Varda Fink, one of our customers and friends, knit this beautiful sweater in Noro Blossom. She brightens up our store every time she wears it! The yarn is highly textured and is dyed to create those beautiful stripes of color within each skein. (Go ahead and click on the picture for more detail).

Varda tells us that this was one of her favorite sweaters to knit: fast, elegant, and easy. Could you ask for anything more?

We were delighted today when Scott the UPS Guy delivered a box of notions from our distributor! We are now fully stocked with the necessary gear for knitting: markers, tapestry needles, stitch holders and the like. And as happy as we were to get that box, we were happier with the follow up call that let us know that yes, NEEDLES MAY BE ON THE WAY!!! So stay tuned.

We also restocked some colors of Rowan Plaid. Next week should bring major goodies because all our vendors are back from the January trade show in California. Keep reading our Blogs to see what is new at WoolWinders: A Knitting Salon.

Thursday was a day of mixed emotions at WoolWinders. We were elated to open our boxes from Scott the UPS Guy; every color of Berroco Sizzle was enclosed! This fun fur yarn is a quick knit on size 10 needles and one skein makes a scarf! Adrian took a skein with her on her much deserved vacation, but even before then we sold eight skeins! We also received our reorder of Blue Sky Alpaca both in bulky and sport weight. If you have never knit with this extraordinary yarn, now is the perfect time to do so. Alpaca is simply luxurious. Soft, easy to work with, and looks beautiful in either simple or complicated stitch patterns. As a bonus, Blue Sky is one of our favorite vendors. Linda Neimeyer, the owner, is a dynamo of a woman and her company, in Minnesota, is responsive, creative, and successful. We applaud her at every turn, and feel privileged to carry her line. Check out the pattern support for the yarn as well.

After the excitement of the new yarn wore off, we realized we were facing the emotional task of saying goodbye to a wonderful friend. Terry Gregorio, who was literally one of our first customers in the door, became a good customer, then a good friend, then a great teacher. Terry taught our finishing classes with wit, pragmatism, and expertise. Yesterday marked her last day in the Rockville area; she and her husband are retiring to North Carolina. So we celebrated this event in her life with a special Stitch n' Bitch last night. The wine flowed, champagne was poured, toasts were made. We promised never to bind off our shoulders, committing to the three needle bind-off that Terry loved and taught us all so well. We will miss her.

Albert Camus once wrote "In the midst of winter I found within myself an invincible summer." We felt that way today when we received our spring/summer yarns from Skacel. As cozy as we were all feeling in our wool sweaters and hand knit socks (yes, we all had our boots off!), we sighed at the cottons and linens that came in, and oohed and aahed over the beautiful shell patterns. Spring cannot be far behind!

We are now stocked with Skacel's fabulous novelty yarn, Fiori, in four colors (although only two are available on our website - we also have2023 and 2962 in stock but not featured), and restocked great sellers from last year: Can Can and Portofino Paper, two 3.5 inch cottons in bright fun colors. We carry their new DK cotton/linen blend, Incanto, which comes in rich hues featuring blues, rusts, and golds; as well as Fortissima Cotton Colori, their COTTON sock yarn in terrific brights. The sock yarn is perfect for those who don't want wool against their feet.

And we also have lovely patterns for short sleeve sweaters and tanks. All in all, today's shipments had us looking through the ice for daffodils!

Because of the 6+ inches of snow we received last night and reports of icy road conditions due to worsen throughout the day, we will be closed today. Please be careful if you need to go out. Given our level of business over the weekend, we believe that many of our customers prepared for this and will be content to stay home and work up their beautiful projects. We will be finishing a jacket made from Manos ourselves!

We will reopen Wednesday at 10 AM undoubtedly to receive lots of goodies from Scott the UPS Guy! Stay tuned. And take care.

This weekend we were treated to a spectacular array of garments knit to ward off the bone-chilling temperatures. One of our favorites was this pair of gloves (click on the gloves to enlarge) made by our pal Sandy Davis. A relatively new (yet fearless) knitter, Sandy jumped into the fray to make sure she was properly outfitted. The gloves are from a great pattern by Cherry Tree Hill and are made with sock yarn. We have had so much fun using yarn that creates its own patterns, whether Fair Isle, Jacquard, or space dyed. The great thing about the pattern (we have sold over 30!) is that the gloves are knit on two needles; you sew the fingers down as you go. Once you get the hang of it, you can make a pair in less than four hours. OK, we have made nine as gifts, so maybe we are a BIT flippant. But they are a tremendous amount of fun. We have samples knit with fur or ribbon cuffs as well. You will want more than one pair.

