I’ve been drawn to wind my entire life.  Perhaps it was growing up on Cape Cod, on the tip of a peninsula jutting out into the ocean.  Perhaps it was the thought of where that wind has traveled from and where it will go.  Perhaps it was the sheer energy of it all, but regardless…I have always loved wind.  I was a sailor growing up and knew that wherever we settled it wouldn’t be home unless we were near the water to feel the energy of the wind and ocean.

So you can imagine how I feel when I saw this video combing two of my loves: wind and knitting!

This is a beautiful art project from Merel Karhof displayed in the Royal College of Art. Ooh those British knitters are so ingenious!

Find more on this project from Fast Company.

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.

Isn't this amazingly beautiful?!!!

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.

Choosing a smaller section of the photo helps to make color selection easier.

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

Perfect huh?

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.

Here you can see how a pile of yarns turns into a "yarn sketch" or a yarn wrapping

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:

This will be a stunning cabled cowl!

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.

Some great publicity for knitting in main stream media.  The last woman knitting in the clip is our very own yarn rep, Andra.

I was sooo excited to this fabulous idea posted on the Etsy blog this week from Nguyen otherwise known as KnitKnit.  If you’re not familiar with Etsy or its blog, you have to check it out.  It’s a fabulous craft marketplace.  If you haven’t yet seen Nquyen’s designs, please also look.  She has some beautiful needle felted cameo necklaces for sale.  Fabulous idea.

Anyway, on to the idea at hand.  KnitKnit has brought us the wonderful idea and pattern for knitted postcards.  Seriously why did I not think about this yet?

How about knitting a postcard?

Wouldn’t these make a wonderful gift idea or a great tag for a hand knit or crochet sweater that you are giving as a gift?  The possibilities here are endless.  It seems these could actually be sent as a postcard with appropriate postage too.  Definitely well worth the effort to send this to a friend or loved one.  I know I’d be excited to receive one! You can see a feature on these on the Martha Stewart show.

How about a little love note or words of inspiration on the back?

Download KnitKnit’s pattern here or use your creativity to explore the possibilities of your knitted or crocheted postcards.

Nquyen will be leading an Etsy Lab on this project as well Tonight, Monday at 5:00 PM EST You can read more about the virtual Etsy lab and the project here on the Etsy blog.

All photos courtesy of KnitKnit and Etsy

Well it FINALLY feels like Spring around here.  This means we’ll be outside more and more, many of us sitting out on our patios or back yards enjoying the sites and sounds of the season.  So in honor of that today we thought we’d celebrate the patio chair.  Yes you heard me right, the patio chair.  If you’re from New England or ever visited us you’ll now that although it might be beautiful and sunny you still might need a sweater for those chillier New England evenings.  Sometimes even your run of the mill plastic patio chairs need a sweater too.

Why not knit your plastic patio chair a cover?

Now you can make one courtesy of a pattern from The Knitted Chairs Blog.  What a great idea huh.  The possibilities are limitless.

This is one of my favorites from a MA knitter named Tabitha.

Isn't this beautiful?

How great would one of these looked tucked in the corner of a room or as a fantastic do it yourself set for an apartment when you’re on a budget?

What are the possibilities for you?

Note: All photos courtesy of The Knitted Chair blog

I was so excited to discover a little feature in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting about the release of Sciaparelli’s Bowknot sweater pattern for free by Schoolhouse press.  Although this recent pattern has been slightly updated by Lisa Stockebrand, Meg Swansen, and Joyce Williams, this is such a great example of how classic style is always classic.

(photo courtesy of Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Vera White, 1952)

If you’re not familiar with Elsa Schiaparelli she was an Italian fashion designer who was regarded by many as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Her chief rival was Coco Chanel. She launched a her collection of knitwear in 1927 using a special double layered stitch created by Armenian refugees. It’s a neat stranded technique where the accent color is carried through the body fabric, woven in periodically, creating a tweed-like effect in the main color body section of the sweater.

Don’t you just want to knit this?  How about charcoal gray with a pale pink bow? How about a cream sweater with a blue bow? What about a grass green sweater with a khaki bow?  All of the beautiful updates on classic style.

We’ve had such a great class line up this winter. Not just because of the large number of classes we’ve been able to offer but because of our amazing line up of teacher and the energy and excitement of the students who’ve signed up.

This Sunday was no different. I caught the tale end of our Dorset button class, taught by a new addition to our teaching staff, Jules Means. I walked in to a bunch of smiling faces and lots of jubilation!

See don't they look excited?

Jules really got the ladies’ creative juices flowing.  The table was heaped with yarn in all colors and weights as well as some finished buttons to showcase what can be done.

A seriously inspirational table

The students ended up with some fantastic finished projects.  Also make sure to check out a blog post from fellow SSFY teacher and (on Sunday) student, Rhonda Culbert, about her experience in the class.

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Isn't this beautiful

We hope to run this class again in the coming weeks.  If you’re interested in joining the next session.  Give the shop a call and ask to be put on the list.  Once we have the date secured we’ll give you a call and try to get you registered.  As a reminder, check out our class policy and pre-payment is required to secure your spot in any class as the demand for them is so high.

I found this cute animation from fashion company Pringle of Scotland. Pringle commissioned artist David Shrigley to create a humorous short animated film about life behind-the-scenes at Pringle to celebrate the brands return to Milan Fashion Week and it is a funny little parody on the yarn industry.

Never fear yarners…. I’m going on vacation but yarn is most definitely coming with me.  Robbie, Mazie and I will be headed to the west coast for some much needed R&R.

Ok so what am I bringing with me you ask?  I’m still plugging away on my sweater made out of Koigu Kersti from Knit Two Together.  Almost have the whole back done!  So excited about this little lovely knit reindeer that Sharon Brant of Rowan passed along to me last night at our amazing workshop (more to come on that soon).  This little guy is called Pete and is a free pattern from Rowan that I’ll post shortly. He’s made with one skein of Rowan Alpaca Cotton and one Rowan Felted Tweed.  Seriously is he the cutest?!

I’ve also got on skein of an Ella Rae Lace Merino (teal cake) that I’m thinking of as a future addition to the shop and will be hopefully casting on the Ysolda Teague Ishbel shawl.  Oh and one of our Socken Klecks (blue, white, and brown stripe), which is a knitted fabric that you unravel for a pair of socks.  Seems like a lot but you can never be caught on vacation without knitting right?

Oh yes and a lovely little tape measure from KA in my favorite color, hot lipstick pink!

So you may remember when I first found this glow-in-the-dark yarn.  As a recap, it’s not necessarily a fine fiber, but it certainly is a MUST have fiber for any yarn store located in Salem MA.  So many customers are working with this product I think we’ll set the whole city a-glow soon.  Andrea whipped up this fantastic hat, pattern courtesy of Hello Yarn, with our glow-in-the-dark NightLights for her daughter Vika who was in need of a skateboarding hat.

Is this seriously awesome or what?

If you’ve not yet checked out Hello Yarns patterns, you should.  She’s a great designer and this fantastic Skull pattern is a free download from her site.  This yarn would be great in the glow-in-the-dark Nightlights and either the Jill Eaton Minnow Merino or the Rowan Wool Cotton.