As we approach the holiday season I’ll be sprinkling in gift giving inspiration.  Some of them will be projects to give as gifts and others will be gifts for the favorite fiber artist in your life.

First up: Opera Gloves!

The Opera Gloves pattern from Mac and Me is perhaps one of our all time favorites.  They fit like no other glove, are comfortable to wear, and an amazingly versatile pattern.

Shown above are two great modifications.  On the left is the full glove, but our Michele made flip finger so she could use her iPod.  On the right are mine where I made them fingerless after the thumb gusset increase.  Soooo many possibilities with this pattern.  The left is made with two skeins of amazing Koigu KPPPM and the right is one skein of Ambiente for the arms and one of semisolid Koigu KPPPM for the body of the hand.

We are also offering a fab class on this project that starts this coming Monday November 9th from 6:30-8:00.  Check the website for more details and call to register.  Margie is an amazing teacher and everyone who has taken one of her classes has been so excited!

Anyone would be lucky to recieve these as a gift.

Well I guess this must be a free patterns stretch at a yarn tale because I want to share another one with you today.  Many of you know the amazing work of Leigh Radford and her fantastic books One Skein, AlterKnits, and AlterKnit Felts and now another great one just out on shelves (to be on our shelves shortly) called One Skein More.  It looks like it will become a staple on our book shelves.

30 projects all completed with one or two skeins

As you may also know from previous posts here, Leigh has been one of the driving forces behind the amazing patterns and kits you see at Seed Stitch under the Imperial Stock Ranch Line. If you haven’t seen them yet, you need to come in and check them out. The yarn is great to work with and the projects are so fun. In fact our slipper class coming up in November is using the kit from ISR. Well Leigh has given us knitters a little gift. She’s designed this pattern, found over at Design Sponge, using ISR.

Great knit cover for recycled jars!

I can’t wait to whip these up. Of course this is an ideal use for the fab yarn from ISR, but could also be a great stash buster. Check out the pattern details over at Design Sponge. If you haven’t read Design Sponge yet, it’s a must read. I’ve been a devoted reader of Grace’s blog for years now. She’s amazingly talented and she and her new editorial team always provides me with inspiration.

Note: Photos courtesy of Leigh Radford and Design Sponge.

Rowan has come out with a new yarn this season and it’s absolutely scrumptious, Alpaca Cotton.  It’s a blend of 72% Alpaca and 28% Cotton, this yarn is soft and light, yet warm.  It knits at 16 stitches over 4 inches and each ball contains 148 yards.  You may have admired the beautiful store sample shawl in the shop.

There is a great pattern book, Winter Solstice, to accompany this yarn, but also wanted to share this fantastic free pattern made with Alpaca Cotton.

Free Pattern - Amber

This is knit with two colors of Alpaca Cotton knit together at the same time.  It’s a beautiful garment.

You can download the free pattern here.

Purchase the yarn and book here.

If you’ve been in to see us over the last couple of weeks you’re sure to have admired the amazing afghan and bag that are part of our center display.  It’s the creation of our very own Michele Bonner.

Each of these leaves was knit individually when she lived in England and then sewn together.  The edging she choose to knit as well is amazing.

We’d love to offer this pattern to all of the friends of Seed Stich for free.  Happy yarning!

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.

I’m loving this new free pattern from Susan B Anderson for Blue Sky Alpaca’s Spud & Chloe.

Braided Scarf, photo courtesy of Susan B. Anderson and Spud and Cloe

This is knit with Outer, which is a lovely soft bulky weight yarn that is wool and organic cotton.  It’s a beautiful product!  This might be my scarf for the season.  Oooh boy!

Not sure if you guys have discovered Petite Purls, an up and coming online knitting publication focused on little ones.  I’m loving this adorable little pleated skirt in the latest Fall 2009 issue.

Photo courtesy of Petite Purls and Jennifer Casa

I think I’ll have to make a few of these too.

Photo courtesy of Petite Purls and Rachel Borello Carroll

If you haven’t yet had a chance to check out Petite Purls, take a moment and do so, especially if you have little ones in your life for whom you knit.

The new Fall issue of Knitty is out and I’m loving these socks!

Hat Heel Sock by Kathleen Sperling

These socks have a cool technique where you knit from the heel out. Check them out, they are really fun. There some really great patterns in this issue and Knitty.com has undergone a bit of a revamp with their site design, looking good.

To celebrate the farmer’s markets just outside our door on Thursday nights, I decided I needed to make the perfect market bag.  This bag would make a great summer project for anyone.  The base is stockinette, the body is open mesh pattern, add a ribbed edging to the top and a handle, and you’ve got yourself a fabulous market bag.

This is the Irene bag from Hannah over at I Knit You Knot but made with Schaefer Laural Mercerized Cotton.  It’s a fantastic yarn that comes in wonderful colors.  Schaefer really knows how to dye yarns.  Hannah’s pattern is fantastic too.  It is a well designed bag and has a nice wide handle that makes it really comfortable to wear, even with a heavy load.

Here you can see the three needle bind off used to join one end of the strap to the bag's body

You can also make this bag with several other yarns.  The pattern is written with Louet Euroflax in mind, but you can also use Louisa Harding Nautical cotton.  You just need a nice sturdy yarn that won’t really stretch on it’s own.  You’ll get all the stretch you need from the knitted fabric in the design.

Another close up so you can see how beautiful this yarn is

This was a very rewarding project. I’m thrilled with how it turned out and several customers have since made one and are equally pleased with what a great bag this is.  It would also be great for the beach as sand will just fall right out. I can’t wait to try it out at the Farmer’s Market tonight.  Happy shopping!

Many folks know that I LOVE the movie Coraline.  I was so excited when it came out, we went to see it in the first week, which is unusual for me.  I had to know everything about how they made the sets and the characters.  I was amazed to find out they hand knit Coraline’s little sweaters with tiny sewing needles.  And now we can all knit one for ourselves!

Coraline herself in her fabulous sweater!

Someone has created a child and adult pattern for her sweater and I think them very much for doing so!