No snappy title for this blog, just the facts! We are ecstatic that Berroco came through so quickly with Monday's purchase order. We now have an ample supply of short needles in sizes 17 and 19, perfect for those cozy and quick scarves! Walter the UPS Guy also brought us Berroco's popular Chinchilla yarns (both bulky and worsted) in black. Ooh la la!

And our pal Judith shipped our much-needed Manos as well. Come in for those elusive variegated colors that sell out so quickly!

We have had several requests for additional slots in the Charlotte's Web shawl class on January 9 and 16. We are pleased to announce that we have two openings! If you would like to participate in this class, please call Jacqui at 240.632.9276. The cost is $65 for two sessions; you will get started on the fabulous Koigu Charlotte's Web shawl that uses five skeins of various colors. This class is fairly advanced; students should be comfortable with knitting basics as well as some experience with using markers and lace knitting.

Please welcome KNITASHA PURL WOOLWINDER as you come into the store! She stands modeling our lovely garments from head to toe. The winning name for our mannequin was submitted by the team of Sidra Shapiro and Jean Rosenberg who will share a $20 gift certificate from WoolWinders! Congratulations to both.

And please note our holiday hours. We will be open Friday, December 31 from 11-2 (hey, we have to go home and cook for our dinner guests!) and will remain closed on Saturday, January 1. We will be open for business as usual beginning Sunday, January 2 at noon.

And finally, to our wonderful staff, customers, and friends who made 2004 such a success, please accept our heartfelt thanks. We couldn't do it without you. Have a happy and healthy 2005!

Jacqui and Lew

We just couldn't help ourselves! We too succumbed to the post-Christmas Sale frenzy. From now through Sunday, January 2, ALL BOOKS ARE 10% OFF REGULAR PRICE. Discount will be taken at the register, and lawyer Lew reminds us that all sale items are considered final; no exchanges or returns. So come check out pattern books, technique tomes, and designer delights.....

In addition, get a jump on those 2005 Christmas Stockings with the excellent Baabaajoe Stocking kits. They come complete with yarn and instructions. And they are 30% OFF!!!!

Just in time for those dressy New Year's Eve shawls, we are fully stocked with black eyelash and ribbon yarn. The very popular Berroco Plume FX and Zen make fabulous accessories that are perfect for special occasions.

And to all, a very Merry Christmas. We will see you on Sunday, December 26 from noon-5 PM!

Lew knit this shawl out of Colinette's Zanziba and Mohair for Alicia. Isn't she beautiful? (you can click on the picture for a larger image)

We know that you love to shop, and we love to serve you! Our holiday hours are as follows: Friday, December 24 we will be open from 11-2 for those last minute rush items, including gift certificates. We will be closed Saturday, Christmas Day, but will be open Sunday, December 26 from 12-5. We have fond memories of last year, when our wonderful customers arrived at the store with their Christmas bounty eager to buy for THEMSELVES finally! Come see the beautiful yarns, books, and bags to which you can treat yourselves-you KNOW you deserve it! Our hours return to normal until Friday, December 31 when we will again close at 2 (have to beat up on ourselves with pretty sticks for the New Year's Eve festivities!) and remain closed through Saturday, January 1. But come see us on Sunday, January 2 when our normal business hours resume. And for those of you who list among your New Year's Resolutions to learn the wonderful craft of knitting or crocheting, check out our Class Schedule. We offer private lessons as well, both day and evening at $35/hour. All levels are taught, including advanced work.

We love dealing with Prism yarns because we get so many surprises! Today we received more Wild Stuff in half and whole skeins. As always, the colors are astonishing!!! Come see Antique, Brass, and Peacock. If you have never knit with these exquisite and unusual yarns, there is no better way to treat yourself for the holidays.....

Lew was kind enough to load these pics when he got back from a business trip. Doesn't everyone look proud?

First up, Liz displays her fabulous afghan made from squares of Colinette Tagliatelli:

Next, Megan shows off her Safari project, the exquisite Koigu Charlotte's Web shawl made from five different colorways:

And while Oprah may have Dr. Phil, we were treated to a visit from Dr. Bill, who proudly wears the scarf wife (and WoolWinders employee) Pat made him:

Finally, all three of us finished sweaters at the same time. So we just had to wear them! Jacqui is in her Koigu, Pat shows off her Silk Garden, and Adrian is outfitted in Colinette Enigma and Giotto:

Thanks to Judith at Design Source, we now have black felting yarn. Manos works up 3.5-4 stitches to the inch and felts beautifully! Check out our stock of hat, bag, vest, and even jacket patterns. If you are "fearful of felting," consider taking our class on February 6 and 13 which will make you totally enamored of this fun knitting process (and you will take home a wonderful market bag to boot!)

