As my mom would say, “Can you stand it?!!” No I can not stand how cute these crochet Quahogs (pronounced ‘ko-hog’ for all of you that are not from ’round here) turned out. They are another part that will go into our Seed Stitch Sound:community art project celebrating New England Marine life.

I didn’t use a pattern for these, just free from single and double crochets where I increased to make the shells and then via single crochet increases and decreases to make the Quahog bellies. I almost want to eat them!

To keep your creative juices going, I’ll be posting projects a they are created and patterns for you. Stay tuned!

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Ok I’m super excited that I’ve finished the first of a school of “minnows” for our Seed Stitch Sound project.   The pics are not great so forgive me but I just had to share them.  Hopefully it will get you all as excited as I am to start crafting all sorts of New England Marine-y things for our community exhibit.

These are both made from cut up Crosby’s grocery bags. They were both just sort of free form knit and crochet to make the shape as I went. I love the way the bits of red and blue writing on the bags add to the scaley color of these minnows. I’m thinking I’ll make a whole school and have them swimming through some eel grass once we assemble the exhibit in September.
PS Happy first day of Summer!

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We’re sooooo excited to announce we’ll be hosting a free concert for kids 2-7 at the shop with one of our very favorites, Debbie and Friends!!!!!!!!!!!!

Debbie is a big favorite around these parts and we’re so happy to share her music with all of our Salem friends. The concert will be held Sunday August 7th, starting 10:30 AM.  It will be a great opportunity share some fun music with your kids.

Be sure to tell all your friends.  We can’t wait!  If you plan on coming, it will be a free event, but please give us a call to let us know you might be coming so we can be sure to plan ahead for the kids!

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We were so excited to come home to a package at the door.  Oooh what was it?!!!! I giant pile of buttons!

This is the first year we’re offering buttons to crawlers for purchase $1.00. Quantities are limited and will only be on sale during the crawl itself.

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We were so excited to host Stephen West at Seed Stitch.  What an inspiration he is to so many knitters and he was even more charming and inspiring in person!

As usual, we had a great group of students for Stephen’s workshop where he walked through some of the basics of shawl making as well as some of his best tips and tricks.  Everyone learned something whether they were relatively new knitters or long time experts and EVERYONE walked away inspired.

Stephen started by giving us an overview of his approach to shawl making — one of his signature shapes. Hear what he had to say:

Stephen West at Seed Stitch from Seed Stitch Fine Yarn on Vimeo.

Stephen was so inspired by a Boneyard Shawl that Michele had knit in the shop using Rowan Denim that he was inspired to make his own! And started a Summer Boneyard KAL on Ravelry. Here’s Stephen’s finished Denim Summer Boneyard!

Stephen used 6 skeins of colorway 225, Nashville

Thanks so much for joining us Stephen. We all had a blast!

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Thanks so much to the folks that joined us for Amy Singer’s, of Knitty.com fame,  Plug and Play shawl workshop.  We had to much fun.  Amy is loads of fun and of course an amazing wealth of knowledge.  She walked us through the basics of how to become the designer of a shawl that we each love!

We had such a fun group of folks join us at the class.  As I watched the group I could really see the student’s creativity come loose and their brains working hard to think about the possibilities and which option they might choose for their project.  And Oh the yarns! It was so cool to see the different yarn choices by folks for these shawls.  I can’t wait to see some finished projects.

Amy talked about many great tips around lace knitting.  Below she talks about the virtues of a lifeline.  If you haven’t used a life line before you may just want to start.

Amy Singer Talks about a “Life Line” at Seed Stitch from Seed Stitch Fine Yarn on Vimeo.

If you haven’t visited the Knitty.com website you really must.  It’s an amazing online publication with loads of amazing patterns and information.

Thanks again Amy!

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We are so lucky to have so many amazing designers visit Seed Stitch and the fun’s not over.  Stephen West of WestKnits will be visiting us for a workshop and trunkshow on Saturday May 29th.

Stephen is one of today most promising young knitwear designers. He has a rapidly growing and loyal Ravelry following, with many of his designs having over 700 completed Ravelry projects. One hallmark of Stephen’s design is his ability to showcase the full potential of the yarn by combining simple stitch patterns with clever, functional, and versatile shaping.

Stephen will showcase his original designs to discuss construction, shape, increases, bind offs, and blocking. The skills discussed in this session will be highly transferable to other types of projects and designs and is a great workshop for knitters looking to learn shaping techniques and move past the basics. The class will highlight some knitting fundamental skills such as M1R/M1L (make 1 right, make 1 left) increases, yarn overs, Stephen’s favorite cast ons, bind offs, and blocking tips.

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We were so fortunate to host Cameron Taylor-Brown, a noted artist and the West Coast rep for Westminster Fibers, for a workshop in Color Play.  Those who attended, learned so much and had fun with color in a totally new way.

First we started off by sorting seemingly unrelated yarns into an amazing color wheel.

From there, each of us choose an inspiration photo from nature and then created little “window” with which we could isolate a small portion of that photo to help focus out color selection.

Next up, pick out yarns from the color wheel that were found in the section of the inspiration photo.

Now onto the fun stuff. Cameron has a great technique she calls yarn wraps.  It’s a way of sketching with yarn.  You grab a strip of cardboard and wrap your various color selections around, each wrap representing a line of knitting.  This technique allows you to better understand how one color will relate to another or the proportion or one color to another.

Hear directly from Cameron about how to color wrap.

Cameron Taylor-Brown Color Play Workshop — Color Wrappings from Seed Stitch Fine Yarn on Vimeo.

Each of us applied this color technique to a project.  Some made a bag, some made cowls, and one made a hot water bottle.

You can see the start of one lovely here:

To see more photos and inspiration from this amazing workshop check out the gallery on our Facebook page. If you’re interested in learning this amazing technique, stay tuned.  We have some fun events in mind for the coming season where we leverage this, a sense of community, and your stash.

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We’re so excited to announce an exciting new event.  We’ve teamed up with Alanna Nelson from Tactile Travel to offer this fabulous Craft and Cuisine Vacation package to Vermont — July 5th through July 9th 2010.

Take some time for yourself on this amazing Vermont Craft and Cuisine Vacation

The five day journey begins in Boston, where a coach picks up the group bound for Burlington. Along the way, share your favorite ways to create with the group. During Vermont Craft and Cuisine, all types of pursuits are celebrated: quilting, knitting, spinning, crochet, weaving, etc. The creative home during the trip will be The Essex, which is a AAA four diamond culinary resort and spa. This area of southern Vermont is home to more than 30 weavers, spinners, drummers, cheesemakers, glass blowers, painters and sculptors. Several artists will open their studios to welcome interested Tactile Travelers.

Your tour includes:

• 4 nights lodging
• Breakfasts and dinners
• Ground transportation for group activities
• Secured group workshop space
• Entrance to museums, tastings and attractions included in itinerary

$895 per person, double occupancy,
$230 single supplement

This package is available to Seed Stitch customers and fan from far and wide.   Find out more information via the Tactile Travel website here

When booking here, please enter promotional code SSVT

Reservations must be booked by June 1st 2010.

Oooooh isn’t this exciting!

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