The Maine Reef at SPA 2012!

The Maine SPA event has been on my bucket list for a long time now and though I was there with bells on Saturday February 25th, it will remain on my list until next time! Why? Because we had a steady flow of enthused fiber folks the whole time we were there and I never got a chance to get to the expo or visit any of my Maine fiber friends :-( Missed you all!

BUT! Jan and I taught some folks how to crochet while Ann distributed info to the various group gatherings. We happened to be in the same room as a group of Vermonters who have pledged to go back to their guild and create for the reef project. YEAH!

Everyone who came by was very impressed in the small display. Many had heard of our efforts which was a really nice kudo to our publicity efforts. We've been working hard to get the word out and apparently it's working! In fact several had heard about it either directly or indirectly from last year's Fryeburg Fair display and info booth.

I also met up with Astrig Tanguay of the Maine Fiber College who kindly invited us to present this year however that event takes place in September after our deadline for contributions to our exhibit. Bummer! But thank you Astrig for your support and thinking of us! I will also be looking for a donation of work she created many years ago of a crocheted rock with crocheted coral attached to it. She offered to donate it to our reef! I can't wait to see it!

Biddeford Artwalk February 24th

In spite of heavy rains, the Heart of Biddeford office was hopping with activity. What a nice evening! Our host Delilah and friend played some great folk music on guitar and banjo as we talked to folks about the reef and taught some crochet.





Dean Jeanne Hey of UNE came for her crochet fix and is filling her office with crochet donations for the reef! It's so exciting that she is so enthused.





Check out Jeanne crocheting away and her jelly fish creations.FUN!

 Crystal Shibles joined us with equal enthusiasm and donated a bunch of yarn and crochet hooks. Thank you Crystal!

Thank you all for a wonderful evening!

School of Crocheted Fish

Love these little fish! Inspired by on line photos that you can see here. Easy to make too. I simply began with a crocheted round which I folded in half and slip stitched together. Remember to stuff before you completely close them up :-)
The fins and tail are made from lightweight clear plastic bags cut into strips. They are threaded through the crochet stitches and stuck together with double sided tape. I tried glue but that just made a mess because it took too long to set.
I plan to mount these using Shish-kabob skewers stuck into styrofoam. I'll post a pic when it's done.

Until then.......

Scarborough Public Library offering an Educational Fiber Day!

   I am so excited about the Scarborough Public Library's upcoming Fiber Educational event on Saturday, March 24th from 10:30 - 3:30pm! There has never been such a comprehensive educational fiber event  in southern Maine that I have ever heard of! This is not a craft show, although fiber artists will have a few of their things for sale. Instead it is a educational demonstration event where the public can come to see spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, bobbin lace, tatting, felting, rug hooking, kumihimo and more being created before their very eyes! It will be kind of a mini version of Fiber Center exhibit at Fryeburg :-)

They are also planning some interactive activities for folks to try and OF COURSE, my "raison d'etre", the Maine Reef Project, will have a presence there!  Jan W., Karen T., and Ann T. will be handing out patterns and information about the Maine Reef, and demonstrating and teaching crochet. We will also have the use of a display case for the month of March to show some completed pieces of the reef to inspire people to create and participate! How exciting!

Another exciting thing is that many of the Fiber Artists that you so love to visit at the Fiber Center during fair week will be there sharing their passion. so DON"T MISS IT!

Fiber Artists that I know will be demonstrating are:

Julie Yarborough - Felting
Janet Conner - Rug Hooking
Bert Mc Lellan - Spinning and or Needle Felting
Linda Whiting - Kumihimo and Tapestry
Bestie Leslie - Spinning and maybe felt on soap with the kids!
Jan Winsor - Crochet
Ann Thompson - Crochet
Karen Thompson - Crochet

Additionally,  the Scarborough Library is now officially a Maine Reef Collection Center for complete pieces for our Reef. You can drop completed reef pieces off during their business hours.

Anyway.... This should be a great event! As the time grows closer check back with us for more updated information......

The Maine Reef & Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center

    Joyful Harvest is a faith based Neighborhood Center for children and their families. Their mission is to enrich the lives of  their patrons who live in or near the city center.

On Monday, February 27th, Ann and I are volunteering to help their cause while promoting our own, teaching crochet to their group ages 8 & up. The class will include a brief introduction to the reef project, samples of basic work and a beginner crochet lesson.

