Kristin Nicholas Returns

Kristin Nicholas Returns LIVE and in COLOR to the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird.

Kristin says she learned to sew as a kid, through 4H with the clothing and textiles, and learned to knit because she wanted something to do while on the bus or train in college. She attended Grad School at Colorado State University (same as Marly!) with a masters degree, from there went to New York City and made her way to her dream job with Classic Elite Yarns. When she and her husband with their daughter found a farm in Western Massachusetts, she began writing books and doing freelance design.

They have sheep on their farm (her mom joked when they got married that most people get a ring when they get married, Kristin got Four Sheep!) and in fact, recently, Houzz.com recently made a video of Kristin and her farm house, especially about how much color she has filled it with. They are wrapping up the spring sheering of the sheep on her farm at the moment.

Marly spoke about Kristin’s photography, and especially one image of a lamb in a sweater. Kristin shared how long it took her to get the sweater right to fit a day-old lamb, and then the right background. But one perfect portrait became a greeting card in the UK! Even her artwork is attractive and is an undiscovered talent revealed on a trip with friends who were fine art oil painters. So because of that encouragement, she offers retreats at her house (classes will be posted TOMORROW!) with fabric painting, and lampshade painting, or knitting and embroidery. Kristin really feels color is the common theme in everything she does whether it’s cooking, gardening, pottery, embroidery…. She says she didn’t really get how natural it came to her until she worked at Classic Elite yarns, which became known for color, and created a yarn line with her name on it!

She’s recently created classes with Creativebug (a Yarn Thing podcast sponsor) A short Color class, Knit a Fair Isle Class, a class about Steeking and an Embroidered Knit Pillow.  She’s been the Knitting Expert on Knit & Crochet Now since the beginning, and has seen the progress the show has made over the seasons. Working with Deborah Norville, she says, was really comfortable because we all share a love of yarn. She appreciates how hard working Deborah is, having been on three planes to get to the tapings.

Traveling has gotten harder because of the farm and the knitting events just don’t coincide. Her daughter has one more year of high school, so these online class and her books are how she reaches out to us. Her newest book is Crafting A Colorful Home: A Room-by-Room, Guide to Personalizing Your Space with Color came out in January and was so successful for the publishers that she is working on another book.

You can follow Kristin Nicholas at her website, www.KristinNicholas.com, also she blogs at Getting Stitched on the Farm, The Knit & Crochet Now show which airs on PBS check local listings, Ravelry Designer page, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Kristin visited the Yarn Thing podcast back in 2009, so this visit today was a great opportunity to get caught up!