A lot came out of our meeting with Knitting Fever (the distributor of Debbie Bliss and Noro yarns) last week, but most of it will be introduced in the spring line. However, we did order restocks of all the colors of CASHMERINO ARAN and BABY CASHMERINO that we needed, and our pal Jay came through QUICKLY! Our shelves will be glistening by tomorrow, when we have priced and stacked it all. But we feel safe in saying that we have a full array of colors in two of the most popular yarns in the store. And just in time for machine-washable holiday gifts!

OK, we have a real dilemma at the shop and we hope our wonderful customers can help us out. Silk seems to be really big for next spring (yes, we have already met with vendors!) but we have had trouble with this luscious fiber in the past. While it looks great, several of us have found it difficult to knit, and as we wear it it grows considerably.

We have a lovely skein of a new silk yarn at the shop and we have left it mid-swatch on the needles. Want to come in and give it a few rows try? Please do. We need some other opinions. Help us find out if silk is as good as it appears, or if it is, instead, like that really cute guy you have worshipped from afar, yet when you finally get to know him it turns out he is dull as dishwater and has bad breath.

Want to know the perfect combination? A beautiful yarn, nice producers and a local regional presence. This is BLUE HERON YARNS from our own EASTERN SHORE of MARYLAND. The nice folks there produce and dye exquisite colorways of unique fibers. We have always been struck by the creativity and clarity of the colorways, and today we were visited by the owner, DAMIEN.

He had "cash and carry" with him, so we cashed and carried....we are now stocked with the most luxurious "ELEPHANT CHENILLE" in six colorways. Think a hand-dyed, bulky knit, extra-cozy scarf. Think about the dead of winter when if you have to put on one more black item of clothing you will scream. This is the PERFECT accessory. We also have the chenille in a lighter weight. And we have a few skeins left of their lovely BEADED RAYON; come see the model we knit up holding it with KIDSILK HAZE. Gorgeous.
And we will be getting more yarns in-stay tuned.

Want to knit the perfect sweater for the (finally) cool weather? Our MANGO MOON SWEATER KITS flew out of here and now we have six more. And we have a model so you can see the finished result. These kits are unique because of two factors: one, they contain 13 patterns (12 sweaters and a throw) and two, each is unique because of the kid mohair within. The sweaters are created by holding two strands of yarn together, RECYCLED HIMALAYAN SILK and KID MOHAIR. While the color of the silk is pretty uniform, the mohair colors range from white to black, with blues and olives, even oranges in between. No two sweaters (or throws) will look the same! And they are reasonably priced at $169.99!

And to top it all off, the kits are a quick knit, done on needle sizes 10-11. We are staring at our cardigan as we write this, thinking we will wear it today in lieu of a jacket!

our Fall Yarn Tasting was a big hit! We prepared three "courses" and a "palate cleanser" for the eight participants who arrived to a table that looked like this:

And everyone got to play with a lot of yarn from the "Yarnyard." The biggest hit? The Lobster Pot and Joseph GallerCashmeres. The "desserts" of Great Adirondack, Colinette, and Prism also brought forth oohs and aahs. And none of it was fattening!

And a couple of our friends stopped by last week to show off their beautiful finished projects:

Gale was incredibly productive in our KNITTING SAFARIS, making a goregous tan cable sweater as well as an Aran Shawl. Can she cable or what?
:

While our very own Adrian models her Noro/Debbie Bliss sweater:

Today's blog is dedicated to the men we love. First up, Stephanie's adorable husband who is truly worthy of the gorgeous things she knits for him in Noro and Debbie Bliss:

And yes, Lew DID finish his amazing Joseph Galler Pashmina Cashmere vest. If the store owner doesn't deserve cashmere, who does?

Lew made these great booties for another lawyer friend's new little boy:

And no, Bono doesn't knit, at least as far as we know. But many of you are aware of Lew's love of mosh pits and this is his most recent example. He was about four feet away from the man himself at this week's concert at MCI arena. And we ask you, how many knitting sites have Bono in their Blog?

We love the KNITTING BAGS and NEEDLE ACCESSORIES from ELLEN ORIGINALS. Her tapestry patterns are lovely, and the bags can withstand a lot; we spilled a bottle of shampoo in one once and the bag survived without staining! So we are fully stocked with WALK AWAY TOTES (a tote and stand in one); KNITTING TOTES, CIRCULAR NEEDLE CASES and STRAIGHT NEEDLE CASES. You can create a set with the same pattern, or mix and match them! A great gift for the knitter in your life. Even you.

Want a fabulous, affordable, quick-knit project? Wool in the Woods AMERICANA THROWS are back in stock! Holding several strands of hand-dyed yarn together on a SIZE 17 NEEDLE, these gorgeous afghans knit up in the blink of an eye. And for less than $100!

These never last long in the store. We have one in NATURAL and three in muted tones selected by MISSY BURNS, the genius behind Wool in the Woods, herself!

How often do you see a trunk show devoted to SOCKS? Well, we have a spectacular one. The samples are from our favorite new sock book, SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS, which has received a "Four Thumbs Up" from our two sock teachers! Why? Because in addition to being really cute, the patterns are written three ways: for five dps, four dps, and 2 circular needles.

The trunk show will be here through Halloween (BOO!) Thank you Charlene Schurch for being so creative!

