WoolWinders: A Knitting Salon does SPRING CLEANING a bit differently!

Join Us on Friday April 2nd through Sunday April 4th

*** 35% Off Selected Yarns ***

The following yarns and patterns will be sold at 35%
off:

Gedifra: All remaining inventory

Katia: All remaining inventory

Noro: Lily yarn

Plymouth: Turino Silk

Rowan: Cork

Colinette: Fandango, Mercury and
Wigwam

Novelties: Tecnohair, Gigi and Spice

Jaeger: Luxury Tweed and Xtra Fine
Merino

Classic Elite: Follies, Montera, Wings and
Zelda

Swedish Yarns: Teddy

Filatura Di Crosa: Primo and 501

GGH: Davos, Bali, Samoa and Safari

Skacel: Baby Merino, Summer Wind, and
Malta

Tahki/Stacy Charles Stacy Charles Merino
Cable, Luna, 127

And if that is not enough, all other yarns, patterns and
accessories (including our new spring selections!) will
be sold at a 15% discount.

Of course, Lew, our resident advertising lawyer, notes the following:

No special orders taken. All sales final. Absolutely no returns or exchanges can be made at these prices. Classes and books excluded from discounts. Sale prices limited to existing inventory - no rain checks. Online sales will be filled, based upon remaining inventory on Sunday evening. Discounts for online
sales will be entered manually. No frequent buyer points awarded for sale purchases.

(Lawyers like rules).


Thank you! We hope to see you this weekend!

Are you ready for an easy post-scarf project? Like working on big needles? Come check out Big Needle Afghan Book! We just got this in today; chock full of designs worked on Brown Sheep yarn and all using needles 10.5 and higher, it will help you move on from scarves in a big way!! Also in, "Knit, a Personal Handbook, and Two End Knitting (also known as twined knitting).

Tomorrow is the last Tuesday that we will be closed. Beginning April 1, we will be open 7 days a week!!! Can't wait to see you.

Suzie Zamoiskie, a customer who has become a dear friend in a short time, made this adorable poncho for her granddaughter, Asher. Mom Annie was kind enough to send the photo for our site. Suzie adjusted a Sirdar poncho pattern to duplicate the poncho she also made for Annie. The yarn is Rowan Plaid, which proved to be one of our most popular this past season. Asher looks happy to be wearing grandma's work, eh?

On the heels of our Lantern Moon shipment yesterday, Scott the UPS Guy arrived today with a long awaited box from Crystal Palace. We are now FULLY STOCKED WITH NEEDLES!!!! Whatever your druthers-be it plastic or wood, short or long, DP or straight, we got 'em. So come and get 'em!

We have proudly carried Lantern Moon baskets since the day we opened. Last year we added their palm leaf and drawstring knitting bags, both of which our customers loved! Today we received their exquisite needles. These straight needles, handcarved in ebony and rosewood, make beautiful gifts or a special treat for yourself! We will get pictures of them up on the site; they need to be seen to be appreciated. We also received beautiful silk sleeves to carry one set with you, and silk rolled needle/accessory cases to store several sets. We had more fun setting up basket displays with these lovely items in them. Think Easter, think Mother's Day; think any special occasion for the knitter in your life.

Also in-new Absolutely Fabulous and Love It kits from Colinette, reorders of Giotto ribbon yarn (hand dyed), and a full complement of pattern books from Mission Falls.

Spring is in the air. We are looking forward to knitting outside before too long!

Today was notion day at WoolWinders. We are now fully stocked with those knitting necessities: gauge measurers, needle guards, stitch holders and the like. We also filled in our needles and patterns. And we FINALLY have the popular 365 stitches calendar!

As promised, we have shown the scene from Sunday's book signing with Anna Zilboorg. We had a great time, and Anna was a dear to come after teaching two workshops near the shop!

Today is Tuesday, our day to be closed. However, after much consideration and consultation with our wonderful staff, we are delighted to announce that beginning April 1 the store will be open SEVEN DAYS A WEEK! We will change the hours on the website and on our door, but make a note that we will be open Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays 12-5; Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 10-5:30 and Thursdays 12-8! Remember, that will take effect beginning APRIL 1. So next Tuesday, our last to be closed, will have to be really special. Think we'll spend the day knitting!

We were going to wait until tonight to blog; wanted to describe yesterday's scene with Anna Zilboorg and load some great pics. But we HAD to stop everything and describe Manos' new yarn, COTTON STRIA, which we received from Scott the UPS Guy about fifteen minutes ago! The yarn is extraordinary. Created in 11 brightly colored hues with a texture that has to be seen, we literally CANNOT WAIT to begin knitting the asymmetrical vest featured on the accompanying pattern book. The yarn looks almost curly, mimicking the effect of wool Manos without having to be thick and thin! We should have the pictures on the site soon. But if you are local, COME IN AND SEE THIS STUFF!!!! Bring your size 5 ot 6 needles to get the 18 stitches per 4 inches called for by the patterns. We will be sitting at the table working on it. That second sock will have to wait.

