Christmas in July

It's July and that means the time has come for thinking about seasonal stitching!  We're celebrating "Christmas in July" this month and one of our favorite holiday gifts is an ornament for the Christmas tree. Creating a truly unique keepsake to celebrate life's precious moments is so much more personal when you select a special canvas and then stitch it with love. We have a large selection of canvases representing a wide variety of themes - from collegiate and greek life, to nature, hobbies, people, places and more! Let us help you create new keepsake treasures this summer with our wonderful selection of needlepoint canvases and the opportunity to have your ornament finished for free!

...and, speaking of a keepsake ornament - it's finally here!  Our exclusive limited edition University of Alabama 2012 NCAA National Football Championship ornament has arrived - and WE LOVE IT!!!  The design is painted on 18 mesh canvas and stitches up quickly.  (The ornament pictured above was stitched over the 4th of July weekend!)  We have a limited number of these little treasures in stock now and re-orders will not be available until after the 2013 Christmas finishing deadline, so get yours today.

Of course, we have a wonderful Christmas ornament project for our knitting friends, too.  Our Christmas in July class on July 20 is designed especially for you!  (A little bit of homework prior to class is required, but it's reaaalllllly easy!)  We'll spend our class time cutting out and embellishing felted gingerbread ornaments with wonderfully sweet embroidered details, so get out your apron and get ready to whip up a batch of these little gems!  Note:  space is limited and pre-registration is required.  

The Christmas finishing deadline is rolling around quickly.  All needlepoint to be sent off to our professional finishers must be in the shop by Friday, September 6 in order to guarantee having it back by Christmas. That may seem like a long way off, but actually it's only 9 weeks away!  Need some incentive to go ahead and get those ornaments into the shop?  Bring your stitched ornament (or ornaments) in during July and you'll have your name entered into our drawing for free finishing on a single ornament. Your name will be entered once for each ornament purchased from Serendipity Needleworks that you bring in, so the more ornaments you bring in, the better your chances are for having one of them finished for FREE. 

Merry Christmas in July!

Visit with Melissa Shirley

June was jam-packed with activities to kick off our summer at Serendipity!  We took a trip up to Columbus, Ohio for The National Needle Arts trade show to see all the new products being offered in the world of yarn and needlepoint, and - WOW - what a show!  There were all kinds of must-have goodies that we couldn't resist, so we want you to mark your calendar for July 17th now.  That's when we'll be rolling out our own red carpet at Serendipity Needleworks to put the spotlight on these hot new items at our Market Preview Party.   

Our special visit with Melissa Shirley of Melissa Shirley Designs was a real treat!

We're delighted that you all came out to give Melissa such a warm welcome!  She'd never been to Alabama before and she had a wonderful time while visiting with us.  Many new friendships were made and everyone who came walked away with a bit of stitching inspiration. Melissa was so kind in chatting with everyone about stitch selections, fiber choices and finishing options - it was a real treat to hear her suggestions. We also had a little "show and share".  Customers brought in their finished projects and we all had a great time "oohing and aahing" over their hand stitched art.  If you click on over to our Facebook page, you will be able to see all the photos from our wonderful afternoon.

Before wrapping up this post, we have to ask...how are your needlepoint projects for Christmas coming along?  It may seem like it's a long way off, but Christmas is actually less than 6 months away.  YIKES!  Our finishing deadline for Christmas is earlier this year than ever before! All items that you wish to have back for Christmas must be turned in by September 6 (sorry, no exceptions). There is still plenty of time to stitch, but now is definitely the time to get started. Whether you're creating a keepsake treasure to add to your holiday decor, or making a precious holiday gift, we have lots of terrific canvases from which to choose. Christmas ornaments, pillows, wall hangings, stockings, tree toppers, and more... we'll be glad to help you select the perfect project!  See you soon...

You Can Knit in the Summer!

Simple Summer Socks

When the weather begins to warm up (as it has been doing here in Tuscaloosa) there is no need to abandon your knitting until cooler days and nights return! There are plenty of projects and yarns that are great to work with in the summertime, and of course it is never too early to start thinking about knitting Christmas gifts!

Child's I-cord Hat

We encourage you to look to the smaller gauge yarns, like Koigu! Hand painted in small batches, you will love knitting with this superior merino yarn. This is an incredibly versatile yarn that looks great as socks, fingerless gloves, hats, baby items, cowls and shawls. 1-2 skein projects are portable and are great for knitting while you are traveling or just relaxing outside. They work up so quickly, too, that you are likely to find yourself unable to stop.  (Kind of like those Lay's potato chips!)

Koigu Fingerless Gloves

The projects we have shared here are all free downloads on Ravelry. When you click each caption to download the pattern, we hope you will take a moment to join us in our Serendipity Stitchers group. Read about our Summer Sweater Knit-Along. Meet Baby AL, the first of our ever growing herd that we want to send to Moore, Oklahoma as part of "Elephants Remember Joplin".  Share what you're making right now - we'd love to see your latest PIP (project in progress)!

