Wow! Did we buy books at TNNA! Today we received Knitting Simple Sweaters from Luxurious Yarns, Simple Knits for Little Cherubs, Vogue Beginner Basics, and Vogue Chunky Knits, all of which are perfect for new and beginner knitters! If you are up to something more challenging, we also received the popular Nicky Epstein Knitting on the Edge. Watch for her new book this fall: Knitting OVER the Edge. Edging can turn even the most basic sweater into a work of art.

And we wanted to let you know that the staff is working FURIOUSLY to organize our hundreds (OK, maybe thousands) of patterns! Beginning next week there will be new binders including many patterns on sale for 40% off. Need inspiration for a new project? Swing by and check out the designs.

We love coming in on Wednesdays when we have had a full TWO days off!!! Boxes always await. We spent our time getting all the buttons entered into the system and displayed beautifully! And Martingale was kind enough to send us a really swell looking SpinAround Book Rack! Come see all the books that you can, well, spin around! Lots of crochet books for adults and kids; the ever popular Finishing Techniques by Nancy Wiseman; and Knitted Shawls, Stoles and Scarves. We are also fully stocked with the 365 Stitch a Day Calendar, and Little Box of Scarves (books One and Two). The new Little Box of Crocheted Scarves and Hats is in as well.

In addition, we received at long last size 11 and 13 circular needles from Skacel in metal and wood. These will not last long!

And finally, new issues of Interweave Knits and Family Circle Easy Knitting. Got enough to read?????

Our FOURTH OF JULY sale starts TOMORROW! Purchase any red, white, and or blue yarn for 15% off! Sale lasts through Tuesday, July 5.

Lots of fun stuff today. We finally have The Knit Stitch back in stock; Sally Melville's first book is a must-have for some terrific patterns and instruction. Also back in: Arans and Celtics, Modular Knitting, and Ponchos and Wraps.
We have had lots of requests for Ellen Originals knitting totes and accessory cases, and today we received them. Our favorite is the Take-Away Stand; it is both stable and portable. Just unhook the tote from the wood stand and, as Simon Cowell American Idol)would say, "Off you go!" And her accessory cases hold LOTS of goodies. The tapestry work is just lovely and we bought some of her new designs.

And yes, we have buttons. Sort of. One big box came in from Dill Buttons; we are expecting another one. Give us a few days to get all these entered into the system and out of the shelves, but our lovely customers will now have one-stop shopping at WoolWinders! No more trips to the fabric store to finish those garments with suitable buttons.

What can you say about a day that begins with Annie Modesitt and ends with Mark Knopfler? We had that day yesterday!

Annie Modesitt (a.k.a The Knitting Heretic) was kind enough to give not one, but two presentations on her fantastic style of knitting, COMBINED KNITTING. We admit to being skeptical. We LIKE the way we knit. But once we tried Annie's way, we were hooked. Without giving too much away, it involved purling in such a way that all knit stitches are done through the back loop. The result? Even tension, quick stitchwork, and best of all, no fat stitches at the ends of ribbing! And there was more, but we will save that for Annie's next visit to the shop. We've seen a lot of teachers, but none can match her energy, wit, and unconventional behavior.

As for our evening, Mark Knopfler played at Wolftrap, the only National Park that hosts regular concerts. It was a perfect Washington evening; the weather had cooled down and stayed clear, the park looked beautiful, and Knopfler played hits old and new. He had us at Sultans of Swing.

Walter the UPS Guy wheeled in four big boxes today. And what goodies within! Books from Interweave: Scarf Style, Handy Book of Patterns, Felted Knits, Shadow Knitting and (drumroll please) HIP TO CROCHET!

And our TNNA order of Manos arrived. Wow! The colors are just fabulous and the new pattern book has what we have named "The cutest damn felted purse you've ever seen." Judith Shangold has taken the mitered square style of knitting to new heights: capes, ponchos, bags, and scarves! We love this book!

Have a great weekend, and remember. Because of Annie Modesitt's classes we will not be open on Sunday until 3 PM. Thanks.

We received lots of old friends today: Blue Sky Alpaca in both sport weight and alpaca/silk blend (and we have already sold one bag of the silk blend!) in gorgeous colors; Dale of Norway Baby Ull and Stork, impossibly soft and machine washable fingering weight yarn; and Crystal Palace short straight and dp needles. So we are well-stocked in some old favorites!

Today on our day off we received a frantic call from Lew, who had spoken with the store only to learn we had received TWO HUGE BOXES from Muench Yarn. "Were we expecting anything?" he queried. Well, to be honest, we had ordered the yarn SO LONG AGO that we had forgotten. But yes, we had in fact ordered this fabulous chunky yarn that is reknowned for making great children's garments and blankets. Of course it is completely machine washable and dryable, and the colors are bright and cheery. Think LIME GREEN, BRIGHT PINK, YELLOW etc.