We are expecting snow tonight, so were pleased that many people came in this weekend to prepare for a possibility of being house-bound. We take such pleasure in imagining our wonderful customers at home with a cozy fire, hot chocolate (OK, wine), and their favorite project in hand. Enjoy.

The weather has reached new lows...6 degrees with below zero wind chill. Many hats are being worn in and some fabulous pictures have resulted; we will be posting them soon. We love those smiles of accomplishment that accompany the garb! And some gorgeous turtleneck sweaters are being shown off. We have reordered several colors of Rowan Big Wool to see us through this snap.

This is what we love about being knitters; we can adjust to any weather changes. Winter brings toasty socks, gloves, scarves and hats; spring and summer get us into a shell/cotton mindset. We can shift projects as easily as that!

So keep those fingers, toes, and heads toasty!

We escaped the brutal weather by taking a long weekend in Puerto Rico. Our terrific staff literally minded the store and gave us a brief break from the world of retail. But we were not far from yarn; our favorite day was spent accompanying Lew while he golfed; a golf cart is the perfect knitting vehicle! Got a lot done over 18 holes!

We returned to MANY deliveries from Scott the UPS Guy. Worked feverishly beginning at 7 AM today to get them into inventory and onto the shelves. We are now stocked with Skacel needles, Baby Ull in tons of colors, Plume FX in multis and, yes, BLACK; Fortissima Colori sock yarn that does this fabulous self-Fair Isle thing. And we have several new and popular books, including Stitch and Bitch, Vogue On the Go Socks, Vogue Quick Knits, Knitting New Classics, and Beautiful Classics (featuring patterns by Classic Elite), Weekend Crafts: Knitting for Beginners (which has terrific, stylish, and EASY patterns). We also received but have not yet shelved Tahki Cotton Classic and Tweedy Cotton Classic; we expect to have that available tomorrow. If you have never knit with CC, do so for any number of DK or Worsted Weight spring/summer tops. It holds its shape and color beautifully and is fully machine washable/dryable. I have several that I made over a five year period and have yet to see any stretching or pilling.

A few things were backordered that we dearly need including Isis and Colinette Kits. We expect these in next week and really appreciate our customers' patience.

Stay tuned for more deliveries! We are expecting our Spring yarns from Rowan, Noro, Knitting Fever, Debbie Bliss, Berroco, and Colinette to come in any day!

Needles seem to have flown from our shelves over the past few weeks. We know that our supply is low; the problem is that our distributors are out of stock as well. We have had pending orders in since before New Year's with our four major distributors of Skacel, Pony Pearls, Clover, and Crystal Palace. Although we are getting boxes daily from Scott the UPS Guy, many needles are continually backordered. If someone has in their possession a bundle of size 15s, a fortune could be made by creating a Black Market outside our door! Seriously, we appreciate your patience. We received an order of Ponys yesterday and are pretty well stocked with DPs which creative knitters use as straights by putting rubber bands on the ends! We apologize a thousand fold for the low supply and promise to Blog when all the sizes come in.

Last night the store was packed despite the single digit weather. We saw some GREAT hats including the funky tassled one from Hip to Knit. Check out the book; the hat looks great, is a wonderful project for beginning knitters who want to learn to cable, and is done with super bulky yarn so it goes quickly. Remember that the cold escapes through the top of your head, so bundle up with a nice hat and scarf and stay warm.

The forecast calls for snow tonight which leads knitters in panic-driven droves to our shop. Forget stocking up on milk, bread and toilet paper; the only thing one REALLY needs with the prospect of a storm is a project or two! Thus we were jammed today and the scarf, throw, and bulky sweater yarn flew off our shelves.

Good thing that Scott the UPS Guy arrived mid afternoon with reinforcements! We are now fully stocked with Encore, a terrific worsted weight machine wash/dry yarn perfect for throws and children's garments; Manos, a beautiful kettle-dyed wool from Uruguay, and Windsong, a hand-dyed ladder yarn from Cherry Tree Hill. He also bought refills of Chatterbox, Domino, and Cashmerino Aran, and Denim Chunky. Our shelves are beginning to look alive.

And finally, we are sniffing Spring in the air. We met with Euro Yarns this morning to order next season's yarns from Reggia, Schachenmeyer, and On-Line. Colors are vibrant and bright, weights range from DK to chunky. We are thinking mock turtle shells to wear with swaying summer skirts!

