A lot came out of our meeting with Knitting Fever (the distributor of Debbie Bliss and Noro yarns) last week, but most of it will be introduced in the spring line. However, we did order restocks of all the colors of CASHMERINO ARAN and BABY CASHMERINO that we needed, and our pal Jay came through QUICKLY! Our shelves will be glistening by tomorrow, when we have priced and stacked it all. But we feel safe in saying that we have a full array of colors in two of the most popular yarns in the store. And just in time for machine-washable holiday gifts!

OK, we have a real dilemma at the shop and we hope our wonderful customers can help us out. Silk seems to be really big for next spring (yes, we have already met with vendors!) but we have had trouble with this luscious fiber in the past. While it looks great, several of us have found it difficult to knit, and as we wear it it grows considerably.

We have a lovely skein of a new silk yarn at the shop and we have left it mid-swatch on the needles. Want to come in and give it a few rows try? Please do. We need some other opinions. Help us find out if silk is as good as it appears, or if it is, instead, like that really cute guy you have worshipped from afar, yet when you finally get to know him it turns out he is dull as dishwater and has bad breath.

Want to know the perfect combination? A beautiful yarn, nice producers and a local regional presence. This is BLUE HERON YARNS from our own EASTERN SHORE of MARYLAND. The nice folks there produce and dye exquisite colorways of unique fibers. We have always been struck by the creativity and clarity of the colorways, and today we were visited by the owner, DAMIEN.

He had "cash and carry" with him, so we cashed and carried....we are now stocked with the most luxurious "ELEPHANT CHENILLE" in six colorways. Think a hand-dyed, bulky knit, extra-cozy scarf. Think about the dead of winter when if you have to put on one more black item of clothing you will scream. This is the PERFECT accessory. We also have the chenille in a lighter weight. And we have a few skeins left of their lovely BEADED RAYON; come see the model we knit up holding it with KIDSILK HAZE. Gorgeous.
And we will be getting more yarns in-stay tuned.

Want to knit the perfect sweater for the (finally) cool weather? Our MANGO MOON SWEATER KITS flew out of here and now we have six more. And we have a model so you can see the finished result. These kits are unique because of two factors: one, they contain 13 patterns (12 sweaters and a throw) and two, each is unique because of the kid mohair within. The sweaters are created by holding two strands of yarn together, RECYCLED HIMALAYAN SILK and KID MOHAIR. While the color of the silk is pretty uniform, the mohair colors range from white to black, with blues and olives, even oranges in between. No two sweaters (or throws) will look the same! And they are reasonably priced at $169.99!

And to top it all off, the kits are a quick knit, done on needle sizes 10-11. We are staring at our cardigan as we write this, thinking we will wear it today in lieu of a jacket!

our Fall Yarn Tasting was a big hit! We prepared three "courses" and a "palate cleanser" for the eight participants who arrived to a table that looked like this:

And everyone got to play with a lot of yarn from the "Yarnyard." The biggest hit? The Lobster Pot and Joseph GallerCashmeres. The "desserts" of Great Adirondack, Colinette, and Prism also brought forth oohs and aahs. And none of it was fattening!

And a couple of our friends stopped by last week to show off their beautiful finished projects:

Gale was incredibly productive in our KNITTING SAFARIS, making a goregous tan cable sweater as well as an Aran Shawl. Can she cable or what?
:

While our very own Adrian models her Noro/Debbie Bliss sweater:

Today's blog is dedicated to the men we love. First up, Stephanie's adorable husband who is truly worthy of the gorgeous things she knits for him in Noro and Debbie Bliss:

And yes, Lew DID finish his amazing Joseph Galler Pashmina Cashmere vest. If the store owner doesn't deserve cashmere, who does?

Lew made these great booties for another lawyer friend's new little boy:

And no, Bono doesn't knit, at least as far as we know. But many of you are aware of Lew's love of mosh pits and this is his most recent example. He was about four feet away from the man himself at this week's concert at MCI arena. And we ask you, how many knitting sites have Bono in their Blog?

We love the KNITTING BAGS and NEEDLE ACCESSORIES from ELLEN ORIGINALS. Her tapestry patterns are lovely, and the bags can withstand a lot; we spilled a bottle of shampoo in one once and the bag survived without staining! So we are fully stocked with WALK AWAY TOTES (a tote and stand in one); KNITTING TOTES, CIRCULAR NEEDLE CASES and STRAIGHT NEEDLE CASES. You can create a set with the same pattern, or mix and match them! A great gift for the knitter in your life. Even you.

Want a fabulous, affordable, quick-knit project? Wool in the Woods AMERICANA THROWS are back in stock! Holding several strands of hand-dyed yarn together on a SIZE 17 NEEDLE, these gorgeous afghans knit up in the blink of an eye. And for less than $100!

These never last long in the store. We have one in NATURAL and three in muted tones selected by MISSY BURNS, the genius behind Wool in the Woods, herself!

How often do you see a trunk show devoted to SOCKS? Well, we have a spectacular one. The samples are from our favorite new sock book, SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS, which has received a "Four Thumbs Up" from our two sock teachers! Why? Because in addition to being really cute, the patterns are written three ways: for five dps, four dps, and 2 circular needles.

The trunk show will be here through Halloween (BOO!) Thank you Charlene Schurch for being so creative!

What better to brighten our eighth day of rain than the sight of John the UPS Guy bringing us a box of PRISM yarn! We were delighted. Inside? LIGHT STUFF in the PEARL colorway; perfect for a holiday shell, wrap or Tee, and two new colors of the wondrous KIDSLIQUE mohair/rayon yarn: SENEGAL and SPICE. We have already pondered the possibilities including a lengthwise shawl of COLINETTE GIOTTO in DUSK alternated with KIDSLIQUE SENEGAL.

Sunshine tomorrow, so the weather people say. Yay!