Kristin Nicholas Julia Yarn

About Julia, the yarn
Julia is my signature yarn named for my daughter Julia. It is spun as a smooth three-ply yarn from wool, alpaca, and mohair fibers, perfect for cables, seed stitch, Fair Isle, and simple stockinette stitch knitting. It also felts beautifully.

This yarn has been spun and dyed to my requirements. The colors are from a palette I have developed from my experience designing and knitting, and which are inspired by my collection of ethnic and historic textiles, and by colors I find irresistable in nature. Over the years, I have worked to fine-tune the selection of colors. You will find that they all go together well and can be mixed and matched to make your own exotic, heirloom-quality knitwear.

Julia information
Spun and dyed in Peru in one of the world's finest mills
Gauge: 20 sts = 4" (10 cm) on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles, or 18 sts = 4" (10 cm) on US 8 (5 mm) needles
50% wool, 25% kid mohair, 25% alpaca
Hand wash, dry flat; may be dry-cleaned
93 yards, 50 grams
Suggested retail price: $7.50 / skein

Julia Yarn from Nashua Handknits

I am very proud to have Julia distributed to yarn stores by Nashua Handknits, a division of Westminster Fibers. For all those knitters who wanted to see it before purchasing, here is your chance to touch and feel Julia at your local yarn store.
Click here for a list of retail yarn shops that carry Julia in the US and Canada.

You can also mail order Julia from:

Royal Yarns International
404 Barnside Place
Rockville, MD 20850
1-866-621-7779
www.royalyarns.com

Yarnmarket, Inc.
12936 Stonecreek Drive, Unit D
Pickerington, OH 43147
1-888-996-9276
www.yarnmarket.com

For wholesale inquiries only, please contact Nashua Handknits at 800-445-9278

JuliaColorCardFall2007.gif (74412 bytes)

For a printable color card, click here.
Color accuracy is not guaranteed because your monitor or printer may give different results.

Julia Gallery

Here are some of Kristin's favorite designs featuring Julia.

Winter Wonderland Hat and Mittens

Winter Wonderland Hat and Mittens Pattern

Winter Wonderland Hat Winter Wonderland Mittens

Winter Wonderland Hat and Mittens

Buy the pattern in the Online Store.

This easy project uses one strand of Julia held together with two strands of standard wool/nylon sock yarn for quick knitting. The idea began as a challenge from the folks at Knitters Magazine. I was asked to present three ideas of what to make out of sock yarn as long as it wasn’t socks. I didn’t have gobs of time to work on this because I was in the middle of a book deadline. Whatever I designed, I was going to have to be able to make the finished project quickly so I could present it to the knitting audience on at Stitches East in November of 2008.

Skill Level: For beginning knitters, includes French knot embroidery tutorial.

Finished Hat Sizes:
Kid's Small (Kid's Large, Woman's Average, Man's Average)
17 (18.75, 20.5, 22.25)" head circumference

Finished Mitten Sizes:
Toddler (Kid's Small, Kid's Medium, Kid's Large, Woman's Average, Man's Average)
5 (5.75, 6.25, 7.5, 8, 9)" hand circumference

Notions: Circular needles (16") in US sizes 7 and 9 for hat; double pointed needles in US sizes 7 and 9 for mittens; crochet hook in size H/8 for optional flowers; tapestry needle; stitch holders or scrap yarn for mittens.

Field of Diamonds Pillow

Kristin Nicholas Field of Diamonds Pillow

Buy the pattern in the Online Store.

The Field of Diamonds pillow originally appeared in the January 2003 issue of House & Garden magazine. It is knit in vibrant leaf green and rich henna with embroidered accent colors. The main motif features different-sized diamonds scattered across a green field. The pillow front is knit in Fair Isle technique from a simple two-color chart that works up quickly. The border is knit using circular needles and features a clever mitering technique.

After the knitting is completed, a tapestry needle is used to embroider the accent colors in duplicate stitch (directions included). The full-color embroidery chart is easy to follow, and working it is similar to following a needlepoint or cross-stitch chart.

Field of Diamonds is the easier of the two featured pillow designs.

Skill Level: For intermediate knitters with some experience in knitting with more than one color.
Finished Size: Approximately 20" square
Notions: US size 6 straight or circular needles for pillow front; three 29" US size 6 circular needles for border; stitch markers; 20" down pillow insert; 5/8 yard 45" fabric for pillow back; matching thread and sewing needle; blunt-pointed tapestry needle for embroidery; T-pins for blocking.

Turkish Motifs Pillow

Kristin Nicholas Turkish Motifs Pillow

Buy the pattern in the Online Store.

The Turkish Motifs pillow also originally appeared in the January 2003 issue of House & Garden magazine. It combines many different knitting techniques to create a true masterpiece of color and texture. Presented in a full-color chart, this pillow includes the following knitting techniques: two-color Fair Isle, intarsia, duplicate stitch, bobbles, mitered corners, and other decorative embroidery.

This pillow is a fabulous vehicle to increase your knitting skills and mastery of new techniques. You will be rewarded with an heirloom-quality piece of decorative needlework for your home.