We looked over from the cash register stand today and noticed that every single person sitting around our table was knitting socks! There must be something in the air, or maybe it was just that our brightly colored funky and funny sock yarn drew everyone's attention. If you have never tackled socks before, take our word for it--it is FUN!!!! We have simple to follow patterns, great classes, and wonderful yarn in all gauges. So join the crowd and knit some spring socks!

One of the things that makes us really happy about owning a shop is the picture above. We love the pride our customers feel about accomplishing something new, and the fact that they think enough to send us a photo for the website means so much! This little beauty, Eleanor, is proudly modeling mom Kit's creation, done without a pattern! As she shared with us, "I just kept knitting!" Isn't that wonderful!

On a separate note, we received an email confirming shipment from Crystal Palace. Stay tuned for the long awaited NEEDLES!!!!

And don't forget our book signing tomorrow, Sunday, with Anna Zilboorg. She will arrive around 2 to sign and chat with us about her fabulous designs and techniques. We carry several of her books: Marvelous Mittens, Simply Socks, 45 Fine and Fanciful Hats, and Knitting for Anarchists. Please stop by!

And to all--Happy Spring!

That's right. Thanks to Cast Offs, an independent knitting group which meets at WoolWinders, we are pleased to announce that Anna Zilboorg will be at WoolWinders for a reception and book signing on Sunday, March 21, 2004 at 2:00 p.m.

Anna Zilboorg is a nationally known knitting teacher and author. Her books: Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey; Magnificent Mittens; Simply
Socks: 45 Traditional Turkish Patterns to Knit; Socks for Sandals and Clogs; and Knitting for Anarchists are true treasures. Please join us as she visits our
store. We are so excited to be able to finally ask her about those
double decreases she calls for in her hat designs.

And a happy St. Paddy's day to you! We have had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day sale offering 15% off all green and/or orange yarn. Still time to order or come in; internet sales will be honored at that price up until midnight tonight!

And Scott, our UPS guy, brought the usual Wednesday goodies! We are now stocked with gorgeous Schaeffer Laurel yarn in all colors; restocked colors of cotton fleece; 1824 Cotton in butter and cornflower blue; Cherry Tree Hill Froth (a beautiful loop mohair); and FINALLY we have the Stitch n' Bitch books back in!

So come celebrate the wearin' of the green at O'WoolWinders: A Knitting Salon!

With apologies to Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham, we found ourselves today in a pre-St. Paddy's day mood. We stared at our beautiful green yarn around the store wondering who would take advantage of our one day sale on Wednesday to celebrate the holiday; remember, all internet orders as well as store purchases of green yarn (or any yarn with even a wee speck o'the green) is 15% off! And we received more sock yarn in funky funny colors today in both cotton and stretch wool! We love knitting socks because of their portability; it is so easy to have a pair-in-progress stuck in a ziplock bag at all times! And cotton is perfect for athletic socks with low cuffs or spring socks in bright colors!

Also in today more colors of Mondial Splendid, a gorgeous 3 to the inch cabled cotton, five colors of Sirdar Domino baby yarn, new colors of Linie Vision ribbon yarn, and our favorite hand balm, Knitters Little Helper!

St. Patricks Day is all about the wearin' of the Green!

At O'WoolWinders: A Knitting Salon we're going to help! All green yarns (or yarns that have even a wee bit o' green!) will be reduced by 15% for one day only on March 17th.

Yarns must be in stock; no special orders! Come on in to the store on Wednesday and get Irish! Or place your order via our website on Wednesday. Online orders will be filled after the close of business that day and are subject to cancellation if we no longer have the product in stock at that time. Please enter GREEN in the comments field and we will deduct 15% from the price on in-stock yarn that has a wee bit of green in it.

Jacqui O'Rose

The best part of owning a knitting store is watching the parade of knitters come into our store proudly displaying their finished projects! Here is a small sample from the past few days. Click on any of them to see a larger picture. Be sure to check out the beautiful lace work on the bottom right pic which does not show well on the thumbnail but is absolutely fabulous.

We are busy with our Spring knitting. Torie and Bella (top) are busy with scarves, while Jacqui (bottom photo) a.k.a. "Queen of Summer Shells" is working on a Lang Musica dressy number from Oat Couture. Musica features space dyeing for gloss and texture. Look for the finished product on the site soon!

We had a wonderful crowd at our Thursday S n' B. Our usual pals showed up and as a special treat, "Miss Lisa" brought Brittany, Tiffany, and Kim from LPCC. The girls are all busy making scarves; Kim felt brave enough to begin socks!

