As you can imagine, we are over the moon about CHERYL SCHAEFER’S visit this Sunday. The program is full; if you have signed up, please bring an assortment of needles (sizes 3-11) so that you can play with whatever yarn Cheryl brings! It ought to be a lot of fun!

Also, we know that some of you were waiting for the wonderful NASHUA #4 PATTERN BOOK, which blew out of here in about a week. We have 10 more in stock.

Mom Carin sent us this lovely photo. Guess who taught her to knit recently? MARIETTA, who was due at just about the same time. The blanket covering baby LEIA is made from one of our favorites, BLUE SKY ORGANIC COTTON, and we just couldn’t resist making a matching hat before sending the blocked blanket on to mom and dad JASON (who works with Lew)…….We imagine that Leia will be accompanying mom back to work at HITCHED, a fabulous bridal experience in Georgetown.

And maybe Carin will consider one of the fabulous HILARY TAYLOR KNITTING BAGS that can double as a baby bag! We sold out the first batch so quickly (less than a week) that Hilary had to bring more up to the shop. Check these out. Washable, zippered, pocketed….with matching accessory and project bags. Mother’s Day gifts, anyone?

OK, our patience had worn a bit thin and we are sure our voice reflected it when we spoke with the distributors of ROWAN on a daily basis last week. But we understood their frustration as well—the problem was in England and they were waiting for all the CASHSOFT as well. We are delighted to announce that we FINALLY have plenty of baby yellow and ivory CASHSOFT DK and two bags of CASHSOFT ARAN in the elusive DENIM colorway as well.

And we also have the ROWAN CALMER COLLECTION back in stock. These lovely patterns support a yarn we have gotten to know quite well, CALMER. How do we know this yarn so well? From working on a traveling leaf lace shell that does not permit markers. We can attest to the fact that this yarn preserves its shape, luster, texture, and memory even when ripped back four times!!!! A great washable yarn for the spring!

And also back in stock, more KNITTING and ACCESSORY BAGS from Hilary Taylor. Her order brought in last week is gone. We have more TOILE and NEON BRIGHT washable knitting totes. Come and get ‘em!

But Marietta was otherwise occupied this weekend. Presenting MAXIMILIAN, born Friday, March 23 in the afternoon. Mother, father, and baby are doing great!

We have three spots remaining for this week’s program. Join us as we venture through THREE AFGHAN PATTERNS, two lace and one created from big boxes. The best part? After you learn the stitch patterns, we will spend our time doing “knitting math” and you will discover how you can use ANY yarn for any one of these!!! Trust us, you will feel like a math genius after this session. You will know how much yarn to buy, how many stitches to cast on, etc. Won’t you feel empowered?

You should bring a skein or two of practice yarn, any gauge, and corresponding needles. If you have markers, bring those as well. And if you have purchased yarn (from us) for a blanket yet unmade, bring that and we will help you figure it all out!

Just call and let us know you would like to participate. The program is free, but we want to make sure everyone has a place to sit!

We just got the call from the wonderful JANIS, Marietta’s mom, who took time out to let us know that Baby Maximilian has arrived! 7 lbs/15 oz of pure baby beauty! Pictures will follow (Steve was under strict instructions to email us some) and we will keep you posted. But Mom MARIETTA, dad STEVE, and baby MAXIMILIAN are all doing well.

Lots of boxes today! We are fully stocked with the DENISE INTERCHANGEABLE NEEDLES (the pinks this time, and $5.00 from each set goes to Breast Cancer research!), and SKACEL NEEDLES (though some sizes were back ordered). In addition, we received a beautiful new rose color of ROWAN DAMASK (and we can attest to the fabulousness of this yarn!) and new pink color of ROWAN BAMBOO. And just in time for spring sock classes, Charlene Schurch’s new book MORE SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS.

But the thing we are most excited about? We have been on the quest for a really great knitting bag for more than a year. Through one of our lovely customers Teresa, we hooked up with HILARY TAYLOR who makes gorgeous WASHABLE bags!!! Interior pockets, lovely fabrics (including TOILE and we are a sucker for TOILE), and generous sizing. So we bought three colors of bags, along with small accessory bags and medium size project bags. Come check them out! We will put a picture of them on the web tonight, but if you are near the store today, swing by!

Yes, we know that it is the first day of spring! The newsletter is ALMOST ready and will be in final form by the weekend. So if you haven’t signed up on the website to receive it in your email, please do so! Just go to the lower left side of this page, fill in your email address, and then follow the prompts. You will be taken to a second screen asking you to retype your email address. After doing that, you will receive an email from us confirming that you want to be on our list. This is to ensure that we don’t end up in your spam filter!

The newsletter is chock full of goodies including a free pattern for a reversible lace shawl, an announcement about Cheryl Schaefer’s impending visit here, and a listing of everything that is new at the shop since the last newsletter. Check it out for the latest WoolWinders news!

We were delighted to learn last week that EUNNY JANG was named the new editor of INTERWEAVE KNITS. In addition to being impossibly talented and young, Eunny is LOCAL and a frequent shopper at WoolWinders. Her website, www.eunnyknits.com, is one of our regulars. So when she came in yesterday, we couldn’t resist asking her to pose for a picture (after congratulating her, of course). We have never been subtle regarding fame and celebrities, just ask Michael Jordan……

As promised, photos of the new goodies at the shop! First up, the lovely ROWAN DAMASK, which seems to be disappearing off the shelves. We are working with this viscose/linen/acrylic blend and can vouch for its personality:

And our beautiful AFGHAN KITS from Wool in the Woods are always popular. Why? Because they are priced well ($109.99) and make up unbelievably quickly by holding three strands of yarn together on a size 17 needle. We find these to be “must haves” for beach or summer homes:

And we consider this a goodie! Check out Charessa in her MOSAIC HAT! We had a blast during the SUNDAY IN THE SALON and she did as well!