From our friends at KNITTING FEVER and ROWAN, much needed yarns to fill the empty bins! We are now stocked with BLACK CASHMERINO ARAN, BLACK BIG WOOL, and sold out colors of the very popular CASHSOFT DK. Wow! Have you all scooped up these terrific yarns! So let the baby blankets, cozy hats, and sweaters commence once again. And just in time for the holidays.

Speaking of holidays, thanks to our wonderful staff we have extended our shopping hours last minute purchasers before Christmas and Chanukah. From Monday, December 19- Friday, December 23, we will be open every day from 11 AM- 8 PM!!!!

The rest of our beautiful KOIGU order arrived today. If you have not worked with this amazing yarn, come in and see the array of colorways we have. The yarn, a machine wash/dry sport weight merino, is hand-dyed in extraordinary palettes. It is PERFECT for socks, scarves, shawls, and even sweaters if you are, like we are, small needle knitters!

And we are also restocked with the valuable KNITTERS COMPANION. If you are looking for a gift for the new knitter in your life, this is an indispensable reference guide. Nearly every question you will ever have about a technique is answered here.

Finally! It is 24 degrees out and gorgeous!!! We have sunshine, we have calm winds, and we have a store filled at WoolWinders! We have Holly 103 on the XM Radio, we have homemade brownies (made at the home of SAFEWAY), we have smiling faces on Martha, Lynne, Lew and Jacqui; we have Winter Class Schedules, and we have shelves, bins and spinarounds bursting with yarns, patterns, books, and notions! So come by, have a brownie or two (because who among us really ate enough yesterday?), and shop till you drop. It is PERFECT knitting weather!

We are delighted that John the UPS Guy walked in today with our reorders of several popular Elsebeth Lavold pattern books: TAKE FIVE COLLECTION, VIKING KNITS COLLECTION, MELLOW TONE COLLECTION, and SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY COLLECTION. If you are not familiar with her patterns, you are in for a treat. Her designs feature exquisite cables and textured stitch work, and are beautifully written. Up for a cold weather challenge? Settle in with one of her Celtic cable designs in a soft and cozy wool. Ummmmmm.

And we had ANNIE MODESITT back for a THIRD visit yesterday. Annie continues to amaze and dazzle us with her wit, creativity, and quite frankly her plain talk. She made LACE KNITTING as simple as a knit and purl! Students left with yarn and patterns in hand and we expect to see gorgeous finished results before too long!

We will blog again on Friday. In the mean time, have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. We are off to New Jersey for the holiday; one of the unexpected perks of marrying a terrific man-he has a great family! How lucky are we?

We kept the secret beautifully, didn't we? Annie will be back to teach a class on LACE KNITTING in her own inimitable style on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20 from 9AM-12 NOON. Why did we wait to long to tell you? Well, because we actully filled all the slots when she was here last time. But because it is the weekend before THANKSGIVING, people's schedules are bound to change. So we now have TWO, that's right, 2 spaces available. Interested?Give us a call at 240.632.9276. The cost is $35 and you will have the time of your life with Annie!!!

The Winter Class Schedule is finished and is in the shop. We have sent the electronic copy to our webmistress, so look for that on the site within the week. But our classes fill QUICKLY, so if you are eager to learn anything from beginning knitting to felting clogs, come on in and grab a copy! New classes include: TOOL TIME, an introduction to knitting and crochet notions and needles, A FELTING SERIES to make BAGS, CLOGS, MITTENS, and TOYS; SOMETHING FOR ME, which helps you create a beautiful top no matter what your size, and ADVANCED BEGINNERS, for those scarf knitters who want to move on!!! We have also added a new section of the popular SAFARI class, this time on Friday mornings from 9-11. And old favorites abound. SOCKS, BEGINNING CROCHET, ARAN KNITTING, FINISHING TECHNIQUES....it's all here!

We are so appreciative of everyone coming in for their holiday projects! Want to make your knitting life a bit easier with all those gorgeous hand-dyed hanks you've accumulated? We are now stocked with Crystal Palace SWIFTS and WINDERS which will make those winding chores FUN!!!We'll even give you a demo on how they work!

And so is Lew, who rose early this morning to load all our pictures!
As we promised, we'll first show off the fun we had knitting for the kids affected by Hurricane Katrina. We had a full table (and sofa) and lots of fun!

Even family members pitched in! Martha's daughter Glenda drove from Waldorf to join us, and she finished first. Here she proudly displays her knit pig:

And her other daughter Jennifer was second, displaying her bunnies:

We also had lots of finished objects on film. Our Snowman Hat class is filled, and you can see why:

While Susan stopped by with son Sean to proudly show off his Cashmerino Chunky sweater:

And here is a true "JEN'S PONCHO" from the Knit Stitch book, modeled by Jen, Martha's daughter! How beautiful is it in the Clara Barton colorway of Schaefer Yarns Esperanza???

And another Susan models her sweater knit by mom Judy, who sits behind her at the table:

While the first Susan (get it?) shows off the sweater she made herself from Esperanza:

Shy Laura displays her lengthwise scarf knit from TURMALIN, only doing so if we agreed not to photogragh her in her workout clothes:

And finally, this is why we have fallen in love with BLUE HERON Bulky Chenille. A picture IS worth a thousand words.

And a final note. Catch the December issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC if you can! Knitting HAS gone global, and the article begins "Meet Lew Rose." How cool is that? Many thanks to Lynne, who wrote the article and provided the gorgeous yarns for the photo.

Searching for truly special holiday gifts? We are now restocked with LANTERN MOON NEEDLES in sizes 5-19. We call these needles the FIRST CLASS of needles; once you use them, any other needle seems like flying Coach. Yes, they are pricey. But aren't you worth it?

And we had another great evening of TOY KNITTING last night. So great, in fact, that we have decided to extend the activity through mid-December. So come join us on THURSDAYS from 6-8 PM as we knit toys for the kids affected by Hurricane Katrina. We are having a ball doing this, and it's not just the wine and cheese.

All you Anglophiles as well as those who just appreciate a very special wool, take note. We have received four new colors of the immensely delicious (and popular) PATRICIA ROBERTS LAMBSWOOL! We have already sold out of her turquoise; now come check out the PALE PINK, LILAC, BROWN, and OLIVE. What drew us to this yarn was not only the beautiful hand of it, but the clarity of colors. We like her palette so much that we have already put in an order for 4 PLY and DK WEIGHT FINE COTTON for this spring. And we are so proud to be one of the very few stores carrying this amazing line. Thanks again, Patricia!