When it becomes a BABY SHOWER!
Last night after the sale, staff and friends celebrated the arrival of MAXIMILLIAN JOEL. Mom Marietta and Nona JANIS were in attendance (thanks for the fabulous desserts, Janis!) as were many members of the WoolWinders family, nuclear and extended. Adrian wins the award for traveling the farthest distance—she came all the way from Florida!! We all oohed and aahed over Maxim:

And we played the only Baby Shower game we know: PASS THE BABY! We all participated, and PAIGE won the gift certificate when Maxim woke up in her arms. But we think CLARA, the second youngest attendee, enjoyed the game the most:

On a more business like note, thanks to all who came out for our sale this past weekend. We are not certain that anyone has much money left for SHEEP and WOOL next weekend, but we can’t tell you how much we appreciate your loyalty to your LYS. Seriously, many many thanks.

And stand by for a lot of new stuff this week. CASCADE YARNS mistakenly shipped our enormous fall order about six weeks ahead of time. So unlike in previous Mays, we are going to have a LOT of new stuff on the shelves within the next week. Come check it out!!! Feel like FELTING? Good. Because we ordered about 30 colors of CASCADE 220, our favorite worsted felting yarn. Ditto 109, the bulky sister. Get those clog and bag patterns ready. What a way to get a jump on holiday gifts!!!!!

Our Sunday in the Salon tomorrow is filled. If you have signed up but can’t attend, please call us today so we can give a spot to someone on the waitlist! This is a three parter, and if there is room you can jump in at any time, so don’t fret. There is an entire spring and summer to make this fabulous DIAGONAL TRIANGLE SHELL!!!!

And the sale is in full swing. The entire store is on sale, folks, so head on out! Nothing is less than 15% off, and plenty more is being offered at 20/30/40 and even 50% off!!!

Want to know why we haven’t blogged in a few days? For two reasons. First, we didn’t think you would be all that interested in our NY trip, and second, because we were afraid to spill the beans about our ANNUAL SPRING SALE which is starting, oh, now and is running through SUNDAY, APRIL 29 at 5 PM. Check out the left side of the home page for the details. But here’s the quick scoop. The WHOLE STORE is on sale. NOTHING LESS THAN 15% OFF ANY YARN, NOTION, BAG, etc. Single patterns are 50% off! Sale prices range from 15-50% off!!!! So that money you have been saving for Sheep and Wool next weekend (yeah, like we didn’t know you were planning to go!!!)? Take some of it and check out this sale. MANOS, COLINETTE KITS, BLUE HERON YARNS….15% off!!!!!

Because Lew the lawyer likes rules, please note that all sales this weekend are FINAL. No refunds/exchanges. The sale is on existing stock only, no special orders. And the sale can’t be combined with any other discounts including the frequent buyer card. But you already knew all this, right?

And yes, we are still having our SUNDAY IN THE SALON. We are, however, limiting it to eight so it doesn’t get too crazy here. We are starting a three session knit along for the fabulous DIAGONAL TRIANGLE SHELL. Call if you want to attend. We have three spots left and we will make sure you purchase the correct yarn for the garment. The yarn, by the way, is on sale. Did we mention that?????

Join us this Sunday for a special SUNDAY IN THE SALON. Why so special? Because we won’t be there!!!! Instead, the lovely PAIGE will give you instruction and inspiration on a simple technique that will add much personality to your simple knitting—the DUPLICATE STITCH. While we are gearing this to last week’s COLLEGE CLOTHS, you can use duplicate stitch in myriad ways, including stitching names or letters onto baby blankets.

So here’s how it will work. If you participated last week, no need to call and say you’ll be here this week. If the weather kept you away and you want to do the cloths, Paige will get you started on that as well, and then go into the duplicate stitch technique. And if you have no interest in the cloths but want to stitch, come join us! Just give us a call first so we have a place for you to sit. As always, the program is free and runs from 2-4 PM.

As for materials, either bring the cloths from last week or a swatch of knitted fabric, a tapestry needle (we have the best ones here!), and some yarn in a contrasting color.
As for us? We will be escaping to NYC for the weekend to fulfill a promise made to our best friend’s daughter 15 years ago. A high school graduation trip for the lovely CHARLOTTE. (Who is getting the cloths, but don’t tell!!!

Stephanie was kind enough to send along this photo of husband PAT in his new hand knit sweater. Pretty fabulous, huh?

Yes, the weather was frightful this weekend. But we soldiered on, and were rewarded with two great days. First, we had a very special visitor on Saturday:

Maxim had his trial run at the shop to see if mom Marietta could return to work with him. As you can imagine, he was a huge hit. He behaved beautifully, even in front of Uncle Lew, who had his doubts about a baby in the workplace. So watch for Marietta’s return before too long. Yes, that means we will be back in full crochet mode!

And on Sunday, although we had cancellations for the SUNDAY IN THE SALON program, four brave souls showed up in the pouring rain to make the adorable BACK TO SCHOOL CLOTHS from knitty. Nancy finished first:

And we promise not to punish or mock the “weather weenies” who chose to stay home (trust us, we would have been one of you had we had the option!). So come out next weekend for the second part of the program. The lovely and talented PAIGE will be teaching how to duplicate stitch the words STUDY and PARTY over the stockinette section of the cloths. And if you want to start your cloths then, no problem. I am sure you can talk her into showing you how to do the lace cloth we worked on yesterday! Just give us a call to let us know you will be attending.

