The Interwoven Institute

04/24/2026

Why join a craft retreat?

You don’t have time.
You don’t have space.
You are tired and stressed.
You like the feeling of making in community.
You wish someone else would cook.
You are inspired by nature.
You need to get away.
You have that project you want to finish…

This weekend is a gift to your creative self. It is dedicated time and space to nourish your creative spirit, to rest your body and mind, to enjoy the natural world, and to make whatever you want to make.

✨Join us. (yes, this is for you!)✨

When: June 18-21
Where: Knoll Farm, VT

What to Expect:

🌱3 nights lodging at a yurt on the farm
🌱Farm-to-table meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
🌱 Daily mindfulness practice
🌱 Personal time for craft, rest, and enjoying the land
🌱 Herbal teas and wisdom for nourishment + reconnection with
🌱 Wood-fired hot tun and sauna
🌱 Evening community fires
🌱 Farm tour + sheep fleece processing demo
🌱 Opportunity to meet Helen Whybrow, author of The Salt Stones

04/22/2026

On this Earth Day, we wanted to share part of a beautiful story submitted to us by Thilina Premjayanth of Fibershed Sri Linka (.lk) as part of our Slow Craft story submission project.

Thilina writes, “In every woven strand of Reed and Rush, there is a story. And in every story, there is a reminder: when we make with our hands, we are not just creating objects—we are continuing a lineage, shaping meaning, and quietly transforming the way we belong to the world.”

In every strand - a story.
In every story, meaning, history, lineage.

Craft is a way to transform the world into meaning through our hands. It is a beautiful way to materially engage with the living environment that contains and sustains us.
Being on the journey of mindful and slow craft with you has been an extraordinary practice - and on this Earth Day, we express our gratitude to you, and to all the beings we share life with on this planet of ours.

What is your craft story? - We want to hear from you.

Submit your story at the link in our bio, and it may appear in our founder’s upcoming book. Stories can be long or short and there is NO need to be a “good writer”. We want to hear your unique voice, and your unique experience.

Thank you for making with us.

📸 Photos courtesy of Thilina Premjayanth and Fibershed Sri Lanka

.lk

04/20/2026

Join us tomorrow TONIGHT for our April Craft Sangha! 🧶

A craft sangha is a group of people who come together to make things and practice mindfulness. Together, we reweave connection to ourselves, each other, and the earth through our hands.

Bring any craft project that is small enough to fit in your lap or a small table.

All are welcome regardless of experience or root tradition.

Time: 6:30-8:00pm*

*Come early at 6pm to have a cup of tea and chat. BYO mug! ☕️

Location: The Barn at First Parish Brewster UU (across the street from the church at 1969 Main St)

Directions & Parking:

We meet on the 3rd floor of “The Barn” of First Parish Church. This building is located across the street from the church. There is an upper parking lot on Harwich Rd, and a lower lot off of 6A.

Please note: This building is NOT handicap accessible. There are 2 short flights of stairs.

This is a free event ✨

04/18/2026

Cape Cod fleece is here!!

We spent a lovely Saturday at visiting the ‘Second Chances: Stitching Stories of Transformation’ fiber art show with the Falmouth Art Center Fiber Group.

Afterwards, we chatted about the ’s One Year One Outfit project which seeks to craft a garment using only materials sourced from our local . It was such fun exchanging info on where we could source fleece, learn to spin, and find natural dyes 🌱

As a special BONUS, we got to visit Diana from and scoop up some freshly sheared fleeces from her flock of North Country Cheviot Sheep.

This is what we mean about craft as building community, connections, and shared inspiration. It’s so exciting to become ever more deeply enmeshed in the local network of people, plants, and animals that exist here on Cape Cod 🐑✨

04/07/2026

Do you have a craft practice in your life that has been meaningful to you? Has your craft helped you feel more connected to yourself, to those around you, or to the earth? If yes, we would love to hear from you.

Our founder Sarah Manion, is a fiber artist, writer and ordained member of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. She is currently working on a book that aspires to share how to use craft as a dharma door; a way of practicing with the material world that may help us heal our disconnection and the suffering caused by our misunderstanding of ourselves as separate from each other and the earth.

As part of this project, she wants to hear from you - fellow crafters.

🧶 How has your craft practice has impacted you, your life, or your sense of wellbeing?

🧶What relationships have grown out of or through your craft?

🧶Why do you make things, anyway?

You do not need to be a mindfulness or meditation practitioner to share your story - just willing.

Each and every story submitted here will be read by Sarah. Some stories may be utilized in her book, which is expected to be published in early-to-mid 2027.

✨ Link for submission with more information in our bio ✨

04/02/2026

Things take time. ✨

Since we launched The Interwoven Institute last summer, we have already offered a retreat, an international trip, a weaving workshop, and several Craft Sangha meetings. We are feeling inspired and happy for the growth. We also, honestly, trying to balance our offerings with our commitment to practice.