Knitting, like any other hobby, requires really cool gear. Today we restocked a beautiful line of knitting bags, needle holders, accessory cases, and stand up totes: Ellen Originals. We first saw these at a knitting show several years ago (and still have the one we bought then-it looks brand new) and had to have them at the store. All are done in beautiful tapestry designs: shoes, mosaics, stripes, pineapple and the like, and all are indestructible largely due to a strong secure lining. Lew will be putting these up on the site over the next few days, but if you want more details, call Jacqui at the store. She will be happy to describe sizes, shapes, and designs so that you can get the perfect gear for your craft!

We woke up to 8 degree weather this morning, so the super bulky yarns were looking good even with hot flashes and night sweats! We are currently deciding between Rowan Big Wool, Jaeger Natural Fleece and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Super Chunky for a quick weekend project! And we were grateful to have mastered sock knitting; the fortissma socka and Cherry Tree Hill sock yarns are perfect for keeping our toes warm. As an added benefit, the yarns make yummy gloves and mittens as well. So bundle up into the warmest knits, make yourself a cup of tea, and knit to your heart's content!

And note: We are now fully stocked with the elusive size 10.5 needles!

The weather continues to put us in a Felting spirit and we were thrilled today when Scott the UPS Guy arrived with fresh copies of Felted Knits, a book filled with patterns for felted mittens, bags, hats and the like. Along with the book came Hip to Knit, Knitters Companion, and Compendium of Finishing Techniques. All of these are perfect for all levels of knitters including absolute beginners.

And because we are eternal optimists, we think ahead to Spring as well with the arrival of Dale of Norway Svale in more than 15 colors. This gorgeous rayon/cotton/silk mix was one of our favorites last year; we made two sweaters including our first Dale lace shell done in the round. If you are planning a tropical getaway this winter, this is the perfect yarn for you!

We woke up to 20 degree weather today, leading everyone to seek warmth through Felting. Thankfully, our shipment of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted arrived. This fabulous felting yarn has the right mix of mohair and wool to create the best hats, bags, mittens, etc. We have a full range of colors in stock including white, green, orange, periwinkle, black, and grey.

We also got the Knit Stitch book by Sally Melville; destined to become a classic. For those afraid to purl, or those who want fantastic yet easy designs (the Einstein Jacket hangs in our window), this is the perfect book.

Also back in stock, limited supplies of BIG needles from Pony Pearls; they sent us their LAST 17s and 19s. Hurry in.

Eyelash yarns are incredibly popular. Our customers went through our stock like Sherman through Atlanta, so today we were thrilled to receive new yarns from Berroco. We are now stocked with eight new colors of Plume FX: White Dove, Honeysuckle, Soft Grey, Cafe Latte, Flamingo, Soft Pink, Soft Blue, Soft Lilac, and Raven. As we were unpacking, four skeins of Raven were sold! So we have already reordered the ever popular standards. Mix these with Eros, Mosaic FX, Spice, or your favorite yarn for a fabulous look!

We would love to hear from you. Please click on reply to post a comment.

As you can see, we have launched a new look and feel for our website. Our goal is to make it easier for for us to communicate with you and for you to communicate with us. so we have changed part of the site over to a "web log" format using Movable Type software. This will allow you to post comments when we post news so that the WoolWinders community can speak not only to us but to each other.

We have also implemented a new shopping cart for our online store. You can visit our online store and buy yarn, needles, accessories and almost everything we sell in our brick and mortar store by clicking on the link to the "Store" at the top of this page. We are busy adding more products to the online store each day so please remember that only a small part of our inventory is available to buy online. Until we catch up, we will list new arrivals each day on our main web page. Please feel free to contact us by posting a comment, sending us an email, or picking up the phone and calling us if you want to buy a product not yet added to our online store.

We have been working with the design team at Sekimori to bring all of these changes to you. They are a delight to work with and we highly recommend them if you have web design needs.

Enjoy! And provide us some feedback on the new design by addng a comment.

First, Happy New Year to all members of the WoolWinders community. May 2004 bring each of you peace, love, and happiness.

Each day as the launch of the new WoolWinders web site gets closer, we are matchng the inventory of our online store to that in our brick and mortar store. Yesterday, we finished updating all of the Berroco yarns we carry. We added new colors of:

Mosaic FX

Softwist Bulky:

Optik:

and Zap and Zap Colors:

Our customers have loved working with each of these yarns and we hope that you will as well.