Focus on a Fiber Artist: VTKnitboy (Chris French)

Remember when I mentioned one of my favorite things to do is oogle, work with and drool over the work of other fiber artists? That is going to turn in to a (hopefully) once a week blog post highlighting someone that I admire, respect and adore for their art and creativity. I'd love it if this helps bring some people to light that others may not have noticed!

VTKnitboy/ Chris French!

First up is VTKnitboy, (as many know him on Twitter ) also known as Chris French on Facebook (You can also find him by searching for Chrisinvermont) and VTKnitboy on etsy. Whew! Oh wait! He has a blog as well right here. You may notice his etsy shop is empty, but that is because he does the majority of his sales though facebook normally. Not to mention his yarns sell *fast*.

Chris is a gorgeous spinner and artist with an unique skill of being able to take any fiber and turn it in to a beautiful natural and earthy looking yarn. Chris could probably take a neon pink fiber and end up with something that has a wonderful natural charm that others may not have been able to see in the original product. His methods are his own, but they almost always seem to involve blending fibers to create a unique and interesting end product.
Let me show you some examples: (All Photos are credit: Chris French 2010 and used with permission.)

 Don't you just want to pet them all? I only pulled a small sampling of his November skeins but if you follow him on Twitter/Facebook you can see more of his yarns and knitting projects.

VTKnitboy/Chris has a style that I can see a picture of and instantly thing "Oh hey, that must be Chris!". It's one part earthy, one part fuzzy bunny goodness (Did I mention he also raises angora rabbits and uses their fiber in his yarns?), all added to a liberal dose of yummy handspun texture. The fiber world is a wonderful and eclectic place full of anything from crazy art yarns with amazing bright colours and instant visual appeal (and sometimes head scratching as to how you'd use it), to the natural and usable silent yarns that knit up into a gorgeous rustic end product that would be at home in any winter wardrobe staple. When it comes to the latter, Chris really excels. It would probably be impossible for his yarns to create anything that isn't comfortable, soft and rustic looking, and it's a thing of art!

I hope you enjoyed my first ever Focus on a Fiber Artist!