We don't get this yarn in very often (obviously!) so come and get it while it's here!!!

Many boxes today. Cheryl Schaeffer restocked our selection of the beautiful Laurel Yarn, and included four of her new colors: Queen Lili, Rachel Carson, Helen Taussig and Helen Hayes. If you have never seen or worked with this yarn, you are in for a real treat. 100% Pima Cotton, hand-dyed in the most extraordinary colorways, and each named for a Memorable Woman!

A final color of Debbie Bliss Cotton DK arrived as well; a lovely mint green. Perfect for a cool and quick summer shell.

And we now have the baby pink and baby blue Blue Sky Cotton in stock. Perfect for a snuggly soft baby blanket or sweater!

New to the store is the Nancy's Knit Knack Card. We fell in love with this at the TNNA Show. Picture all of the information in a good knitting refernce book put on to manageable 3 X 5" cards on a binder ring. You can carry these with you EVERYWHERE, even if your purse is tiny!

And finally, we have a fabulous trunk show from Bagsmith. Bags are going to be HUGE this year, and the kits from Bagsmith let you use your creativity and imagination to the utmost. Come see what they have done to get some ideas, and then just go wild!

Yes we know you needed circular needles. Yes we know we did not have a size 7 in the entire store (trust me, we know. We needed one.) But now we are well stocked again thanks to our friends at SKACEL. So if the need for a circular needle hits you, come in. We were back-ordered only on some larger sizes (11, 13, and 15) so those lightweight summer projects ought to be OK.

And speaking of lightweight summer projects, we were taken by the Elsebeth Lavold Designer's Choice #5 which features summer patterns. We have six copies of the book in stock and predict they won't last long. We also received six popular colors of her Silky Wool, a lovely DK weight yarn. Perfect for an early fall project, this yarn has great yardage (192), great colors, and a great price point ($7.99). We have all of her corresponding pattern books as well.

Finally, the ever-popular DENISE INTERCHANGEABLE NEEDLES are back in stock! Traveling this summer? This is the perfect companion. You will never lack for a needle from size 5-15, straight or circular (in three lengths). What makes these needles special is the locking mechanism. Just put the correct tip in, turn it 1/4 of the way, and you have a secure, fabulous needle! And all for $49.99.

Wow! That is all we can say about the Sally Melville WHERE'S THE OPAQUE pattern in her first book, The Knit Stitch. We whipped this up in black using DEBBIE BLISS CATHAY yarn, and it is the PERFECT dressy summer sweater. Come see it! It is hanging in the middle of our left window (if it isn't, it means we are wearing it!) and takes almost no time to knit. If you already own The Knit Stitch, you can begin at once; if not, we are expecting more of the books in any day. We have sold 168 copies already; what does THAT tell you?????

Remember those fabulous BAGSMITH black/natural knitting totes we had last season? The ones with all the pockets for needles and such and with the long straps that let you carry them on your shoulder? Well, we have them back in! We LOVE these totes because they give plenty of room for even the biggest of projects, and then let you stand them on the floor as well.

And in addition, we restocked the purse kits that blew out of here last season. Purses promise to be HUGE this year, and these kits come with everything you need (including handles!)to knit or crochet! Embellish with some novelty yarn and some really cool JADE buttons in various colors andyou will have THE fashion accessory. A bit unsure of what you can do? We will be having a trunk show VERY SOON of these beauties! Keep reading the blog to find out exact dates.

Exasperated by scarves and shawls that don't stay in place? Check out the GOLDTONE and SILVERTONE slides from Bagsmith. Practical and beautiful.

Two important reminders for this upcoming weekend:

1. Destination Knits will present Stitch and Texture on Saturday, June 18 from 9-11 AM. Participants should bring a skein of worsted weight yarn and size 8-9 needles.

2. In honor of Dads everywhere and so we can spend the day catering to Lew's every whim, we will be closed Sunday, June 19.

Pssst! Want a bargain? Come check out the books and full bags of yarn we have put on sale! Books such as Stitch and Bitch Nation, Sally Melville Styles, Marvelous Mittens....and so many more are being offered at 40% off! Yes, you read that correctly. 40% off!

And we are offering FULL BAGS (10 skeins) of discontinued or overstock yarns on sale for 35% off. These include Rowan Polar and Plaid; Berroco Plume FX, Opulent FX, Lullaby and Candy FX; Lang Tahoma and Tonga; and even Noro Yoroi, Blossom, Kochoron and Hana Silk. Don't need 10 skeins? Split with a friend or two. You will never get better prices than these!

Pat and Martha are furiously tagging our sale items, so don't disappoint them. Come rummage through our books and bins for those terrific bargains!