We have two PERFECT gifts. DENISE INTERCHANGEABLE NEEDLES are back in stock (we sold 12 sets in less than two weeks) as are HILARY TAYLOR KNITTING BAGS/ACCESSORIES (ditto the speed with which these sell!). We are in love with both of these products.

And the Denise Needles are in the beautiful pink case, which means $5.00 of each set goes to Breast Cancer research.

Graduation is rapidly approaching, and KIM turned us on to the perfect gift for the college bound. We will be making seven “College Cloths” on Sunday April 15 and 22. What is so special about these cotton washcloths? Well first, you will get to practice different stitches on a small project, always fulfilling, but more importantly, these cloths are duplicate stitched with great advice for the grad: STUDY on six of them and yes, PARTY on the seventh (hey, all work and no play…….). Come have fun with us on Sunday.

You will need about 450 yards of cotton to make the seven cloths-we are using STRIA which is knitting up beautifully. And if you are using DK or light worsted yarn, bring size 6 short needles.

Just give us a call to register for the program. As always, it is free of charge and we will have refreshments.

It was only appropriate that we met with our first FALL vendor! The stubborn chill in the spring air was the perfect excuse to go a little crazy with CASCADE YARNS, one of our favorites! Remember the gorgeous CHUNKY BABY ALPACA (of course you don’t. It lasted about two weeks at the shop!)? Well, we ordered a ton of it. Are you among those who love to felt with CASCADE 220? You will have over 25 colors to chose from? And this fall you can knit the fabulous NONI FELTED BAGS. We ordered many patterns and plan on having several SUNDAY in the SALON programs dedicated to these amazing designs. What else? Well, the ultimate washable wool for blankets, kids clothes and all sorts of garments, 220 SUPERWASH, will be well represented. As will CASCADE SOCK yarns, both FIXATION and SASSY STRIPES. OK, we don’t want to give away all the secrets, but let’s just say fall is off to a rockin’ start!

And a very special LAUREL color came in today from Cheryl Schaefer. The subtle tones of ivory, grey, slate and tan which she dyed especially for us (we named it LEW ROSE) is now officially the SUSAN SONTAG colorway. It was a hit here and we are guessing it is going to be popular everywhere. So now you can knit Laurel for the man in your life.

One of our customers, Jennifer, was kind enough to sendKathy Cea this picture of the BUNNY from the DEBBIE BLISS book. Not the easiest instructions, but Jennifer persevered and did a great job! We hope she doesn’t mind that Kathy sent it along to us. We thought it was fabulous.

We arrived refreshed after our lazy Sunday off to receive several boxes from our UPS and FED EX guys! First, we are finally restocked with 365 KNITTING STITCHES. This perpetual calendar means that you will never have to buy a scarf or blanket pattern again-just pick a stitch.

Next, we have a LOT of DALE OF NORWAY in the house. In addition to four new pattern books filled with accessories, summer sweaters and the like, we have restocks of BABY ULL and STORK, which have proven to be great sellers now that knitters are back to the pleasures of small needle knitting. Come check out the wonderful colors.

Finally, the spring KNITTERS magazine has arrived. We have only glanced at it, but are delighted with the lace shells, asymmetrical vest cover pattern, and a lovely design by Norah Gaughan. Many more pleasures reside within, we are sure!

Leave it to Colinette to create a spring yarn in their fabulous colourways! We are delighted to have BANYAN in stock, a cotton/rayon DK weight yarn perfect for spring/summer tops, children’s things, blankets etc.

And just a reminder: we will be closed SUNDAY APRIL 8 for Easter!

And this is the scene that greeted us on Saturday morning. Don’t you love it when Easter weekend is colder and snowier than Christmas?:

Cheryl was kind enough to let us copy all the beautiful patterns she brought this past weekend. If you were at the program and put your name down for a specific pattern, it is here. If you were not at the program but are interested in these designs we offer them free with a purchase of yarn!

We have several popular items back in stock: LANTERN MOON SOX STIX, very lovely dpns in their own silk bag, and the RICE BASKETS both small and large in assorted colors. We are also well supplied with the beautiful ABFAB Afghan kits, including the IVORY which has proven to be the perfect wedding present when knit! Sorry, no pictures because we only have the software at home and our landscaper mistakenly severed our comcast cable line yesterday! But what a perfect excuse to come out the shop and see for yourself!

And was she a rock star!!!! Cheryl arrived just as the store opened, which was a good thing since she had a van filled with models and yarns! HEATHER helped us unload and sort, and we surrounded ourselves with the goodies as the store filled with program participants. We were spellbound as she told the SCHAEFER YARN story:

The models helped everyone see how fabulous the designs and colorways knit up:

And the piles of yarn on the floor dwindled as everyone was able to shop!

Cheryl advised, explained, and helped throughout the day:

Best of all, she left her pattern designs with us. How beautiful are her yarns and patterns? Lew stopped by after his golf game, took one look at everything on the floor and said “BUY IT ALL.” We have enough ANNE, PATTY, SANDRA, ELAINE, NANCY and LAUREL to get everyone through the next couple of weeks, and more is on the way. (Needless to say, Cheryl drove home this morning with an empty van). If you weren’t able to come to the program, stop by soon and check out the yarns, models and patterns. We are convinced that SCHAEFER YARNS is a standout among the hand-dyed yarn companies, and Cheryl helped us see why. Best of all? She has promised to come back when her book is published to sign copies for all!