It’s hosted by the local Etsy sellers, and you can head on over and chat with other crafty folks! At 7:30, they’re showing the documentary ‘Handmade America’, which should last until about 9pm. See you there!

• store: Knit & Needlepoint
• address: 11 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116
• website: http://www.needlepoint-boston.com
• date of visit: August, 2010

Knit & Needlepoint is located on Newbury street- the ‘high fashion’ street of Boston- less than a block away from the Boston Common. It’s a long street, so don’t despair… as long as the street numbers are decreasing, you’re going to find it!

Although the store isn’t your typical American yarn shop (as it is also a Needlework shop, like many of they yarn stores in Australia), that doesn’t mean it skimps on the yarn! Knit & Needlepoint has a fun & unique selection of yarn… including their own line of yarn! Their line of yarn contains yarns that are hand-dyed and custom made from a number of indie yarnies across New England. That means you’re guaranteed to find yarns you won’t find anywhere else (and isn’t that always what you’re looking for when you’re yarn shopping on vacation?)

A large proportion of the yarns in stock are ‘fancy fibers’: wonderful for making a creative scarf or artistic project. In addition to yarns, they also provide free knitting instruction (with purchase)… so even if you’re rusty, you can grab some fantasy yarn and get started.

Next time you’re in Boston, add this shop to your list of stops! And, keep an eye on our store spotlight, we’re going to be visiting two more yarn shops in Boston!

I mean, do you have your knitting and crochet projects lined up? Because, you know you won’t want to leave your house to battle the pouring rain and howling wind to grab more yarn- so it’s best to be prepared.

I have some beautiful Blue Sky Alpacas worsted cotton that I’m going to start working with… it’s a lovely yarn, and I have some projects planned! So, what are you planning?

You leave the house for one minute… and before you know it, they’ve stolen the remote and the potato chips!

For the contest, we want to see you go wild & creative with our new (and free!) planet pattern. Email us (stacey ATT freshstitches dott com) the photo of your finished object, and the winner (selected by the ever-so-crochet-savvy Tim) will win a copy of Cuddly Crochet! The only ‘restriction’ is that you need to use the planet as a clear part of your finished piece… how big or little of a part is up to you. All entries must be received by Monday, September 27th.

Some of you may be thinking: how can I get creative with a planet? Oh, there’s so many ways! To get you started, we’ve brainstormed a few:

• Like experimenting with hand-dyeing yarn? Dye some yarn in a great planet color and crochet it up! (read here for a little bit of info on dyeing with Kool-Aid)
• Make a mobile or constellation with a collection of planets (you might want to substitute a thinner yarn than called for in the pattern…)
• Turn the planet into a head with eyes, and attach a body! A planet-man!
• Take a great photo of your planet in an unexpected location!
• Get going with some colorwork to mimic the patterns on existing planets!

There are so many possibilities, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Enter with as many items as you wish… so get crocheting!

First, I’ll update you on Hugo’s Horse, an adorable Hobby Horse that I started knitting last week. The horse is for Tim’s cousin, Hugo… and Tim’s taken the project over! He refreshed his knitting skills early this summer at Stitch & Pitch, and he wants to contribute to Hugo’s horse… hurray! The hobby horse is essentially a sock… so I finished the gusset decreases, and Tim’s going to knit the snout until it’s time for the ‘nose decreases’. (insert small piece of bragging, here: Tim’s stitches are so even! We have the same gauge!) Talk about a family project!

I’ve completed the right front of the men’s sweater that I’m working on for the shop, but sorry… no updated photos! And that’s really all the knitting that I did this week.

Fear not… I made up for my lack of knitting hours with crochet hours! I crocheted a Nelson the Owl… he’s getting shipped off to a photographer to have some fancy photos taken! Yay! I think he came out really nicely… Nelson is one of my favorite patterns!