Pictured here is a knitting project by our founder, . She purchased this naturally-dyed wool yarn at last fall from . There’s been some struggle with the pattern, and she has knitted and ripped out the sweater several times. This is her 5th go 😅. A reminder that some things take longer than others.

What are you planting, growing, creating this spring?

A reminder that we hold monthly craft sanghas - the next is April 20th from 6:30-8pm in Brewster. Please join us.

Spots are still available for our June 18-21 Weekend Craft Retreat at . Link in bio to register!

03/28/2026

Everyone! Check out this gorgeous weaving by , a participant in our recent Quahog Weaving Workshop at

It is so absolutely wonderful to share an approach to craft and then see it molded and reinterpreted through another’s eyes. What a gorgeous ode to the movement and color of sea and sky 💜🌊

If you missed this workshop, another opportunity is coming this summer. Stay tuned for me details!

03/24/2026

It has been a long winter, and the time of Spring - the time of creation - is just around the corner.

Join us for a 3-day Craft Retreat Weekend at historic Knoll Farm in Waitsfield, VT () creating space, time, and opportunity for your creative practice to unfold.

Not only is this a gorgeous location, it is also the home to a special flock of Icelandic sheep who are the subject of ‘s beautiful book The Salt Stones which is a VT Book Award finalist! The way that Helen describes her deep connection to land, beings, and life through the care of her flock is profoundly resonant with our mission to reconnect to ourselves, each other, and the earth through craft.

We’re excited to partner again with Nicole Cormier, RD, LDN () who will help us expand our understanding of creativity to include the practices needed for nourishment and healing.

What to Expect:

🧶 3 nights lodging at a yurt on the farm
🧶 Farm-to-table meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
🧶 Daily mindfulness practice
🧶 Personal time for craft, rest, and enjoying the land
🧶 Herbal teas and plant wisdom for nourishment + reconnection
🧶 Wood-fired hot tun and sauna
🧶 Evening community fires
🧶 Farm tour + sheep fleece processing demo
🧶 Opportunity to meet author Helen Whybrow

✨Registration is OPEN - link in bio✨

03/16/2026

Join us TONIGHT for March’s Craft Sangha! 🧶

A craft sangha is a group of people who come together to make things and practice mindfulness.

Together, we reweave connection to ourselves, each other, and the earth through our hands.

Bring any craft project that is small enough to fit in your lap or a small table.

All are welcome regardless of experience or root tradition.

Time: 6:30-8:00pm

Location: The Barn at First Parish Brewster UU (across the street from the church at 1969 Main St)

Directions & Parking:

We meet on the 3rd floor of “The Barn” of First Parish Church. This building is located across the street from the church. There is an upper parking lot on Harwich Rd, and a lower lot off 6A - park in either.

❗️Please note: This building is NOT handicap accessible. There are 2 short flights of stairs.

This is a free event, but we’d love you to register so we can send you a reminder and let you know about any schedule updates.

Link to register in bio!

03/04/2026

Moments from our Oaxaca Interwoven Mindful Craft Journey.

We spent a full week in the Oaxaca Valley visiting artisans while holding the question:

🌱 How can craft revive connection to ourselves, each other, and the earth?

In this region, the voice of Zapotec culture speaks loudly through landscape, tradition, and color. We visited traditional weavers, black pottery artisans, red pottery artisans, ancient ruins, and cave art echoing across time and space.

Each morning we began our days with mindfulness practice, and in the evenings we worked on small weaving projects to connect body, heart, and mind to place.

Through these trips, we aspire to create experiences that reweave connection to self, to place, to community, and to the earth. Interested in joining our next trip? Join our newsletter to hear about our next destination.

✨Thank you to our local and artisan partners including:




Casa Negra

02/20/2026

Gratitude to The Cape Cod Chronicle for spreading the word about our work!

(Re)connection to ourselves, each other, and the earth is deeply needed right now.

We’re happy to be offering craft as a practice, a pathway, a joy-filled way to experience the world as it is, through our hands 🙏🧶🐑

ttps://www.capecodchronicle.com/articles/4122/view/interwoven-institute-facilitates-mindfulness-connection-and-crafting

BREWSTER – When Calmer Choice closed its doors last year, former executive director Sarah Manion made a promise: the work wouldn’t end there. This...

02/13/2026

We were so surprised to receive our IRS tax exemption certificate in the mail yesterday - months earlier than initially expected!!

For anyone who has navigated the twists and turns of bringing a nonprofit legally to life, you may resonate with our excitement, relief, and sense of satisfaction that this organizational organism that we have been tending is growing up and into its own living life form.

We so look forward to continuing to grow, evolve, create, and learn how to breathe life into our mission of reviving connection through our hands, and our desire to realize a world where interdependence and mutual flourishing is the foundation of our shared experience.

We are so grateful for all the support and encouragement we have received so far, and we look forward to creating with (and being created by) you!