Want to shop off our floor? Or table? Help yourself!!! The vast quantities of yarn and pattern books are all checked in, if not priced or shelved! And we promise to have the table clear before our knitting night tomorrow!

We haven’t even had a chance to do more than sneak a peek at the new ROWAN, RYC and NASHUA books but they are …..inspirational. This season features beautiful classic, feminine and fun designs. And we scoped out a few cool things for the men in our lives as well. And books devoted to kids and babies! So come out of the heat and check out our new stock. More awaits in boxes from LANTERN MOON, CASCADE and COLINETTE. Stay tuned!

Also, just a quick weekend note: the SATURDAY KAL is filled. If you want to join NEXT Saturday (the 9th) give us a call toward the end of next week; we will see what the story is. There is room in the Sunday BEADED BAG program. Both programs are free of charge, run from 2-4 PM and require registration. Thanks.

We came up for air and noticed that a box of NONI patterns had also arrived. So for those of you who requested them, we are now stocked with the FLAMENCO BAG, HAPPY STRIPES, ADVENTURE BAG, STARRY STARRY NIGHT, LATTICE BAG, and STILL LIFE WITH PEARS patterns. We will confess that our BOBBLE BAG drew much attention on our vacation and recommend it as an attention getter!

Seriously. We told the lovely folks at ROWAN that we would be gone beginning July 15 and somehow our message got scrambled to mean “PLEASE SHIP YOUR 14 BOXES OF FALL GOODIES ON JULY 15.” So after a frantic call from our fantastic staff alerting us to the ROWAN FORT that resided in the shop for the past 12 days, we arrived this morning to start the process of checking in, pricing, shelving, etc. It’s going to take us a few days and we are going to block the door so JAVIER THE UPS GUY can’t come in, but OMG!!!! Rowan has outdone themselves. And that includes NASHUA and RYC as well. As an enticement, check out the cover of ROWAN 44. Beautiful, eh?

Also in and awaiting our work, LANTERN MOON NEEDLES. And some TILLI TOMAS yarn. And some COLINETTE. But if we list everything, we won’t get it all ready for you! So we will keep you posted as the week goes on.

And what would a true vacation be without a terrific staff to keep things going at the shop? Many, many thanks to the best employees in the industry. We mean it. We never go away without stopping in other yarn stores, and we can tell you that our staff is second to none.

Actually it’s a bird! A Penguin to be exact. A crocheted penguin. An Amigurami Penguin. I think I shall name him Pedro. Pedro will have some friends too - maybe an octopus or some other sea creatures. Pedro is scheduled to appear for your crochet fun with me, MARIETTA, for our SUNDAY IN THE SALON on JULY 27. Bring your left over CASCADE SIERRA (any colour)and size F or G crochet hook . You will also need tiny black buttons or beads for the eyes. We will have Poly-fill Stuffing for you to use while at the store (but you will need it at home if you do not finish in the store).

And do not forget, tomorrow is the SIMPLE HAT IN THE ROUND with LISA.

Keep cool if you can and I’ll see you next Sunday!
-guest blogger Marietta

As promised, some photos before we take off. First, TORRE proudly displays her bootie from last Sunday’s Salon program; we had an overflow crowd and she cheerfully ended up at the “kid’s table.” Who says knitters disappear in the summer?

And to give you a bit of a teaser for AUGUST, check out the live model of the KAL. Yep, that’s baby MAX (held proudly by mom MARIETTA, who is now 16 months old! We think he has a great future ahead of him as a knitwear model. Come join us each SATURDAY in AUGUST from 2-4 PM as we make this adorable BABY OWL sweater. Perfect for either boys or girls and we can show you how to size it from infant through 4 year old. Just give us a call at the shop to get your name on the list. The program is free.

Please note that we will close at 6 PM this and next Thursday; we will resume late hours on Thursday, July 31.