Also in, much needed notions and needles. We feel fully stocked!

We have been waiting anxiously for our Brown Sheep restocks and today Walter our lovely and overworked UPS Guy brought us two BIG boxes filled with Lambs Pride Worsted and Bulky as well as Cotton Fleece. Good news and bad news. Many colors are now here; although we were backordered in both bulky and worsted in Black. So we got on the phone to our pal Judith at Design Source who had plenty of black Manos in stock; she is sending twenty out IMMEDIATELY!! So those of you who are aching to make those black felted bags, hang in there. We should have the Manos by the end of the week.

Also a new addition to the WoolWinders family is here. Lew felt the need last week to have someone here who wouldn't give him any back talk, so he bought a mannequin on EBay. She arrived today and we will have her set up tomorrow or Wednesday. But she will need a name. So we have a glass bowl set up on the table. Name our mannequin. If your name is chosen by our staff, you will receive a $20 gift certificate!

We have to congratulate Joy on getting aboard the Poncho train early. She actually made this for her sister LAST year. We referred to her sister as "Poncho" because at the time it was a pretty unique project. And Joy was nice enough to bring in this picture for the website yesterday. How cool is that?

We love when Walter the UPS Guy brings us things we just weren't expecting. Today he staggered in with a HUGE box from Prism yarn containing fabulous scarf/shawl kits. Laura Bryant, who owns Prism, puts these kits together herself. And just to show how creative and fair-minded she is, some of the yarns aren't even from her company! She includes Trendsetter and Muench yarns as well. The colorways are, of course, exquisite. The kits will retail for $115.99. An extraordinary gift for the knitter in your life; including yourself!!!

And from the lovely folks at Lantern Moon-those wonderful baskets you all use for shopping and then storing your stash; in addition we received gorgeous double pointed rosewood needles in sizes1-7. Finally, we are expecting the very cute Sheep tape measurers tomorrow.

Walter just returned quite out of breath with a box from Denise Interchangeable Needles as well as from Bryson. So by this evening we will be fully restocked with all those notions and needle kits you love and need.

Our friends Margo and Andrew were nice enough to forward this picture of Nels and Colin in their Mission Falls sweaters. How cute are they?

We are starting a new community feature today. We invite members of the WoolWinders community to write a review of a knitting book they have purchased at WoolWinders. We will publish the review on our blog and give the reviewer 15% off their next book purchase at our store as our way of saying thank you. Your book review should be emailed to Jacqui at jacqui@woolwinders.com

Our initial book review is by Karen Richardson:

KNIT IT NOW!
Author: Julie Montinari
Price: $34.95

Ever fall in love with a yarn and then wonder what to knit with it? Wondering what to do with all of the yarn in your stash? Julie Montanari's book, Knit It Now! Turn Great Yarns into Great Sweaters is a great resource book for using your favorite yarns to make beautiful shells, sweaters, vests, scarves, and shawls. In addition to the 23 projects in the book, the author provides extensive background information to help you create a unique sweater or top that highlights the features of the yarns used, as well as patterns and techniques to ensure a successful knitting adventure resulting in a sweater that fits (there is a great section on gauge and measuring). For beginners making their first shell or sweater to advanced knitters, each chapter provides step by step instructions and features a set of stitches to use with various types of yarns. For example, the Star Stitch pattern in the Reach for the Stars is a wonderful stitch for highlighting the beauty of ribbon yarns. This is a book that you will come back to time and time again whenever you find a beautiful yarn or want to knit up some of the yarn in your stash.

Need a new knitting bag or accessory case to carry all your gear? Look no further than Susan Todd designs.

These beautifully crafted bags are stitched in gorgeous fibers, come with secure linings, and and are as indestructible as they are lovely. And we just received a brand new shipment! Come see these before they get snatched up as quickly as the last batch!

