‘Tis the season for stitching the community together

From knitting to needlepoint, fiber arts groups around Newport County keep people creative and connected  

Photos by Cate Brown

It’s Thursday night and a half dozen women are seated around a table where the centerpiece is colorful bundles of yarn. Cellphones are cast aside, and a selection of seltzers are within reach as manicured hands work with selected fibers. Some are knitting sweaters, others scarves. Some are novices, others are pros. All have arrived at Matriarch on Thames Street in Newport for a recently launched Knit Club, where camaraderie meets concentration.

Nina Cherie studied fiber arts at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and serves as the instructor at the gatherings. She started a similar group in Providence called “Stitch and Bitch,” where she met Amy Larson, owner of Matriarch.

“I knew Nina was doing knitting classes in Providence and was excited about bringing her skills to Newport,” says Larson, whose boutique offers a selection of books, gifts and apparel, much of it inspired by food and feminism and created by locals.

Larson decided to host events where artists could teach different disciplines, everything from embroidery to painting, oyster shucking, knitting and more. The space allows for small groups of ten to twenty guests and lends itself to crafts where there’s hands-on instruction.

“The store is so cute, it’s perfect and thoughtful,” Cherie says of the intimate and vibrant space. “When you walk in there are candles burning, and you have such a good feeling when you sit down.”

The monthly Knit Club meetups are designed so members can learn one-on-one with Cherie, or I drop in and work on their current knitting, crochet or other project. Lessons begin with tips on how to select the correct materials. Then Cherie demonstrates how to make a slip knot and cast the stitch onto a needle.

“There’s this trending video with the expression to stab it, strangle it, drag it to the cliff, and throw it off the cliff,” Cherie says with a laugh. “People love it, remember it, and write it down.”

Larson is a non-knitter but has joined the novice needle workers and the savvy sweater makers during the monthly gatherings in her shop. “It’s cool seeing the different projects people bring to the knitting circle,” she says. “Some people are working on socks, sweaters, baby clothes, and it’s really amazing to see the creativity and talent in the room.”

Among the talented is a 13-year-old who could open her own shop to sell her beautifully knitted pieces, Larson and Cherie agree.

“A lot of people have come in and said they learned from their grandma or aunt back in the day and want to pick it up again,” says Larson. “It’s definitely on a resurgence as a craft and is great to see people from all ages bonding the generations with what they’re making.”

Cherie says her discovery of the weaving closet at MassArt changed the trajectory of her life. The “library of wool” as it was called on campus, was filled with endless rows of yarn, in a variety of colors, and ladders were needed to access its highest shelves.

Cherie was in awe. “It was like, wow,” she recalls. “‘I just need to be here.’ Going into the weaving department and experiencing the whole dusty vibe felt right in my heart.”

She shifted her focus from illustration to fiber arts. Her family introduced her to her great-grandmother’s crochet collection, and her Nana taught her how to crochet. Cherie remembers thinking it was cool, but also feeling clueless about what she was learning.

She has since been gifted some of her grandmothers’ needlework accessories, including patterns, notebooks, knitting tags saying, “handmade by Reta,” and bent, worn-out needles purchased for sixteen cents during the Great Depression. “Every time I open my bag, I smell her, her home in Cape Cod, and it’s very nostalgic,” says Cherie, wishing her Nana could see the evolution of fiber arts today.

“To some people, viewing paintings and drawings is what make up art, but something about tactile materials and the sense of touch is intriguing to people,” she explains.

A chunky-knit, lavender blanket with candy red fringe was her first piece to attract a gallery owner’s attention. It inspired Cherie to sell her work and to be featured in more galleries. She started Nina Cherie Textiles during her senior year of college to sell her handmade goods, designed products, and patterns. Her online store offers woven kitchen towels, knitted baby booties, a strawberry wool rug and other creative pieces for purchase.

After graduating, Cherie longed for the sense of community she enjoyed in the art department and the excitement of sharing ideas and giving and receiving input from classmates. “Sometimes it’s like therapy sessions in the fiber department, where we wouldn’t even talk about our work, but our emotions would come out,” she remembers. “I missed that part of school.”

Emphasizing the importance of connecting with people, Cherie pitched the idea of a monthly knitting circle at The Nest, a sustainable fashion collective in Providence. Her popular “Stitch and Bitch” workshop blossomed into the addition of beginner and advanced needlework classes, sock-stitching classes and more.

“The cool thing is there is more community than being at home and knitting by yourself,” says Cherie. “You’ll look at your partner and say, ‘Look how cool this sock is!’, and they don’t care, so here you get more validation than from those at home and become friends with the people who show up.”

Karen Katin, owner of The Stitchery in Portsmouth, recently hosted a fiber arts class in her studio for members of the Military Spouses Group of Newport, which helps to acclimate families new to the area by offering a variety of activities and introducing them to local clubs and organizations.

Katin, whose husband is retired from the Navy, learned to sew at the age of five. Her mother taught her, and she sewed throughout her childhood and teen years, everything from casual clothes to formal dance dresses. She continued sewing after her children were born, stitching clothing for them and gifts for family members while they napped. Katin, who has been involved with the Military Spouses group over the years, reached out to see if knitting would be of interest to the members.

“We’re calling it a craft group now because it has expanded to include knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, embroidery, and even scrapbooking to include more people,” says Katin. “You get to know people who like crafty things and it’s better for the community, especially the military community.”

The inclusive group offers participants an opportunity to meet new people and find common interests while working on craft projects for two hours.

“A lot of connections are made at the table, whether it be their children both playing soccer, or talking about great meals they’ve had at restaurants in the area,” Katin says. “There is really a peace and joy that just naturally comes to people from making things with their hands.”

Like knitting, needlepoint is having a bit of a moment.

Jessica Chaney and Greg Meyers own Lycette Designs, a needlepoint shop on William Street in Newport that hosts monthly Sip and Stitch gatherings. Participants have formed a needlepoint community that meets to have a good time while working on current projects, sharing stories of past works, and brainstorming about what to do next, says Meyers.

The shop sells hand-painted needlepoint canvases, threads, and accessories and offers finishing services for completed projects, whether the canvas is from Lycette or not. Finishers transform completed needlepoint canvases into pillows, belts, Christmas stockings, tote bags and assorted other items.

Chaney is a fourth generation needlepointer who, like Cherie and Katin, learned her craft from a family matriarch. Her great-grandmother Lycette, for whom the shop is named, taught Chaney’s grandmother, who taught Chaney’s mother, who taught Chaney.

“It seems each person who participates has found their way to it, whether it was a friend, family member, or something in their life that has led them to walk into any type of store that offers classes and supplies,” says Meyers. “People find a way of connecting to needle art and the practice.”

The couple encourage beginners to drop in to a Sip and Stitch, which are casual, laid-back evenings, usually held once a month, where stitchers get together, needlepoint, and enjoy conversation, beverages and nibbles. Staff are available with beginner-friendly canvases to teach novices. First-time projects have ranged from a “sleeping baby” sign for an expectant mother to an ornament for the Christmas tree.

“It’s a great opportunity to come in and meet fellow needlepointers, get inspiration on a project you’re working on, or maybe you just finished something and want to start something new,” says Meyers.

“There is a wide range of what people bring to stitch and what we offer in the shop,” he adds. “The range in style of canvases is as unique as each stitcher.”

Editor’s Note: This version reflects two corrections from the original print story (Nov/Dec 2024); Nina Cherie attended MassArt, and her grandmother’s name was Reta. Newport Life regrets the errors.