Today we welcome Kim Schneibolk to the WoolWinders family. Like our other employees, Kim began as a customer, became a friend, and now works with us! Kim will be working Tuesdays and Fridays, and will be happy to help knitters move beyond their comfort zones. Since we have known her, we have referred to Kim as a "Fearless Knitter!." Come see her fabulous creations.

Walter the UPS Guy brought us more goodies today. The new Lang Magazine Fatto a Mano is just amazing, along with their new yarn, Tosca. We have five colors of this chunky wool/acrylic blend that forms a blocky tweed when knit. Just gorgeous.

Also in, Ginger Luters new book, Module Magic. For those easily bored, this method of knitting one block at a time to create amazing sweaters, jackets and the like, will keep you interested and creative!

One of our favorite yarns last winter was Elsebeth Lavold' Silky Wool. This DK weight silk/wool blend knits like a dream and has fabulous pattern support. We were left with about two skeins at the end of the season! This year, she produced new colors and a new yarn, Silky Tweed. And today we received many skeins of both! We now have nine colors of Silky Wool and seven colors of Silky Tweed. Come and see this gorgeous yarn!

Hot off the presses, our Fall Newsletter is posted on the website. Click on the appropriate button on the left side of the page, and you will receive all the latest news, class schedules, patterns and the like. But want a better way of getting the newsletter, as well as announcements about special events and sales? Register on the site! Just go to the lower left section of the home page, and register your email address. You will receive an email back asking you to confirm. This protects your privacy! That way, you won't miss ANYTHING happening at WoolWinders.

Lew came upon a fabulous website yesterday filled with poncho patterns. We are trying to keep up with this craze, and this site is a HUGE help. Visit http.//faerycrafty.blogdrive.com. Many styles, both knit and crocheted, and tons of pictures! Have fun.

If you haven't noticed the left side of our home page, please be aware that store hours are changing beginning WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. We are responding to many requests to stay open past 5:30 PM:

MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY 11 AM-6 PM
THURSDAY 11 AM-8 PM
SATURDAY 10 AM-5 PM
SUNDAY 12 PM-5 PM

What a day! We thought we had seen the last of Walter the UPS Guy, but oh no! He appeared at our door with a later shipment that blew us away! Unicorn Books has come out with the must-have gift of 2004- THE 2005 KNITTING PATTERN A DAY CALENDAR. And best of all, our pal LAURIE GONYEA is featured on October 25 with her clever TURTLENECK TURTLE TOP! . Take a look yourself:

We were so excited, but not as excited as Laurie, who whooped with delight when we called to tell her. So congratulations, Laurie. And thanks for letting us submit the pattern. We received a nice mention. This clever calendar can be paired with the perpetual 365 KNITTING STITCHES A YEAR for a perfect gift. Unicorn also sent the much anticipated Simply Knit 2 featuring Lana Grossa yarns.

And Berroco came through as quickly as Knitting Fever! We called just on Monday for reinforcements of pink, green and taupe SUEDE and received it today!

Yesterday we realized that we had no white, creme, or camel DK weight merino yarn. Horrors! So we called upon our fabulous pal Jay at Knitting Fever and today BEFORE WE OPENED, Walter the UPS Guy brought us a box containing three bags of each color in the wonderfully soft Debbie Bliss Merino DK. We see many Aran sweaters/blankets/pillows out of this!

We have always regarding the approach of Labor Day as a time of cleaning house. Perhaps it goes back to our days as a high school English teacher, when the new year was really in September, not January. Yesterday we attacked the store with a vengeance. In addition to our storerooms being immaculate and well ordered, we rotated our samples around the store to reflect the approach of Fall. Gone are the summer shells (sigh). You will now see fabulous selections from Cotton Fleece, Colinette Zanziba, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, Aran Tweed, and Superchunky. In addition we have whipped up several Ponchos on display for both adults and children. And of course scarves abound.

We also sell samples on occasion, normally when we are no longer selling the yarn. We have these displayed on a rolling rack outside, with prices and sizes clearly marked. Please don't hesitate to ask us questions about these models!

Today we received new colors of Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece, one of our new favorite yarns for sweaters and afghans, as well as a gorgeous feltable Charcoal Grey from their worsted weight Lamb's Pride. These are wonderfully priced yarns that knit and wear well.

Finally, we have installed XM Radio in our continuing quest to be the Sports Bar of the Knitting World. So email us with your favorite stations, come in and hang with us and knit to the music!

We love when the new Fall yarns arrive. Boxes and boxes are delivered, ripped open and we fondle the new yarns. But once they are entered into inventory and placed in our bins, our true fun starts: walking our customers over to the bins of our new yarns so they can pet the yarn too!

While we have lots of new yarns to touch, this season the "early favorite" for yarn of the year is Debbie Bliss' Baby Alpaca Silk. It is 80% Alpaca and 20% Silk and knits up at 4.5 stitches to the inch on a size 8 or 9 US needle. Each ball is 75 yards. We carry it in every color. Click on this colorchart to see a larger picture:

What makes this yarn so appealing is not only does it feel unbelievably soft, Debbie has created some terrific patterns for the yarn. Here are just a few (click on the thumbnails for a larger picture):

And there are other pattern to drool over as well. So, if you want a break between trips to buy back to school supplies and clothers, drop by WoolWinders and fondle some yarn!

Knitting Fever just keeps 'em coming! We came in to the store late on our day off to find that Jessica, Adrian, and Allison (our ace helper/Jessica's daughter) had received and shelved GORGEOUS new Noro yarns. We received the ultra-luxurious HANA SILK in teal, taupe, mauve, and slate blue; and doesn't EVERYONE deserve a silk sweater? We think so.

Also in, two re-orders of Silk Garden (we are expecting eight new Fall colors by the end of September) in blacks/greys/browns and purples; as well as a new Fall color of Kureyon in luscious aqua/green/grey. Stay tuned. We ordered BUCKETS of Noro Yarns including Blossom, Iro, Transition, Kureyon and Silk Garden and should receive the Fall line within a month.

This time last week, we were happily driving through Anchorage on our last day in Alaska. With no firm plans, we decided to explore the fiber world! Our first stop was the Native Alaskan Co-op which sells the ultra-luxurious quiviat, or yarn spun from the underbelly of the musk ox. This stuff makes cashmere feel like sand paper! But the production and sale process is heavily regulated and the final product is not wholesaled to stores. So we passed. But if you ever get a chance to see/feel/use this yarn, do so!

Next stop was Knitting Frenzy, a well known shop. We introduced ourselves to the staff and explored the offerings of the store. Very nice selection. Lots of Debbie Bliss, Noro, Manos and Colinette among others.

Finally, we proceeded to Far North Yarns, a fairly new shop. Owner Kay used to be in Homer, AK, but moved to Anchorage about two years ago. We arrived to a scene similar to WoolWinders-customers sitting around a table chatting, knitting, and snacking. We were intrigued by two major differences: very few novelty yarns (function over form rules in the Far North), and no ponchos on display. Instead, they focus on the very warm, very practical heavy Icelandic Lopi designs. We need to revisit in Winter to get the true sense of knitting in Alaska!

Many thanks to all in Anchorage who made us feel so welcome in their shops!