We were anxiously awaiting the rest of Prism Yarns' FABULOUS Cool Stuff and Wild Stuff since last Friday when we knew the yarn had shipped. And today Walter the UPS Guy was a dream come true!

Come see this unbelievable yarn. We made a shell that hangs in the store; our last shipment did not last long. Perfect for a dressy scarf, shawl or sweater!

On the busiest shopping day of the year, we scheduled the delivery of our new store furniture! We were busy from the opening yesterday and our delivery "window" was from 9 to 1. When would the furniture truck arrive. Of course, they came when the store was packed with shoppers!

20 minutes of chaos ensued while Lew, Karena, Jean, Pat, and others moved our existing table and chairs outside as the movers unloaded a new table and six chairs, a leather couch, and two matching oversized chairs.

As you can see, the table was set up for all of 30 seconds before our knitters sat down and resumed their projects.

The couch and chairs were occupied all day too! We had to wait for the a lull to snap these pictures:

Many of our customers were accompanied by family and friends who sat right down and settled into our new comfy salon.

Our own Pat finished a beautiful shawl made from several different types of ribbon yarns, including Prism Bon Bon, Diana, Biwa and Sunshine as well as Rowan Felted Tweed, Noro Hana Silk, and Lang Venezia. The pattern comes from the fabulous Knitting with Novelty Yarns by Laura Bryant and Barry Klein. Check out page 116: Shine On.

Here is a close up of the stitch work:

And just look at this fabulous shawl Linda made from Noro and a Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton pattern:

It was a busy day! How busy? Check out Lew at around 6 PM:

As many shop regulars know, Lew has been knitting hats, scarves, shawls,baby clothes and blankets, and other accessories for each of the lawyers who works in the advertising law group at Collier Shannon Scott. This week, he handed out four FOs!

First, Marsha received a beautiful and wild scarf made from Kollage Yarns. The yarn has eyelash, mohair and a ladder held together and it was perfect for Marsha:

Then, Meghan and Jasmine received hats made from Colinette's Point Five yarn. Both the hats and models are adorable:

Jill received a scarf made from Koigu and a mohair held together and knit in a seed stitch. It is elegant, soft, and screams to be touched:

Here is a close up of the stitch work:

Now, it's on two scarves for some of the men in the group.

Yes, we are now the proud recipients of Debbie Stoller's latest-STITCH n BITCH NATION! Come see her fabulous new addition of patterns, stories and ideas. We have already sold one copy out of the box; we promise these will not last long.

Also from the book dealer-the elegant Handpaint Country and Last Minute Gift Ideas, written by the owner of Purl Soho.

And not to be left behind, new colors of Kochoron yarn from Noro. Ultra soft and luxurious. We sold every skein last season. Come and see the new stuff!

Yesterday at our Stitch n Bitch, talk turned to Thanksgiving. When I began describing my late grandmother's method of cooking the turkey, everyone began asking for the details. My grandmother was not only a fabulous cook (and eater), but was the most profound influence on my life. Her love of family, cooking, eating, learning, and shopping made me the adult I am today. My best memories of childhood include her. The most touching wedding present I received was a book of her recipes compiled by my mother. So I proudly present Grandma Ruthie's Turkey recipe. Don't keep it just for Thanksgiving!

Clean and season with salt and pepper a turkey of any size. Place in roasting pan and coat with a paste of flour and water (should resemble the consistency of the past from elementary school!). Tent with foil and roast in at 350 degree oven for 20 minutes per pound, basting about every 15 minutes. During the last half hour of roasting, pour maple syrup all over the top of the turkey; remove foil and let the turkey turn a beautiful brown. Let sit for about 15 minutes before carving. Make sure you save the carcass for soup; the maple syrup gives it an amazing flavor.

A happy and healthy Thanksgiving to all. Be sure to bring family and friends to WoolWinders! We will be open Wednesday 11-2 and regular hours Friday through Sunday.

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!

Is your knitting group looking for a quick and fabulous project? Consider the WoolWinders Afghan! Each staff member did a square out of Debbie Bliss' ultra soft Cashmerino Superchunky on a size 13 needle. We used pattern stitches from Design Source's Four Seasons Throw. The result? We finished this in less than two weeks!! See it on display at the shop. The only problem that may result is determining who gets to keep it. We suggest a group rotation.