Irish Mesh Cowl

We would also like to invite you kick off your summer knitting by joining us this week as part of World Wide Knit in Public Week!  We will have all kinds of fun activities at the shop every day to celebrate. The overall theme of the World Wide Knit in Public event is to promote better living through stitching together, so come to the shop and knit with us! This is a great chance to introduce a friend to knitting as we will be teaching people how to knit. When you knit in public this week, be sure to snap a photo! Send it to ellen@serendipityneedleworks.com with WWKIP picture in the subject line. We will share the photos on our Facebook page and in our Ravelry group. The photo with the most likes / loves will win a great goodie-filled project bag! What a great way to kick off summer, don't you agree?

Keep those needles busy!

Texturally Stitching

As spring begins to turn into summer, do you ever notice how the landscape around us changes? Leaves are fully opened up on the trees and flower petals are opening up in a variety of shapes and colors. Let your surroundings inspire you to add some visual impact and drama to your project by working with textured stitches.

When knitting or crocheting, this can be as easy as working a ribbed stitch pattern or as complicated as intricate lace or cables. Consider the edges as a great place to experiment with texture. This Baby Wrap Sweater is adorable in squishy garter stitch and a delicate (but not difficult) ruffle, as shown in this shop sample. This same sweater made with an applied i-cord edging is perfect if you are looking for a more masculine item. The pattern calls for Koigu yarn, a wonderful fingering weight merino wool that is hand-painted in small batches. Baby items are great fun to work on in the warmer summer months as they are tiny and generally do not take a lot of time to complete!

Decorative needlepoint stitches can make your piece really pop! Just as when you first learned how to stitch, keep in mind that each starts and ends in a specific hole. Take care to think through your textured stitches as they may be worked over different numbers of canvas intersections, to see if they will work as full or partial stitches, and when you should work them. The end result is sure to give your piece dimension. Here we're sharing Esther's London Phone Booth ornament. Notice the stitches at the bottom, all those French Knots! Looks like a chilly night in London, doesn't it? If you need a quick refresher on how to work a French Knot, here is a great stepwise tutorial!

Until next time, happy stitching!

Summer News & Events

Can you believe that May is already here and half-way done? We hope all your projects have been tangle-free! It seems appropriate to take care of a little bit of spring cleaning here - we want to make sure you know that Serendipity Needleworks is now operating on summer hours. From now until August 31, the shop is open from 10:00am until 4:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday! Thanks to the Internet you can stay connected with us, even when you can't make it in to the shop. You can check out our website, stay up to date by liking our Facebook page, following our Twitter feed, share your projects in our Ravelry group and find inspiration on our Pinterest boards!

While your calendar is still open, we hope you will pencil us in for a chance to learn something new! We have several classes scheduled. Just as a vacation is a great way to experience another location, classes are a great opportunity to dabble in a new craft.  In June, we are so excited for a very special event! Melissa Shirley will be here Wednesday, June 26 for a "Meet and Greet" event! Join us in extending a warm Southern welcome to Melissa as we spend the afternoon sharing stories, tips, and creating new friendships!

KNITuscaloosa / CROCHETuscaloosa will still be taking place on the first Tuesday of each month during the summer, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Our summer project is to knit / crochet blanket squares on behalf of Warm Up America! Blanket squares should be 7"x9" and should be made from machine washable yarn. The finished blankets will be presented to The Salvation Army for distribution to individuals in need.  

Here's to a great start to the summer!

We went to the beach in a snow storm!

Happy 2013! I hope your year is off to a terrific start. Ours sure is! We spent a fun-filled week last week with American Needlepoint Guild Senior Master Teacher, Sandy Arthur. Sandy spent three days sharing her love of needlepoint with us - and teaching us all kinds of wonderful decorative stitches and how to use them to make our canvases come to life! One of my favorite things about Sandy is that she always shares ideas on how to implement techniques you learn in her class on future projects. Here's our group hard at work!

B.J. is concentrating so hard...

...and so is Jane!

Here's a peek at the project in progress.

Sandy advises Pride on where to start the next row of stitching.

Alice T. is practicing the new technique she learned for creating life-like curls...

..and so are Becky, Alice H., and Alesia.

It began to snow...and snow...and snow...while we were all working so hard!

We forged on, though, and Sandy explained how to work padded satin stitches in a curve to Alice H., Becky, Linda, and Susan.

Donna is hard at work trying her hand at one of the myriad techniques that we learned from Sandy.

Linda, Donna's sister, came all the way from California to take Sandy's workshop!

And here's our happy group at Serendipity Needleworks at the end of the workshop (minus Pride and Alice T. who had to get on the road a little earlier in the day). It was such a wonderful three days - delightful stitchers, an awesome teacher, a darling project, and terrific food and true Southern hospitality at The University Club. What more could one ask?! Hmmmm, I think we'll have to do it again soon...say, in September?!!!

Roll Tide!

Tuscaloosa is all a-buzz about this weekend's SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Everyone is decked out in their crimson and white, giant "A"s are everywhere, and we're ready to cheer the Crimson Tide to victory! The game kicks off at 3:00 p.m. CST and, well, we're adjusting our shop schedule accordingly. We'll be open from 10:00 - 3:00 on Saturday. Our holiday workshop schedule has been altered and you can view the new schedule here.

We just got a new shipment of Crimson Pride yarn in yesterday, so come on down and we'll help you choose a new project to work on during the game. We have LOTS of Alabama themed canvases for our needlepointers, too. Finally, our SALE ends Saturday, so be sure you come by and take advantage of the unprecedented savings!

Until next time, happy stitching!