And come join us for a very popular SUNDAY IN THE SALON—a SIMPLE HAT IN THE ROUND. If you have wanted to learn knitting in the round or just want to get a jump on holiday gifts, this is the program for you. You will need 2 skeins of BABY ALPACA CHUNKY and 16” size 9 needles as well as dpns for the very top of the hat. We have a sample at the shop. The program, as always, is free of charge and runs from 2-4 PM. Just give us a call to let us know you are coming.

And as promised, next Sunday’s program, the 27th is CROCHET related. Join MARIETTA and crochet an adorable penguin! She has promised to help with some other toys as well. We have a picture of this creature and we’ll post it tonight as it is on our home email program.

A big thanks to everyone who turned out for yesterday’s charity knitting—those pictures should be up soon as well. We had a great turnout and have a large basket filled with booties for the babies in a Zimbabwe hospital. Please make sure you drop off your booties around August 1, so we can get them to Penny in time for her trip!

Thanks to our friend CHRIS, who scoped these out, three lovely patterns for KARABELLA AURORA 8 arrived today. We have a beautiful array of colors for this 100% merino worsted weight yarn. Now our only decision is which one to do first:

We’ve gotten quite a bit of yarn in lately—if you haven’t been in over the last month and are ready to begin fall knitting you will be pleased with the selection. Among our favorites? COLINETTE CADENZA, a washable DK weight yarn in those amazing colors from Wales. It found a temporary home on our table before it made its ways to its rightful cubby spots!

CHERYL was kind enough to forward this wonderful picture to us of husband JONATHAN in the sweater she knit. Isn’t it great??? We understand that he modeled it for the SAFARI class Cheryl was taking. We love guest appearances at WoolWinders! (And Cheryl, we are sorry it took us a while to figure out how to post the picture on the site but we mastered our new computer at seven this morning!)

We ordered JOJOLAND yarn this spring thanks to Tuesday morning safari MARY, who had happened upon this amazing yarn and pattern line in the midwest. Both yarn and patterns literally flew out of the shop. So for fall, we have expanded our selections. We now carry HARMONY (laceweight), MELODY (superwash fingering weight), RHAPSODY (worsted) and an unbelievable array of CASHMERE at both lace and DK weight! We haven’t carried cashmere in years but we couldn’t resist the quality and VALUE of her cashmere. What value? How about 400 yards of laceweight and 200 yards of DK for $28.99!!!!! And let’s face it, there is nothing like cashmere for the ultimate treat. We have plenty of scarf and shawl patterns that require one or two skeins, so go ahead….you deserve it!

to be carrying SIMPLY SHETLAND!!! We received the gorgeous BOOKS 1-4 last week and today JAVIER THE UPS GUY brought us the ultra-luxurious SILK/LAMBSWOOL blend. Wow! It is just beautiful and we have 15 colors in stock!

Aren’t knitters amazing folks? We have had an unbelievable response to next week’s charity SUNDAY IN THE SALON which features knitting baby booties for children in a Zimbabwe hospital. So here’s what we are going to do; we are going to have TWO groups—12-2 and then 2-4. Please when you sign up let us know which time period you will attend. We can’t have more than 12 people per group for safety as well as comfort reasons. Thanks.

If you have been trying to make the baby booties for our charity project next week and can’t seem to get the correct number of stitches in the beginning of the pattern, it’s not you, it’s me. There are two versions of the pattern floating around, and we erroneously printed the incorrect one. So here is the correct one. We promise.

We will post more info about NEXT Sunday’s program—we have had LOTS of interest in this worthwhile project and we don’t want to turn anyone away. For those of you unable to come to the shop but interested in making the booties, please use WASHABLE sport weight yarn (like Koigu) and size 3 needles. You can drop the booties off in the basket we have labelled at the front of the shop. Thanks!