And we love when customers come in to model their latest creations. Here a new knitter proudly displays her first (and flawless) attempt:

Not to be outdone, our friend Jane shows off her tremendous (in so many ways) Christmas Stocking from a pattern by Design Source. We anticipate Santa leaving a DVD player in this one!

And our staff members display their amazing talents. Lisa is outfitted head to almost toe in her designs:

While Brooks models his sweater that he finished last week.

All we can say is WOW!

Walter the UPS Guy staggered in today under the weight of several boxes. And contained within? The wonders of variegated Manos which we had desperately needed (thank you Design Source), reorders of the Debbie Bliss Pattern Books for Cotton Angora and Alpaca Silk, restocks of popular colors of Alpaca Silk and Cashmerino Aran. So let the car, plane, train, or home holiday projects begin!

We have gotten such a kick out of our customers lately. Seems that more people are driving to Thanksgiving destinations, and more are leaving the driving to someone else so they can KNIT in the car! We have had many requests for road trip projects. So here are our tips. First, dp needles are tricky; they seem to have a habit of dropping to the driver's side of the car. So if you plan on doing socks or mittens, keep a firm hold on your needles! Second, you won't have a lot of measuring room in the car (unless you are in a mini van and can move to the back) so work on something that doesn't need to be measured between rest stops. We find shawls and scarves perfect, or complicated sweaters that can be knit to the armholes without having to be measured. Big needles are great. Circular are better; they don't escape! So whatever your desire, consult us for your Road Trip project. We've been there. We will help.

And we will be working on a poncho for 10 year old Audrey, our best pal's daughter, as we drive to New Jersey for Thanksgiving!

We applaud your patience and are pleased to report that we are fully stocked with Suede in the ever-popular dark brown and purple colorways, as well as Crystal Palace 9" straight wood needles in sizes 5, 6, 8 and 11. Thank you for waiting!

And not to get TOO excited about the next phase of knitting wonders-we met with our last sales rep this morning regarding the spring lines! Beginning in January beautiful cottons, silks, rayons and blends will be arriving from Berroco, Knitting Fever, Skacel, Wool in the Woods, Rowan and Manos among others! Ready for Spring yet? We're not, but we ARE excited about the fabulous Spring yarns!

There are weeks at WoolWinders when ten customers will come in proudly displaying their individual completed projects. And then there are weeks when ONE customer will come in with her ten completed projects! So we proudly present Mary, with her early holiday gifts! Scarves, shawls, and hats abound. Mary has mastered the drop stitch, the seed stitch, working in the round, using doublepoints, and all the other skills needed to make fabulous things. Not to mention her keen color sense. Aren't they great?

We have been singing the praises of Noro yarns since we started carrying them. The colors are exquisite; each skein is full of surprises which appeals to the reckless knitter in all of us. And the fibers-silk, alpaca, angora, wool-possess a beautiful hand. We are now fully stocked with seven colors of Noro's latest yarn, Transitions, which changes colors AND fibers as you knit; Iro, a chunky weight silk/wool blend, and Kochoron, a chunky, soft wool/angora/silk blend. If you have not knit with these magical yarns, try a scarf or hat to start. You will want to proceed to a sweater or poncho after your first project. We promise!

We are also fully stocked with the popular and hard-to-get hand dyed afghan kits from Wool in the Woods. Want to make a fabulous gift without spending a fortune? These kits, done on size 17 needles, sell for less than $100! If you start one today, you will be done by the weekend!

One of our favorite designers is Elsebeth Lavold. Her striking, classic pattern appeal to us and the finished products are just works of art. Her yarns, Silky Wool and Silky Tweed, have proven to be so popular that she increases the colorways each year. Today we received a lovely pink, denim blue, and slate blue/gray. This yarn is extraordinarily versatile. Try knitting it at its DK weight gauge of 5.5 stitches/inch on a size 6, or hold two strands together on a 9 or 10 for a chunky knit. And because the price point is so good (190 yards for $7.99) the cost of a chunky sweater will still be favorable.