There is nothing like the friendships formed in a knitting group!

We returned to the store to close out a beginner class taught by Karen Richardson, a truly gifted and creative instructor. Imagine our surprise to face a box of books express mailed by Rowan! We are ALWAYS fielding requests from beginning knitters and all three of these fit the bill: Easy Knits, filled with fabulous projects; Debbie Bliss Baby Knits; and Simple Knits for Cherished Babies! These books are tried and true!

Well, not quite, but we did make the Style section of yesterday's Washington Post (go to www.washingtonpost.com)! It was very exciting to see our weekly Stitch and Bitch sessions mentioned; we love our Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon gatherings. Thanks for the celebrity status! We have now enjoyed our "fifteen minutes" of fame.

And now back to work! Today we received more short wooden needles-Clover mini sizes 9 and 10. Yay! And because we have had such a terrific reaction to Tahki Cotton Classic, we ordered and received 12 colors of their 4 stitches to the inch Cotton Classic II for those who want to knit with this wonderful yarn at a heavier weight. It is just the best cotton around for shells and lightweight sweaters!

Also in, two colors of Berroco's new novelty yarn Opulent FX. Try this glittery yarn in bronzes and blacks to dress up any scarf yarn or a summer shell (see above). It is a "carry along" which means it will not change your gauge at all. Berroco was kind enough to restock us in red and white eyelash yarns as well.

We also received the popular Dale Learn to Knit Kits perfect for kids and those of us who are kids at heart. This kit comes with three skeins of yarn, a pattern and instruction book, and shorter than short size 8 needles.

We have written about Debbie Bliss' gorgeous new spring yarn Cotton Angora. Today we received the accompanying pattern book. We were reading it while we unpacked the rest of the box! Her patterns are filled with clean lines and deceptively simple directions for cardigans, pullovers, jackets, and baby items. And along with that book, we received Simple Living, her book of simple designs for home decor and garments. Both are just terrific and are suitable for beginning through advanced knitters.

Also in-new colors of Cherry Tree Hill hand dyed ladder yarn Windsong, and one new color of Debbie Bliss Cotton DK.

As promised, we opened the box from Unicorn books this morning and discovered a real treasure: 1000 Sweaters. This clever book gives patterns and instructions for interchangeable sweater parts: necks, sleeves, bodies etc. The choices range from simple to lace to intarsia-how much fun to mix and match!

Also in the box were Basic Knitting, a wonderful guide; Knit Lit Too to appeal to all us English majors; Sock Whimsy; and Baby Blankets 2 from Vogue knitting. A true haul!

It was quite a day at WoolWinders. We spoke in the morning to a wonderful group of knitters at the Smithsonian in Washington, and then raced back to the store to discover six very large boxes delivered by Scott the UPS Guy who has returned to us after paternity leave. We were beyond oohs and aahs when we opened the boxes marked Westminster Fibers, the distributor of Rowan and Jaeger. In addition to our wonderful Friday staff of Kate Ann, Janice, and Karina, Adrian and Marietta just happened to drop by and EVERYONE went to work. By the end of the day, all was unpacked, inventoried, priced, and put into their waiting bins. We now have gorgeous spring/summer offerings in delicious colors of (from fingering to chunky weight): Jaeger Siena, Rowan Cotton Glace, Summer Tweed, Cotton Tape and Linen Print. Matching pattern books accompany most of the yarns, and some are heavily featured in spring and summer magazines. Come see these beautiful yarns for the ultimate in spring knitting!

And if that were not exciting enough, we also received backordered Manos in ten colors, the ever-elusive SHORT WOOD NEEDLES IN SIZES 11, 13 and 17 (gasp)!, an additional color of denim silk and six colors of Sizzle, the popular one skein scarf yarn from Berroco. Whew! We all went home tired and extremely happy. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog; we received a box of books from Unicorn Press that remains to be unpacked.......

We love Wednesdays at WoolWinders because we always get packages! Today did not disappoint. We received beautiful new colors of Eros, one of our more popular novelty yarns. This yarn is PERFECT for spring and summer scarves and even shells for the adventurous knitter. In addition, we received reorders of Plume FX, Bulky Chinchilla, Biggy Print (still time for that last winter sweater!), Plymouth Encore, and Skacel needles. We also received the final color in the Dale Stork collection-a beautiful soft pink. Come see this amazing yarn! Its softness is second to none, and it is machine washable/dryable cotton.
And if you are still longing for a spectacular winter project, we received Dusk, Bright Charcoal, and Neptune colorways in gorgeous Colinette Point Five wool.

A word of appreciation to our customers: we are so grateful for your patience as yarns come in. Our back orders don't please us, and we are in constant touch with our vendors. The burst of knitting has surprised all their manufacturers and it is taking longer than we thought to get our yarns back in. Thanks SO MUCH for being patient and understanding!