By David Benoit
Special to the Reporter

Sitting in her brand new yarn store on Dorchester Avenue, Annissa Essaibi George envisions a good day as a shop owner.

"Well, a perfect day would be one or two customers sitting over there, maybe with a coffee, just knitting quietly alone. And maybe a class going on back here, a couple people digging through the bins, and some good music in the background."

She points around the open space as she talks, directing the imaginary loners to the parlor chairs near the front windows, the classroom to the tables in the back, the diggers throughout the shop.

The white walls are accented by a bright pink wall in the middle of the shop next to dozens of black shelves full of yarns of all colors and textures. It is easy to see George's excitement for the opening of The Stitch House, Dorchester's newest yarn and sewing supply shop at 846 Dot Ave.

"I imagine we are like a cool coffee shop, except we don't sell coffee, we sell yarn."

The shop has been in a "soft open" for about two weeks, and celebrated its grand opening celebration on Saturday. George explains that she saw an opportunity to tap into the artistic community of Dorchester by offering a store they had no access to in the past.

"I did a market study with some friends and we found that there really was an opportunity to open the store," George says. "Dorchester has a very large artistic community and a lot of different interests, but there hasn't been this opportunity for fiber arts before."

In an effort to spread her own passion for sewing, the Stitch House will also be offering a wide variety of classes for people interested in learning how to knit, crochet, sew, or quilt. From never-having-picked-up-a-needle customers to experienced seamstresses, the Stitch House will have a place for those who want to create. And don't think this is just your grandmother's sewing circle.

"We want people to come and sit on the couches and just 'Stitch and Bitch,'" she says, referring to a knitting book that has spurned knitting groups by the same name throughout the stitching world. "And we have a whole range of choices in patterns. These aren't just making granny squares anymore."

The Stitch House will also be running classes to teach teens how to knit. Another class is being organized to help high school students interested in fashion design create samples to accompany their art college applications. George says she is also interested in getting more men into the shop.

"I want to really introduce people to creating and the social aspect, and really I would like to see more men become involved in fiber arts, in particular." If any men need convincing, says George, they should look up Ian Johnson. He is the Boise State University running back who took the Statue of Liberty play into the end zone to beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last January. Johnson's mother taught him to crochet on his team bus because he couldn't sit still before a game. He still does it regularly.

"There is also a therapeutic quality to crocheting or knitting that can't be found in other tasks," George explains.

The Stitch House will be available for birthday parties and girls' nights out, says George. And they will be doing regular charity events for the Prenatal Intensive Care Unit at the Brigham and Woman's Hospital, where hats and scarves will be knit to send over to the babies being cared for.

George and her husband Doug hold the NICU close to their hearts, as last year George gave birth to premature boy triplets. Today the boys are all fine and healthy, and along with their three and a half year-old brother, are giving their mother a handful of work. Being a mother of four boys, a social studies teacher at East Boston High, and a brand new entrepreneur, George certainly has a full plate. But the Stitch House is an outlet for her.

"I laugh and say that this is my escape," she jokes. "It's pink because it's my girl. I don't think I'm going to get a girl."