Her new books: The Embraceable You and Sophisticated Lady Collections are wonderful. They include her trademark cables and intricate stitchwork and are suitable for women, children, and men. Accessories also abound.

Not to get lost in the shuffle, we are also restocked with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in her soft pink. Perfect for those girly-girls of any age.

Our winter class schedule is now posted. Please take a look by clicking on the "classes" tab above. We have some very exciting new classes scheduled with our regular offerings.

Please keep in mind that all of our fall classes sold out so check your calendar and call us!

Love this poncho? It can be yours! We are selling this model (Karina is NOT included in the sale) for $159.00!!! A fabulous gift for someone you love, including yourself.

Lew took some time to load these pictures, suitable for entry into the WoolWinders Hall of Fame, don't you think?

Looking for a washable, soft cotton/wool blend perfect for baby blankets, cozy sweaters, or children's things? Consider Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. We LOVE this yarn! In fact, we love it so much that we regard it as THE washable worsted blend yarn. Today Walter the UPS Guy staggered in with a huge box refilling our dwindling supply. Great colors, great value-200 yards for $7.99

Our Winter Class schedule is now available at the store and will be on line by the end of the weekend. Since it serves our local customer base, we decided to let you know that we have the hard copies now. So come in and see what creative offerings we have beginning January, 2005.

Well, we do! Boy, do we. Skacel came through in a BIG way and we are thinking that these will keep us through the holidays. All cord lengths, all sizes, even some 40" for those magic loop projects. The lovely Karina is on the floor as we write this pricing, sorting, and shelving like a demon.

Lantern Moon also shipped a long-forgotten back order and we have those gorgeous Rosewood and Ebony 10" needles in sizes 5,7,8 and 9.

We are now well stocked with Debbie Bliss's popular Cashmerino Aran and all of her books! Also in, restocks of Jane Ellison's fabulous SIMPLY NORO which features easy patterns knit in fabulous Noro yarns (we love the bag made from Blossom!). We even received the hard-to-get Debbie Bliss Noro Books 1 and 2 with gorgeous classic designs. And we were blessed with a new color of IRO.

No matter what side of the political fence you are on, last night made for good knitting! We finished the back of our Koigu sweater knit on size 3 needles. Lew finished the front of the Noro Silk Garden sweater he is knitting for a gift and started one of the sleeves. Nothing like long nights of TV to get your projects finished.......

No,really. We got in COOL STUFF from Prism today. Awesome! Gorgeous! Elegant! Fabulous! Need we say more? You have to see this yarn to believe it.

And if COOL STUFF is a bit too tame for you, we also got in WILD STUFF! We received both "half" skeins (selling for $52.99 for 150 yards) and "whole" skeins for $92.99 for 300 yards.

Laura Bryant was kind enough to show us how to work with these yarns at the TNNA Show, so don't be afraid to ask for help. We can show you how to combine/alternate them to hold down costs of a shawl or sweater, or to lessen the intensity of the yarns. Even if you are not into novelty yarns, your imagination will lead you to these extraordinary fibers. And we received terrific pattern support from Prism as well.

Lynne did it again! Come and see the fabulous scarf kits she has put together from hand dyed yarns at the store! These make great gifts for the holidays. Kits include a pattern suitable for the yarn-we are featuring laceweight shawls/scarves from Cherry Tree Hill's exquisitely soft Possum yarn-as well as all the yarn you will need. The kit is completely portable-think those car trips over Thanksgiving!

We promise to have pictures loaded tonight from the weekend. Despite the beautiful weather (or maybe because of it) we were ROCKING at the store. And we are sending out our monthly email today. To receive it, make sure you register on the left side of our home page (scroll down a bit and you will see the place to register for our newsletter). This will put you on our email list to receive our newsletter, all sale announcements, and our monthly email. And don't worry about privacy. Lawyer Lew makes sure we never sell our list and everything is kept private!

Finally, the class schedule for winter classes beginning January 1, 2005 is just about done. If you can't wait until then, remember that we always offer private lessons both during the day and evening, seven days a week, if there is a particular skill you want to learn. Get in now while the cost is still $30 an hour!