WoolWinders got into the holiday spirit last night with our Third Annual Last Minute Gift class. Participants partook of wine and cheese, checked out our samples, and received over fifteen patterns for hats, scarves, bags, ornaments, ponchos and wine wraps that can be created in less than two days. Staff members Kim, Karen, and Jacqui helped clarify techniques such as knitting in the round, working on double points, making fringe, and knitting i cords!

Lew also was kind enough to load these pictures for today's blog. Check out Lynne in her Fuego mohair sweater. Hard to believe she took up knitting in February, huh?

Genie was so proud of this Mission Falls 1824 Cotton sweater that she brought it along to the Last Minute Gifts class for us to see:

And we got this little beauty to show off the poncho her mom made her from Muench Tessin:

Finally, friend and neighbor Jane shows off this gorgeous Colinette Poncho. We just received new stock of these fabulous kits. They can be knit in about a week, so think about this for a last minute gift!

For fabulous books. Just in today Vivian Hoxbro's new SHADOW KNITTING! Have fun learning this intriguing (and not difficult) way of using color.

And we also received Laura Bryant's THE ULTIMATE KNITTED TEE, which uses many of her gorgeous Prism yarns that seem to be flying out of here (don't worry, we have already reordered all the "stuff").

And back by popular demand, Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch, which contains not only wonderful patterns, but excellent instruction on knitting basics.

Finally, we were fortunate to receive the 2005 Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar. These are hard to come by; thanks to our friend Amelia at Unicorn books for shipping them so promptly!

Thanks to Adrian for our clever blog title. We are pooped from receiving, labeling, and shelving our......NEEDLES!!!! Yes, that's right. We received much aniticipated boxes from Skacel and Crystal Palace today. So we are pretty well stocked with needles in all sizes and shapes. More are expected, but at least we can get through the next couple of class projects!

And to top it off, Skacel always includes some holiday chocolates with their shipments this time of year. Is it any wonder we love them?

Feeling the pressure of delivering hand knit gifts in time for the holidays? Join us tomorrow night, Tuesday December 7 from 6-8 PM for the Third Annual Last Minute Gift Class! Here's how it works. For a cost of $15.00 we will have samples of over fifteen gifts that that can be knit in two days or less along with patterns. Pick as many as you want! We will provide some instruction (the basics like knitting in the round and i-cords) and you will receive 10% off all materials.

Join us for the chaos and creativity of last minute gifts. You will even have them done by the end of Chanuka! Just give Jacqui a call at the store to tell her you will be there. You can pay at the class.

Our Winter Newsletter is now accessible through our website. Just click on the toggle on the left side of our home page in the Newsletter section. But you know what? You can get the newsletter in your very own email DAYS ahead of when we post it on the site. How? Just register on the bottom left side of the home page. This is a simple three part process. First, enter your email address on the home page. Then on the next screen, re-enter your email address and give us your zip code. Then (and don't miss this final step!) wait for an email from us and respond to it. This will keep your email address private and allow our newsletter to get through to your email address. Don't you just love the privacy laws? Lew the lawyer does!

Our customers and staff have been as busy as elves getting ready for the holidays! And we are always so thrilled when they show off their fabulous works!

Scarves and hats are incrediby popular (and quick!)

Hard to believe that Christina has only been knitting since the summer! Check out this Rowan beauty!

Our very own Adrian made this fabulous felted purse out of Noro Kureyon:

And we hope that our pal Charlotte isn't reading our site too often or she will find out about the Pop Top Glittens that we made her for Christmas:

More scarves on display:

And finally, many of you have seen Lew working on this fabulous sweater for one of his law partners, John. (There is quite a story about this, but the blog is not the place to go into details!) Isn't the finished project magnificent?

Well, we thought we had ordered enough of these perpetual calendars back in September. Boy were we wrong!!!! By last Saturday, our stock was wiped out. But the lovely folks at Martingale were well stocked and shipped us 20 copies on Monday. Walter the UPS Guy brought them in today!

These make terrific gifts. You can literally learn 365 new stitches, and because the calendar is perpetual, there isn't any pressure to do these in any timely fashion. How fun!

Walter the UPS Guy is batting a thousand this week! First Prism, and now restocks of our favorite Manos and Colinette yarns! We are now fully stocked with variegated Manos colors as well as solids. And for those itching to knit kits for gifts, we have wonderful colors of the AbFab and Vintage Colinette Kits. Also plenty of Zanziba (ask to see the world's easiest sweater!) and Isis. Plenty of gift ideas here!