That certainly was a fast project! I knitted and felted this on Tuesday. I sewed the button on and embroidered it on Wednesday. Done.
Here were some materials I pulled for inspiration. Color by Kristin (by Kristin Nicholas), photos of an embellished felted bag by Kristin Nicholas that has been hanging in the studio for a while, and Elegant Stitches (a fabulous dictionary of embroidery stitches):
I hope this is both pleasing and functional!
Now we’re getting serious. Kristin Nicholas has posted a free ornament pattern on her blog – there is a crochet version and a knit version:
This reminds me that I still haven’t gotten around to making Kristin’s 2008 ornaments, which I liked very much:
The 2008 version is felted. Looks like the 2009 version is just knitted (or crocheted) and then glued to cardstock to make it stiffer.
Boy 1 is home sick today with a fever. I wonder if I could convince him to try some embroidery on an ornament if I knit the base part?
In case YOU get the fever (Christmas ornament fever, that is!), here is more to take off the edge (just previous posts, all collected in one place):
One thing that this book really has going for it is that it’s more than a pattern book. In the introduction, “A Life in Color,” Kristin talks about her background in art, craft, and fashion and describes the path that let to her current life, Getting Stitched on the Farm. Then she launches into a color primer, complete with a color wheel made of fun pom poms. All her color lessons are illustrated with full color swatches that jump off the page. A chapter about Fair Isle includes a brief historical overview as well as technical instruction about how to hold/twist/carry yarn, work in the round, read charts, and steek. She includes a practice project at the end of this section. Finally, she offers a chapter about how to design Fair Isle stitch patterns. I read these first 33 pages with great interest and felt empowered to chart a new, nearly patternless course upon completing them!
But wait, don’t chuck all your patterns yet, because Kristin has 22 of them in the book. As expected, these gloves, hats, blankets, sweaters, and scarves are a riot of color – no project calls for less than 4 colors. The gorgeous photographs pulled me in right away. I found myself focusing in turn on color combinations, edge treatments, and embroidery embellishments, thinking toward mixing and matching some of the things I saw pictured. I guess I got where Kristin was going with the book, because following the pattern section is a great reference called “Designer Sourcebook” which encourages you to customize patterns by substituting edges and chart patterns. She even includes basic information about seaming (so you don’t have to pull another reference book off your shelf) and embroidery stitches (which you may not have in your knitting library).
Everything in the book is knit from Kristin’s own yarn line, Julia. Julia is a blend of 50% wool, 25% alpaca, and 25% mohair, and it comes in a rich palette of 33 solid colors. This is a special yarn, and Kristin knits with nothing else. I used it for a hat once and can vouch that it has incredible drape and luster, and rich, saturated color. I wish I had the yarn budget to make this my basic worsted yarn for all projects! My LYS, The Mannings, started carrying Julia a year or so ago, so I have the luxury of seeing it before buying. Reading this book reminds me that I would like to knit with Julia again. Hmmm, what will my next Julia project be?
If your LYS doesn’t stock Julia, you can turn to WEBS (America’s Yarn Store!). They just began carrying it. Hear an interview with Kristin on a recent episode of the WEBS podcast, Ready Set Knit. If I had gotten this post out in a more timely manner, I would have directed you to a contest to win a copy of this book and some enough Julia to knit a project, but I didn’t. Alas. Maybe you can just cross your fingers and hope that I win!
What’s not to love about the fifth decade? It sure started out great. A huge birthday banner greeted me by the breakfast table:
This thing is BIG, like 4x6 feet. Look carefully – it’s covered with balls of yarn! S1 told the boys to draw pictures of things I liked.
I also got a copy of Clara Parkes’ new book, The Knitter’s Book of Wool. It’s dreamy, everything I expected and more. I’ll post a review soon.
When I got home from work, a book box was waiting for me on the front porch. S1 said “This is for you, but I don’t recognize the return address.” I looked at it and said “I do! This must be a signed copy of Kristin Nicholas’s new book that Kristina had sent to me!” And it was. Check out the colorful note:
In knitting news, I finished the pink sparkly socks last week. I’ll post a full report with photo as soon as I get that photo. Meggan wants to wear a specific outfit to pose with the socks. You have to appreciate a handknit recipient who is so into the documentation process that she plans a coordinating outfit. She also asked about laundry care right away! (I gave her a Soak sample packet to try.) This woman knows how to play the situation. She just might get another pair one day. Ha!
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