We are so excited about Kristin Nicholas’ new book,
50 Sunflowers to knit, crochet & felt. Inspired
by her farm in Western Massachusetts, Kristin designed lots of different varieties
of sunflowers and even some friendly critters that help tend to the garden.
We are also happy to announce that we will be giving away a copy of Kristin's book and three skeins of her yarn. Read the interview below to find out lots of tidbits about Kristin and answer a question at the end to enter the give-away.
CEY: How did your new book 50 Sunflowers to knit, crochet & felt come about?
Kristin: My family and I have grown a field of sunflowers at
our farm for several years. We grow over 15 varieties in all different colors
and sizes. From late August to October, the vases in our house are overflowing
with gorgeous blooms.
A couple years ago during the dormant growing season, I
began designing knitted and crochet flowers and began decorating everything in
my house with handmade flowers – pillows, garlands above the windows,
potholders, napkin rings, even one of our sheep. I wrote the patterns up and
began selling them on my website. I discovered I loved making little things
that could be useful and also make nice presents for friends and family.
A longtime friend of mine – BJ Berti – is a Senior Editor at
St. Martin’s Press. She knew of my interest in handmade flowers and she asked
my literary agent if I would like to write a book about them.
Here I am, a year later with a new book out – hoping to turn
on knitters and crocheters to making beautiful blossoms to decorate their
clothing and their homes with.
CEY: Kristin, you are known mostly for your knitwear design.
We didn’t realize you knew how to crochet too?
Kristin: I actually learned to crochet when I was 9 before I
learned to knit! The only problem was I had never written crochet instructions
before. I didn’t tell the publisher that! For 50 Sunflowers to knit, crochet & felt, I designed half the projects in crochet and half in knit. It
was a challenge but stretched my limits and by the end of the designing
process, it was really hard to turn off the crochet hook and move on to the
knitted flowers.
CEY: This is a really fun collection Kristin. We see there
aren’t only flowers but also some garden critters too. What’s that all about?
Kristin: When you work in a garden you are never alone. I
like that feeling – to have tiny little guys appear to help out – enriching the
soil, eating the pests. There are so many pretty bugs, butterflies, moths, and
birds that inhabit any garden setting. It was hard to decide which to include.
The knitted collection includes a knitted robin, honeybee,
wooly bear caterpillar and swallowtail butterfly. For crocheters, I designed a
ladybug and a monarch butterfly. The challenging part of the critters was
finding the proper yarn to create the look I was aiming for.
CEY: Many of the flowers and critters have a 3-D quality to
them. Was that hard to create and did you find any tricks you might want to
share?
Kristin: All the flowers and critters are little bits of
knit or crochet sculpture. To design the different flowers, I actually worked
from real sunflowers – examining the folds in the petals, the shapes of the
petals, the seed heads. Then I tried to re-create them in yarn and stitches.
Some were more successful than others but they were super fun to make.
The critters were a different story because real critters
are so tiny. The robin was the most difficult to pull off – it took me 4 days
of knitting, ripping, re-knitting, and writing to get the pattern correct! For
the critters, I stuffed them with odds and ends of yarn. When I used
traditional stuffing, the bright white color showed through. I found this
really distracting and I knew it would look good in the photos. I cut up
matching colors of yarn and stuffed the projects with that.
CEY: Where does the felting come in?
Kristin: Oh – I just love to felt little projects. I find
that once you subject wool to heat and water, it becomes gorgeous sculpture. If
I had it my way, all the projects would have been felted. The publisher didn’t
want too many felted items, so there is only a smattering. Any of the finished
projects could be felted.
CEY: Is there room for any creativity on the stitcher’s
part?
Kristin: All of the projects will lead the knitter and crocheter onto their own
journey. The way most of the instructions are written, the designs can be
modified really easily – made bigger or smaller. And of course, it isn’t necessary
to follow a certain color palette. Who says there can’t be a black sunflower? I
can’t wait to see what people do on their own
with this
book.
CEY: Besides the flowers, you have also included 15 projects
featuring the sunflowers and critters.
Kristin: I find that people love to make these little kinds
of projects but then they don’t know what to do with them. I give plenty of
ideas of where to use the projects. I also originated some special designs like
a sunflower pillow, a crochet vase for the sunflowers, a baby rattle and some
more fun projects.
CEY: Sounds like this book is the ultimate choice for
fiber-gifting!
Kristin: It sure is. I hope many people will buy it and then
spend the summer making their own sunflower garden while sitting on a beautiful
seaside beach or next to a pool!
CEY: How can our readers purchase the book?
Kristin: 50 Sunflowers to knit, crochet & felt is available in all the
regular channels. Readers can also purchase a signed copy directly from me on
my website. The book is also available in many other countries. So far, it has
been printed in the UK, in Australia and New Zealand and I hear it will be
translated into other languages too! My work has never had such reach. Who was
to know these little projects would spread throughout the world.
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| Photo by Rikki Snyder |
To enter the giveaway, send an email with the title 'Kristin' to
blog@classiceliteyarns.com by Wednesday, March 27 at 5 PM EST with the answer to this question: How old was Kristin when she learned how to crochet? One winner will be selected at random for the correct answers.