What better to brighten our eighth day of rain than the sight of John the UPS Guy bringing us a box of PRISM yarn! We were delighted. Inside? LIGHT STUFF in the PEARL colorway; perfect for a holiday shell, wrap or Tee, and two new colors of the wondrous KIDSLIQUE mohair/rayon yarn: SENEGAL and SPICE. We have already pondered the possibilities including a lengthwise shawl of COLINETTE GIOTTO in DUSK alternated with KIDSLIQUE SENEGAL.

Sunshine tomorrow, so the weather people say. Yay!

Have you ever knit with a hand-dyed alpaca merino blend? Do you want a quick knit on size 10-11 needles? Then check out SCHAEFER YARN ESPERANZA. This is one of our most popular fall/winter yarns. As you may have read here before, we all worship at the shrine of Cheryl Schaefer. Her yarns are ALL extraordinary, and this is a staff and customer favorite.

We think we have called everyone who had a SCHAEFER special order,but if we missed you, give us a call!

And also brought by John the UPS Guy today, restocks of two popular colors of their extraordinary CASHSOFT DK. We thought of this as baby yarn, but it is so cozy that we have caught customers buying it for themselves!

We arrived after our day off to find four boxes waiting for us. What did we find?

Box 1: Lantern Moon baskets, Silk Totes and the ever popular Sheep Tape Measure (CJ, are you reading this with your mom?)

Box 2: New "Little Boxes" from Martingale Press: KNITTED THROWS and PONCHOS and WRAPS

Box 3: New color of Noro Iro. Rich blues, browns and greys

Box 4: Winter FAMILY CIRCLE EASY KNITTING

As much as we love our day off, we love the next day even more.....

If you have luck in the knitting world, sometimes you get to meet a great designer. Or a great teacher. Or an incredibly creative and funny person who becomes a friend. And sometimes, they come in one package.

Annie Modesitt made a splash when she came to the shop in June; her classes filled so quickly we thought we were booking a Springsteen concert. So of course we had to have her back.

Annie spent the weekend with us, and spent Saturday at the shop teaching her Combination Knitting method and Cabling Without a Cable Needle in both morning and afternoon sessions. Participants were enthused. We were able to forget the driving rain outside the store and concentrated instead on the new technques that Annie is so adept at teaching. See?

And what we can't show was the highlight of our weekend. We came home after a very long day on Saturday to find Annie in her pjs on our favorite chair, feet comfortably up on our ottoman, beer by her side, watching a DVD and chatting with our husband about his knitting. We would have asked her to stay forever, but she does have a life of her own! Thanks, Annie, for a truly special weekend.

The eagerly awaited third book in Sally Melville's series has arrived! Complete your KNIT STITCH and PURL STITCH collection with the gorgeous COLOR! We previewed this book at TNNA and were so impressed that we decided to focus fall classes to coincide with its publication. No one gives better instruction than Sally. So if you are curious about working with color, check out this selection! She reviews techniques, yarns, and color choices. And if you are feeling generous, give the perfect gift of the three books: THE KNIT STITCH, THE PURL STITCH AND COLOR. Give it even to yourself. You are worth it.

And not to give short shrift to our other arrivals today: THE 2006 PATTERN OF THE DAY CALENDAR has arrived. Check out JULY 6. Our very own KATHY CEA'S SASSY SUMMER SOCKS is a terrific addition to the calendar. These flew out of here last year, so don't wait!

We are restocked with the very popular HIMALAYAN SILK YARN. If you have not worked with this fascinating yarn, try making a scarf or bag with it. Feeling more adventurous? We have a fabulous side to side cardigan pattern which is fun and flattering. It's also perfect with Noro yarns; the stripes would be vertical instead of horizontal!

And finally, two adorable additions from our friends at DESIGN SOURCE. MINNIES is filled with baby and toddler patterns, while PUPPY KNITS is a whimsical book for your best friend. If only our cats would be willing to wear some of these designs!

Have a great weekend. We will be entertaining ANNIE MODESITT and life just doesn't get much better than that!

Few packages today, but excellent ones! First, two new books from one of our favorite designers, CORNELIA TUTTLE HAMILTON. NORO REVISITED has fabulous patterns from a variety of Noro yarns (check out the coat on the cover) and ARAUCANIAN MOMENTS features sweaters, ponchos and kid stuff for both worsted and chunky yarns. WE LOVE THESE DESIGNS!
And our friends at CIRCULAR SOLUTIONS came through with needle holders for both circular and straight needles. If you haven't checked out these ultra-practical, ultra-functional needle holders, just glance to the right the next time you come to the shop. We have both hanging there. And our needles love them.

Our rock star weekend approaches. If you are signed up for either of Annie's presentations (9 AM-12 Noon or 1:00-4:00 PM) please make sure you come to the right one. We have limited space and were very careful about registering participants. Please bring (or prepare to purchase) one skein of worsted weight yarn and appropriate needles. Annie will be around to sign books after the workshops.

If you are NOT participating in Annie's workshops, PLEASE NOTE OUR SPECIAL SATURDAY HOURS. WE WILL BE OPEN FOR REGULAR BUSINESS FROM 4:00 PM-8:00 PM. Thanks for your consideration.

Amanda, our former assistant from about three careers ago, was kind enough to send this picture of her new son Reed Michael in the sweater we knit him from Rowan Wool Cotton. It would be impossible to make this beautiful child look bad, but we DO think the sweater shows off his coloring and cuteness well. Thanks, Amanda!

We've been waiting for this book; the cover alone entices us to make sweaters! SATURDAY SWEATERS, by Doreen Marquart, features 17 patterns that are "Easy to Knit, Easy to Wear." They feature clean lines, simple directions, and outstanding stitch work. Check it out!