I’ve just started working with a photographer- and I’m going to get photos of Nelson with real, live adorable babies! I’m so excited! Most people don’t realize how big my stuffed animals are (Nelson is 8″ tall), so I’m hoping that babies will provide some scale (not to mention, extra cuteness!) I’ll keep you updated…

I’ve been wanting to design a shrimp for a while now… and I finally decided that this was the week! I had this sketch in the back of my designing notebook…

And here he is! He’s a big shrimp: 8 inches tall! I think he’s pretty adorable… I thought about putting legs on him (since real shrimp do have an awful lot of legs), but I liked this guy’s sleek, leg-less look. As you can tell from my original sketch, I thought that those shrimp-y head things were important to add (I wonder what those are called…).

He was a fun little project that didn’t take much yarn… and he’ll be a FreshStitches pattern in a few months!

The final project I completed this week was ‘Li’l Ger’… so called because he’s a smaller version of my felted bear, Gerry. Gerry is one of my favorite patterns, but surprisingly, not a popular seller. I thought about why that could be… and I wondered if he required too much yarn to make (about 700 yards, total). So, I decided to make a smaller version- just as cute, but requiring only about 300 yards. I think Li’l Ger may even be my new favorite!

Hmm… that’s not too many works-in-progress… I’m going to have to start a few more! Happy knitting & crocheting!

We’ve released a free pattern this month! Hooray! This crocheted planet measures about 6″ wide when crocheted with worsted weight yarn.

And, it’s more than free… it can win you an exciting prize! In a couple of days, we’re going to be announcing a contest involving this pattern, so stay posted…

The second pattern for this month is an adorable kitten! Meet Nadine the Kitten. She’s 8″ tall, and because she’s completely crocheted, she’s even baby-safe!

Our FreshStitches collection was missing a cat (we have a dog, a cow… all the basics, but no cat!). I was inspired by Scottish Fold kittens (the ones with the little fold-over ears) when making this little cat. So, she’s got tiny ears, but big eyes! Even though the pattern calls for 5 colors (yikes!), 4 of the colors are used in such tiny amounts, you probably have them in your scrap pile!

The third pattern is perhaps the most timely: it’s a school bus for September! This school bus is 8″ long when crocheted, and it’s sure to be a hit with boys and girls (once they get over the whole not-wanting-to-start-school thing). The bus uses colorwork to create the windows, and since the windows are just squares, it’s a great introduction to crocheted color changes!

Have a great September, everyone!

If you like yarn, you’re more than likely to like sheep… and here are some adorable ones! I just spotted these super-cute sheep notion bags from Frabjous Fibers at my LYS. They come in two different sizes, three colors, and are handmade. They’re lined and have a zipper closure- perfect for storing all of your tiny little notions that tend to get away!

I, personally, have had a fair amount of wrist trouble for about 10 years. I get Ganglion Cysts, which are a buildup of joint fluid that has crept out of the joint (ick!). They’re quite painful, and I get them most often after I’ve been crocheting or knitting with bulky yarn for long periods of time… bigger yarn means bigger needles and more moving! And, since I crochet as a living… I’m very concerned about keeping my wrists healthy!

Last week, I was in yoga, working on crow pose, which (at least to those of us not super-experienced) feels very intense on the wrists. Afterward, my yoga teacher (Margot, at Breathing Room, if you’re local!) showed us some wrist maneuvers- and my wrists felt so much better!

And, they’re really simple! First, squeeze your wrist, applying pressure on the top and bottom. Second, rub the top of your wrist with the thumb of your opposite hand. Then, rub the bottom of your wrist with the thumb of your opposite hand (click on the photos above to enlarge them). Easy! I did each of these for about 30 seconds, and noticed a difference.

Be nice to your wrists… they’re important for your knitting and crocheting! And if they’re sore, give these simple moves a try.

Every once in a while, amigurumi turn up in crazy places… like your pizza! The other night, a giant fly turned up in my pizza before I could dig in… fortunately, I was able to remove the offender before he ate too much!