Anderson - Spud and Chloe at the Farm

Anderson
Spud and Chlo patterns copyright 2011 by Blue Sky Alpacas, Inc.
Photographs copyright 2011 by Liz Banfield
Illustrations copyright 2011 by Amy Cartwright The characters Spud and Chlo are registered trademarks of Blue Sky Alpacas, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published by Artisan
A Division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
www.artisanbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
eISBN 9781579654771 To my loving family and to Linda, for thinking up Spud and Chlo, without whom none of this would be

Of course I took the assignment and ran with itwhich was kismet, since it grew into something more, something wonderful. In the summer of 2009, Blue Sky Alpacas introduced a new product line called Spud & Chlo. I loved the samples they sent me, and I was pleased to do designing for this fresh line, with its innovative mod colors and product design. At the same time, Spud & Chlo conveyed a sweet innocence and a bit of a vintage feelingit made me remember what it was like to be a child. Sweet yarns for real life is Spud & Chlos philosophy, and it rings true to the core. Then Blue Sky Alpacas asked me to be the curator of Spud says!, an adorable blog for the Spud & Chloe Web site.

Through this work Ive gotten to know the public faces of the line: Spud, an introverted but lovable sheep, and Chlo, his owner, whos more of an upbeat cheerleader type. These two lead characters became a part of the fabric of my daily life, and I realized a book would be the next natural progression of our adventures together. Thats how the book version of Spud & Chlo was born. And what better setting could there be to start the adventures of Spud & Chlo than a farm? This environment gives me yet another chance to create and knit some adorable animals, cute characters for Spud and Chlo to meet. The adventures of Spud and Chlo have begun. Spud & Chlo at the Farm departs from my earlier books, in that it doesnt include basic knitting techniques.

All that information can be found in my online tutorials, on other online instructional knitting Web sites, and elsewhere. Meanwhile, Im happy to incorporate a new element into this book. Interestingly, this came about from something that happened when my last book, Itty-Bitty Toys, was published. I constantly heard from knitters that their children interacted just as much with the book as the knitters themselves. In fact, many knitters told me that their kids used Itty-Bitty Toys like a catalog, dog-earing the pages and placing their toy orders. It was great to know that my knitting projects were helping adults and children bond as they discussed the progress on a particular toy and so on, and incorporating a simple narrative that a knitter and child could share seemed like a natural next step.

So Spud & Chlo at the Farm includes a little childrens story about the title characters visit woven throughout its pages. My hope is that while you enjoy the book as the knitter of the projects, the children around you can also enjoy the illustrated story, which is repeated in full at the back of the book. You might even want to read it aloud together! Finally, I should mention that the yarn from this marvelous line is made from all-natural fibers. Two of the lines contain certified organic cotton. All of the yarns are also machine-washable, which is an enormous plus in my estimation! So its time to join the adorable Spud and Chlo on their visit to the farm. I hope you enjoy this knitting adventure!