We have just returned from the annual TNNA show in Columbus, and all we can say right now is "wow!" Want a small preview? How about 32 colors of Koigu. The new line of yarns and patterns from Luisa Harding. Cascade 220 for felting. And finally, yes finally, WoolWinders will be carrying buttons!

The list of what we will be receiving between now and October, and a summary of trends to come this fall, are too long to print in a blog. But we want you, our wonderful customers, to be excited too! So look for an email from us this week. Not on our email list? It's easy to join. Here's what you do:
1. Just go to the lower left side of this home page and fill in your email address
2. Wait until you are directed to a second screen and repeat your address and give us your zip code
3. Look for a confirmation email from us confirming that you are on the list! That's it!

And yes, we know it is 95 degrees out with unbearable humidity. So you probably don't want to think about knitting with the gorgeous new hand-dyed mohairs we ordered. But come to the store to check out our great supply of fabulous cottons, silks, and rayon ribbons. Cool to the touch, and really cool to knit up!

Finally, a special thanks to our amazing staff. To those who stayed behind to "mind the store" we appreciate your ability to give us peace of mind when we travel. Thanks Pat, Lynne, Karina, Marietta, and Martha. Thanks too to Jessica, Lisa and Kim who give us valuable input that contributes to our buying decisions. To Adrian, who cruises through TNNA with that eye toward color and texture that makes our inventory pop out and beg to be bought, THANK YOU! We couldn't do TNNA without you. And where would ANY of us be without Lew. What more can you say about a knitting lawyer who gets into this show as much as we do and handles all the finances (i.e. pays the bills!) as well. You rock our world. But you already know that.

To Columbus, Ohio, that is. Yes, it is that time of year-the annual TNNA Market. It is where we shop til' we drop, picking out the fabulous yarns, patterns, and accessories that will begin arriving at the store in July. We will be there Saturday and Sunday.

The store will remain open, staffed by the wonderful Marietta, Karina, Lynne and Martha. So come on by!

Want to score luxury yarns at a spectacular price? We have single skeins of PRISM and KOIGU yarns in our sale bin. How spectacular a discount? Well, how about Koigu KPPM for $7.69 or Prism Sunshine for $12.59; Bon Bon and Diana for 10.49! These are 30% off the retail price! Quantities and colors are limited. Creativity and a love for a good bargain are necessary!

We thought we could make it through the summer without Debbie Bliss' signature wools, Cashmerino Aran and Baby Cashmerino. Well, we were wrong. So the lovely Susan at Knitting Fever sent off what they had to give us at this time, and we now have eight additional colors of Cashmerino Aran and the beautiful ivory and lilac in Baby Cashmerino. We should be getting our full fall order, including the new fall colors of all of Debbie's yarns, within about four to six weeks.

We are in love with this yarn, and the fact that we have sold out the bins twice so far this season means that you are as well. The lovely Linda who owns Blue Sky promised to fill our re-order this week, and she came through! We are fully stocked with all four colors of the Organic Cotton, and are only missing one or two colors of the regular cotton. If you are looking for a great summer yarn, consider this lightweight, soft-as-a-dream cotton that knits at 4-5/inch on a 7-9 needle!

Also, a reminder that the TIPS AND TECHNIQUES class is tomorrow night from 6-8. Registered students can join Master Knitter Kathy Cea as she takes you through all sorts of fabulous hints and short-cuts that will make your knitting life a joy!

Well, we got 'em. We don't know what you guys are DOING with them (we go through GOBS of these each month!!!!) but we are now fully stocked with such necessities as crochet hooks for dropped stitches, ring markers that lock and open, and stitch holders of every size! So come and get 'em!

For those of you quick enough to sign up for the Stitch and Texture Class give on Saturday, June 18 with Destination Knits, please bring (or plan to purchase at the store) a pair of size 8 needles and a skein of worsted weight yarn. Thanks!

Lew went above and beyond today and posted our summer class schedule on our website. Click on the tab above and you will be redirected to all sorts of educational wonders. Brand new to knitting? We of course offer Absolute Beginners. Ready to move on? Go on a Knitting Safari with the fabulous Karen Richardson! And of course we offer Socks (two ways!) and Finishing.And more.

New this summer are Yarn Challenges: Working with Hand-Dyes, Chenilles, and Ribbons (without going mad!), The Daria necklace (you will be the greatest gift giver of all time with these!), and the Fall Shawl. We repeat the popular Feather and Fan Baby Blanket and Summer Shell.

No matter what your level or confidence may be, we will take excellent care of you! So challenge yourself this summer, and add some class to your knitting life during the lazy summer months....

Walter the UPS Guy strolled in today with a box of beautiful hand-dyed Blue Heron Yarn. We love Walter, but not as much as we love the yarns from this Easton, MD yarn company! Come see the beaded rayon (beautiful either alone or mixed with Rowan Kidsilk Haze--ask to see Jacqui's project!) and chenille. Their yarns don't last long!