Local: Seaside Yarns, a new knit shop
Check out this new spot downtown and the pattern for this fabulous cozy cowl:
From the moment you walk into Seaside Yarns, a cozy warmth washes over you, and it’s not just from the hanks of wool roving and skeins of yarn bursting out of every corner. Friendly shop owner, Melissa Highfill, has been peddling yarns, roving, tools of the trade and more out of her small bright shop in the downtown Wharf building since May of this year.
Just five short years ago Highfill looked up a YouTube video on knitting and was literally hooked. Since then her love for knitting, spinning and dyeing yarns has led her to find a community of crafters to share with. Catering to both locals and tourists, Seaside Yarns offers hand-dyed yarns (have you ever seen A Treehugger’s Wife yarns at a local craft fair? That’s her as well!), fair trade products and locally made crafts aimed at giving a lift to the small business-owner as well as working with a variety of budgets. And according to Highfill, there is room for more.
“There are so many kinds of yarn out there,” she said. “One local yarn shop cannot have everything.”
Seaside fills a spot alongside at least four local shops that carry yarn here in Juneau.
Hang around at Seaside for a minute and suddenly you’re surrounded by women coming to wind a ball, grab one more skein to finish a project, or shop a bit while the kids play in their very own playzone equipped with kiddy kitchenette. And as knitting picks up in this town you may be apt see a few men picking up some fodder for holiday gifts as well (I know my husband has).
Seaside also offers a variety of classes like Hat 101, Fingerless Mitts, Magic Loop and Socks taught by Crochet and knitwear designer Amy O’Neill Houck. Or swing in for the free Saturday knit and crochet group from 2-5 p.m., or spinning on Fridays – it’s BYOS (Bring Your Own Spindle). Find out more about classes at the shop or on their group Ravelry page, friends of Seaside Yarns at Ravlery.com.
Here Highfill shares a pattern for a perfectly giftable infinity cowl.
SEASIDE YARNS INFINITY COWL