Skill Level: A skill stretcher for adventurous intermediate knitters.
Finished Size: Approximately 28" x 26"
Notions: US size 6 straight or circular needles for pillow front; three 29" US size 6 circular needles for border; stitch markers; 24" down pillow insert; 5/8 yard 45" fabric for pillow back; matching thread and sewing needle; blunt-pointed tapestry needle for embroidery; T-pins for blocking.

Vogue Knitting Socks Fall 2006
Fair Isle and Embroidered Socks
Vogue Knitting magazine, Fall 2006

Kristin's comments:
I designed these socks for the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting. They're my dream of what fun socks should be: beautiful colors worked in Fair Isle and then embroidery stitches for further embellishment. I wove a crocheted cord through the eyelets at the knee to hold the socks up and decorated the ends with fun, multi-colored pom poms. The sock legs are knit from the ankle up to the knee, and then the stitches for the foot are picked up from the end of the leg and worked down to the toe. This gives you the option of making the socks as legwarmers by just eliminating the feet.

Interweave Knits Little Majolica Fall 2006
Little Majolica
Interweave Knits magazine, Fall 2006

Kristin's comments:
I designed this colorful sweater for little people in the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. It's knit in Fair Isle with just a bit of duplicate stitch embroidery in the center of the circle motifs. The edges are worked in two-color garter stitch edged with stripes of plain garter stitch. Make it a little larger than it needs to be now, and your own little one will be able to enjoy it for a few years.

Interweave Knits Seeing Dots Adult Spring 2006 Interweave Knits Seeing Dots Child Spring 2006
Seeing Dots for Kids and Adults
Interweave Knits magazine, Spring 2006

Kristin's comments:
These two sweaters are easy to knit in stockinette stitch. The mitered edges are worked in garter stitch using two different colors and circular needles. When it's all done, the super-easy spider web embroidery is worked randomly to create the polka dots. A separating zipper is handsewn in to finish the official "Mr. Rogers" look. This is a great project for someone attempting a sweater for the first time.

See the tutorial on my blog about sewing in a zipper by clicking here.

Nashua North American Designer 1 Stripes and Cables
Nashua Handknits
Left: Striped Cabled Pullover from North American Designer Collection 1
Right: Colorful Cardigan from North American Designer Collection 3

Kristin's comments
These two designs in Julia were done for the Nashua Handknits pattern collection.

Colorwork Classic
Interweave Knits magazine, Winter 2004

Kristin's comments:
What a great honor to have one of my designs featured on the cover of one of my favorite knitting magazines, Interweave Knits! Unlike many of my Fair Isle sweaters, this one doesn't have extra colors embroidered on top, so for those of you who prefer to skip the embroidery, this one's for you!

Stop-Traffic Circles Sweater
Stop-Traffic Circles
Interweave Knits magazine, Winter 2003

Kristin's comments:
I designed the greatest little sweater for my Julia a few years ago. I made it extra-big, and she wore it as a coat for a couple of years. For the Interweave Knits version, I calmed down the design so that it would be easier to knit, but the effect is still "stop-traffic" gorgeous.

The body of the pullover is knit with easy cables and ladders. The yoke and sleeves are done in a simple Fair Isle circle-within-a-circle motif that uses only two colors at a time. Then, when it's all sewed together, chain stitch embroidery in three different colors surrounds the circles to give the sweater that extra bit of decoration and "wow" appeal.The borders are all worked in a favorite stitch of mine, reverse garter stitch ridges. If you knit it extra-large for a favorite child of yours, he or she may also be able to wear it for a couple of years.

Vogue Knitting Winter 2003
Our Family Pullover
Vogue Knitting magazine, Winter 2003

Kristin's comments:
Cables are one of my passions. I have always loved Aran sweaters - wearing them, knitting them, and watching the textured fabric grow on my needles. A few years ago, I began designing my own cable patterns instead of referring to stitch dictionaries.

When I designed this pullover for Vogue Knitting last winter, I called it the "Our Family" pullover. The three cables represent my family - husband Mark, daughter Julia, and myself - and how our lives intertwine with each other and are also separate. Kind of a heavy description for a cabled sweater, isn't it?

The resulting pullover is modern, casual and classic all wrapped into one. This is a challenging sweater, requiring concentration, but it sure is pretty. The cozy, oversized fit appeals to everyone, and your teenage daughter might just steal from you when she gets older.

About Duplicate Stitchery

One of my favorite ways to make a design "sing" is by using duplicate stitchery on handknits. An ordinary piece of Fair Isle knitting can be altogether transformed by adding small bits new colors in duplicate stitch.

The process of duplicate stitching is not hard. After the first few motifs are completed, it becomes automatic and almost therapeutic in its motions. It is a great way to use up odd bits of yarn and bring exciting surface interest to a simple two-color knit fabric. This technique can also be used as a substitute for intarsia knitting, eliminating the need to weave in dozens of ends - a distinct advantage!

See a detailed duplicate stitch tutorial on my blog by clicking here.