
The thread through life
Hello Colorful Friends:
Well, well, well…. I made it through Thanksgiving Weekend. Hope you did too. Many thanks to the turkey that was delicious and to the 15 family members who pitched in on the food and setting the table. (I am a terribly disorganized person. Never ready and not a good judge of time management.) We have hosted Thanksgiving with my extended family since we first purchased our farm over two decades ago. I can’t remember the exact year it began. It was before our Dad passed away. Our family has grown with nieces and nephews born and now husbands and wives of those cousins added. And even a grand niece and nephew (on the way). Although not everyone makes it to this annual event, it is always a success. You can see on the video I embedded below, how I almost teared up when being interviewed a decade ago about this annual event and how special it is to have it at our sheep farm in this almost 300 year old farmhouse.
I hope you and yours had a good Thanksgiving holiday. And now onto the chaos that is the run-up to Christmas. I’m relieved to let you know that the fabric has been printed for my tea towels. Thanks so much for the generous orders. It is so exciting to be able to share my current work with you all. It’s been a week of anxiety with the early snowstorm and UPS not being able to deliver because of road conditions. I finally gave up on them after several days of delivery promises not kept and drove to their facility to pick up the yardage. I’m currently in cutting, ironing, hemming, pressing and bagging production in order to get them out to all of you who have ordered. I really appreciate all the support. I’m still hoping to add some pottery to my website…… but if I’m being realistic, I might have to wait until after the holidays.
I turned 67 in October and I’ve thought a lot about where I am in my life right now. I guess that’s what happens when you get close to 70 and you spend a lot of time by yourself making things. The common thread has been my love and interest in textiles of many different kinds. When I was a teenager, I was an avid seamstress. I made all my clothes and frequently stayed up late at night to finish a new shirt to wear to school the next day. I altered clothes for neighbors for cash. I sewed all kinds of little things to sell at the Dover Sidewalk Sales. Frog bean bags were my specialty. (I bought my Bernina 831 with money I earned through sewing. I remember that it was $432 back then. That’s a lot of sewing. I had that machine until this happened. I bought a replacement on eBay for $100.) I was really active in the 4-H program. Our Mom was the leader of the Tasty Basters and we met weekly to taste and baste in the basement of the Presbyterian Church on Blackwell Street. I spent my summers sewing, quilting, and embroidering projects to enter in the Morris County 4-H Fair. It was a busy, creative time and I loved every minute of it. I went on to study textiles and clothing at university and grad school.
Textiles have been my life. From the handmade textiles that my grandmother and great grandmother made and passed on… crochet and embroidery lessons with Gram (she encouraged me and said “you have talent in your fingers”)…. to the first dress (4th grade) made with our neighbor Robin Cashen… to the lessons in couture clothing construction with Mrs. Airola at DHS (I thrived there but not so much in her husband’s Geometry class)….., to early weaving lessons with a woman named Betsy that my Mom drove me to in Chester…., studying textiles, clothing and fiber art at university….., to discovering sheep and wool when I was in Oregon at OSU as an exchange student…., to meeting my husband Mark that year and actually meeting real sheep…. To the Empire State Building where I was a merchandising assistant at Botany Shirt Company….. to finding my dream job as a creative director at the hand knitting yarn company Classic Elite Yarns….. to traveling the world buying yarn with Pat Chew and Linda Pratt……, to living on this sheep farm with my family raising wooly beings….., to writing needlework, knitting, and decorating books. Now, I’m back to where I started - making things to sell to you. It’s been a worldly whirlwind and I feel so fortunate to have been able to follow my passions.
We have a really nice tradition for the day after Thanksgiving. Whoever can make it, goes to my sister Nancy’s house in New Hampshire to eat, catch up, and craft something for the holidays. This year it was wreaths and clay ornaments that I’m going to fire in my kiln.
I took this chance to do a bit of a clean out in my studio. I have been storing projects from my knitting and crafting books for years now. Since I’m no longer teaching knitting, it was time to de-accession some of my sample garments. I loaded them into a black trash bag. At the end of the day, I surprised everyone with a giveaway. Here’s a photo of my family wearing their new sweaters from my knitting books *Color By Kristin and Kristin Knits. I hope they will keep everyone warm this winter.
Today’s links are a little heavy on video. I’m a fan of YouTube and frequently watch while I paint or sew. Take your time to peruse with a cup of coffee or tea and some handwork……
• I really enjoyed this interview on The Long Thread Podcast with Tatter Blue Library founder Jordana Munk Martin. (It’s one hour and that is a YouTube link with no video recording. You can find it on any podcast player.)
• Nice interview (11 minutes) with Patti Smith on Colbert. Her performance of 2004 song Peaceable Kingdom was beautiful (5 minutes). She writes a Substack that is multi-performative. BTW, I think Colbert is killing it lately with his interviews.
• This video features the home of Keith Johnson and Glen Senk, both formerly leaders at Anthropologie. It’s an hour long but a good watch. BTW, the Homeworthy YouTube Channel features so many beautiful homes and gardens if you are looking for something to watch while you are making or wrapping holiday gifts. (1 hour)
• If you are looking to buy wool socks as gifts for holiday gifts, I highly recommend DarnTough socks. They have a lifetime warranty which is pretty amazing. All three of us pretty much wear these socks exclusively all winter long.
• Need some holiday decorating inspiration? Check out actor Richard E. Grant’s home in London. Gorgeous. (7 minutes)
…. And finally -
• I enjoyed this award winning story written by 84 year old Rita LaForce about her childhood rag doll - Fiammeta Wears Pretty Clothes. Rita’s excitement about winning was featured on Instagram here.
I’ll be spending the next week or so, cutting, ironing, hemming, pressing, and packaging and shipping tea towels for all of you who graciously ordered. Thanks so much.
Enough about my love of textiles….. I’d love to hear how you got involved in textiles and art and creativity. Leave a message in the comments so others can read your journey….. OR if you are shy, reply to this email for me only to read.
Much love to all,
Kristin Nicholas
* Color by Kristin and Kristin Knits are out of print and available used. All the patterns from Color by Kristin are available on my website here or on Ravelry.
My holiday sheep and wool inspired cards are available on my website HERE. 10 cards per pack.
Assorted Packs - 2 of each design
Black Sheep in Striped Sweater
‘Tis knitting season. If you are looking for an excellent pattern for Christmas Stockings - I’ve got two! They are available on my website as PDF’s HERE and HERE or on Ravelry HERE. Note: My website only works for sales within the US. If you are an international customer, order patterns on Ravelry HERE. There are lots of great PDF Knitting Patterns - mostly for little things that make nice gifts.
Also, I REALLY miss Classic Elite yarns, especially Liberty Wool Prints.
Lucky family members to get such beautiful sweaters!