BABY BOOTIES
Using Long Tail Cast On, CO 26 sts (or…you could use a provisional cast on & graft later…)
Row 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9: Sl 1 st knitwise, knit to end.
Row 2: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 1, m 1, k 11, (place marker) m 1, k 1, m 1, k 1, m1, (place marker), k 11, m 1, k 1. (31 sts)
Row 4: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 2, m1, k 11, (move marker) m 1, k 2, m 1, k 3, m 1, (move marker), k 11, m 1, k 2. (36sts)
Row 6: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 2, m1, k 11, (move marker) , m 1, k 4, m1, k 4, m 1, (move marker) , k 11, m 1, k 3. (41 sts)
Row 8: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 3, m1, k 11, (move marker) m1, k 5, m 1, k6, m1, (move marker), k 11, m1 , k4. (46 sts)
Row 10: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 4, m 1, k 11, (move marker), m 1, k 7, m 1, k 7, m 1, (move marker) , k 11, m 1, k 5. (51 sts)
Row 11: Sl 1 st knitwise, knit to end (remove markers).
Row 12, 14, 16, 18: Sl 1 st purlwise, purl to end of row.
Row 13, 15, 17: Sl 1 st knitwise, knit to end of row.

Shape Toe/Top of Foot: (Short Rows)
Row 19: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 28, ssk, turn.
Row 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34: Sl 1 st purlwise, p 7, p 2 tog, turn.
Row 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 7, ssk, turn.
Row 35: Sl 1 st knitwise, k 4, m 1, knit to end of the row. (36 sts)
Row 36: Sl 1 st purlwise, purl to end of the row.
Row 37: Sl 1 st knitwise, (YO, k 2 tog, k 1)* to last 2 sts, YO, k 2. (37 sts)
(This makes 12 eyelets for a “shoestring!”)
Row 38: Sl 1 st purlwise, purl to end of the row.

Cuff:
Row 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55: Sl 1 st knitwise, (K2, p 2 rib)* to end of row.
Row 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56: Sl 1 st knitwise, p 1, (K 2, p2 rib)* to last 5 sts, K 2, P3.
BO in pattern. Leave a 26 ” tail.

Turn to WS. Use tail to sew up selvedge edge. Turn RS out & shape toe with fingers.
Thread a ribbon or 3 s I-cord through your eyelets to make your “shoelace.”

We hope everyone had a happy, albeit soggy, Fourth of July. Come join us at the Salon this weekend for two exciting activities. First, we begin our JULY FINISH-ALONG!!! Each Saturday from 2-4 PM we invite you to bring in those UFOS that are preventing you from further yarn purchases. Finish them already!!! Marietta will be on hand to help and you will get first crack at checking out the new stuff we get in each week!

And on Sunday, we repeat the very popular, very chic CABLE BAG. Don’t buy this hot item for an exorbitant fee—knit it yourself from two skeins of CASCADE VENEZIA. Don’t know how to cable? We’ll show you!

Both programs run from 2-4 PM and are FREE OF CHARGE. Just give us a call to let us know you are coming so we save a space at the table.

On July 1, they’re not kidding! We received EIGHT GINORMOUS BOXES from KARABELLA and COLINETTE yesterday while we were off, so we were here first thing this morning pricing, labelling, and calling in the troops (aka the ROSS FAMILY) to help!!! With KERRY, ABBY and JESSIE here we may just get everything shelved today! Come check out the beautiful new KARABELLA arrivals—it’s our first fall with them and we are so excited about GOSSAMER, AURORA 8 (space dyed and mono), and CHAMELEON. And from COLINETTE, millions of colors of JITTERBUG, IONA, PARISIENNE, TAO and TAGLIATELLI, with more to come! And their brand new yarn, ONE ZERO, is amazing—think POINT FIVE at a wearable weight with all those brilliant COLINETTE colors.

OK, now we are going to see if we can borrow a shopping cart from the lovely folks at SAFEWAY so we can move all our inventory around. Quite the day. Stop in before the holiday tomorrow!

yarn, that is. Join us for our annual FOURTH OF JULY SALE—15% off any yarn that has even a speck of red/white/blue in it. As with all our sales, the purchase is final—no refunds or exchanges. The sale will run through Monday, July 7 to give everyone an opportunity to take part. And don’t forget we will be CLOSED on Friday so we can celebrate too!