Sarah Solomon, Knitwear Designer

It takes a village to make a design collection, combining the skills of knitters, designers, technical specialists, photographers, models and many more; and in the case of Harrisville Designs it takes a literal village to make the yarn as well.  Harrisville Designs has been family-owned and operated for 50 years, producing yarn in one of the best-preserved early-industrial villages in the nation.  Yarn has been spun in this water-powered, brick mill town since 1794.  Join Sarah Solomon, Harrisville’s Director of Knitwear Design, for this lecture all about Harrisville Designs past to present.  Sarah will give a bit of history about the mill then show a glimpse of its modern operations and the range of yarns they make, from the heirloom-quality Highland and Shetland lines they started 50 years ago to their newest and most contemporary-looking yarns, Daylights and Nightshades, made with American-raised Cormo wool.  We’ll learn about the running of a mill and the building of the extraordinary 64-color palette and then take a look behind the scenes at the making of this latest pattern collection, Day for Night, a collection of garments knit with Daylights and Nightshades.  Harrisville Designs simultaneously looks back to its early-American roots and forward to the future of wool and manufacturing in this country in its efforts to provide enduring, affordable, and high-quality materials for knitters, weavers and craftspeople.  Come get a closer look at what we’re up to.