We are very happy to be able to share this fabulous community project with such a deserving group!

Thank you Joyful Harvest for allowing us to enhance all that you do for your community!

Crocheted Sea Sponges

Another completed work! Yeah!!! Very Cool.......
This piece is 10" tall and 10" across......

75 Seashells, Coral, and Colorful Marine Life to Knit & Crochet, by Jessica Polka

Thanks to all of you that have contacted me after my recent email sending you project news. It's great to hear that so many of you are getting excited! I love hearing about your own progress and enthusiasm. It helps keep me going :-)

Jane is thinking about what her contribution will be  and Chris has her 'reef' sitting in waiting to send to us! Michelle from Hawaii is contributing some pieces and they are on their way. I also heard that the UNE drop location is accumulating work from various folks in the area and Scarborough Public Library will soon become a drop location for their community as well.

We're cooking with gas now boys and girls! WOOHOO!

One of the emails came from Drucilla Beal who shared this book with me. It was just published in January 2012 so I had never heard of it. It's available from Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble on line or about $14.00. My guess is projects are small but many of you are talented enough to enlarge the patterns as necessary or to use it as inspiration for your own creature patterns :-) BUT!

Know that whatever you create in whatever size will be used, and very much appreciated!

The Maine Reef will present at NETA SPA weekend in Freeport, Maine

For the first time since it began many years ago, I will be at SPA! I can not wait to see this amazing fiber gathering along with several of my Reef colleagues, Ann Thompson and Jan Windsor.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be able to attend and have this opportunity to share the Maine Reef Project with the many fiber folks who attend! I want to thank the SPA planners for finding a spot for us.

SPA is a FREE event. There is no need to register. You can come and go as you please throughout the weekend. This is a "mommie" time so parents are asked to leave children at home.  FMI about SPA weekend please visit here,  on Facebook and on their blog.

We will be there on Saturday February 25th from 9am - 3pm in the Harraseeket Inn Casco Bay Ballroom. They are providing a table for us where we will display some of of the completed reef pieces, patterns for folks to take away and other reef information.

Ann, Jan and I will be offering whatever information folks are interested in and creating while there hoping to inspire you to create a piece or two with your left over stash! OR, maybe you'll get hooked as we are and take this project on as a temporary passion and create a bunch of stuff.

ALL donations of completed pieces will be included in the final installation providing we receive them by September 1st. And for first time readers of our blog, the exhibition is taking place in the Fiber Center at the Fryeburg Fair beginning on October 2nd, 2012.

This is a truly amazing fiber art project, not only for it's creativity and connections to science and math through the hyperbolic shapes and environmental connections but because of it's vast potential for community. Everyone and anyone can participate and submit a piece!

Here are the rules for creating: 
There are no rules! 


Oh well maybe just one.... Have fun!

Links to Sea Creature Patterns

As I count down towards exhibition of our Maine Reef, I note that we have 7 months left. YIKES! I had slacked off a bit as I have taken time in early winter to get more settled since our move. BUT, No fear, the creative juices have begun flowing again and my nimble fingers are back to work on my newest project.... Sponges in a cluster that will stand about a foot tall. Loving it and will share it when it's done.

While looking for new inspirations on line I found a few new patterns to pass along.





The first is for knitters which is great since there seems a more limited selection of patterns out there. It is of this 'Brittle Star' which has been reviewed as anatomically correct. It's a lovely pattern that can be found  here. This picture comes from the In The Loop Website pattern page. I haven't made it so I'm not sure how large it ends up being but it uses about 25 gr of yarn.

Another entry on this same website has a pattern for this crocheted 'Sea Mouse'. Just scroll down the page to find it and for a bit more inspiration, check out the link to "Species Wish List"Blog which is from the "Ecology Action Center's Stitchin' Fish Display". There's some great info here about marine life and this project.


Thanks to In The Loop and The Ecology Action Center for these wonderful links!

New Contributions!

 Here are a few new contributions to the project including a piece from 9 yr old Gaia Ayers of Saco, Maine! Good job Gaia!














Thanks also to Shay Ayers, Gaia's mom and Janice Beaulieu of Port Charlotte, Fl & Fryeburg, Maine. Janice learned about the reef at the fair last fall.


 Good job ladies!

Keep them coming! The pile is growing larger all the time!

Remember you have until September 1st to get your work to us for inclusion.