Two years ago it was just the two of us. In 2003, we had 3 other couples join us.Last night we kicked off the start of the 2004 holiday season by getting almost all of our staff together for an extraordinarily festive dinner at Teatro Goldoni's on K Street in Washington DC. We feel so lucky. Not only are they very talented knitters, they are good people. And funny too!

We were fortunate to host a trunk show for Kollage Yarns today and had so much fun doing so because of the fabulous energy and creative talent of Susan Moraca. Susan and her husband Mark drove up from Kollage's headquarters in Alabama with all of their yarns and put on quite a show for an overflow crowd at WoolWinders!

Here is a picture of Susan modeling an absolutely fabulous sweater shaped as a poncho in glorious Kollage yarns. (Yes, we have the patterns available at the store).

As you can see, we had a huge crowd for the class Susan taught about how to work with multi-strand yarns:

Our very own Lynn even got involved:

Overall, it was one of the most high energy, fun days since we've been open. Kollage's yarns are beautiful and fun, just like Susan and Mark!

OK, guilt works. The staff that abandoned us brought wonderful gifts from the show, so we can't stay mad at them AT ALL. We love reports from knitting shows; they fuel our desire to bring you the best and most gorgeous yarns, patterns and accessories. So here goes. We loved the comfort cuffs Lynne brought us; this creative item eases the pain of knitting-weary wrists. You just heat them in the microwave, slip them on, and relief is on the way! We are wearing them as we blog!) Ditto the clever way someone used a plumber' pipe to hold double pointed needle projects. We promise to track these items down!

Brooks displayed fabulous signed editions of Stitch n Bitch and Unexpected Knitting; he also brought us lovely note pads that read "Knitting....Not a Sickness, a Life Style." Eloquently put.

And Lynne brought samples of Himalayan Yarn's Recycled Silk, a must-have for Spring. We will be ordering this fabulous and unusual yarn around the end of the year!

Adrian found fabulous kits and patterns that we are now perusing. Kits bring up an interesting issue: if you are interested in our carrying sweater kits, please email us at the end of this blog! We haven't done so as yet, but would be curious as to the level of interest.

We expect to hear from Pat and Kim tomorrow and will of course give you their reviews!

Just received word from the Kollage folks that they have to cancel this Sunday's class and trunk show due to Hurricane Ivan. Susan and Mark live in Birmingham, Alabama and have been without power for several days and cannot leave at this time. We will reschedule the event, and apologize for the inconvenience.