Just a note to let everyone know we are open today, Saturday and Sunday regular hours; closed Monday for Labor Day. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend!

One of the reasons our staff is well regarded is that each has passions and strengths. It is well known, for example, that we would rather put our head through a meat grinder than do such things as steeking and stranding. Fortunately, we don’t teach those classes!!! PAIGE, however, does, and her passion for COLOR KNITTING is second to none at WoolWinders. She did an about face today when JAVIER, the UPS Guy, brought in a box from SIMPLY SHETLAND. Seriously. She was out the door and turned around. Her excitement at the arrival of our first five colors of JAMIESON SHETLAND SPINDRIFT was palpable. We sincerely believe that she now feels that she can TRULY teach FAIR ISLE KNITTING the way it was meant to be taught—with small gauge pure wool from the appropriate sources.

More yarn is due in, but this will get all you color knitters started. The lovely JAMIESON SHETLAND SPINDRIFT has arrived in five colors.

Labor Day Weekend is upon us—difficult as that is to believe. Our FALL CLASS SCHEDULE is done; we have copies at the shop and have sent the e-copy to our lovely webmistress STACY. We have included SEPTEMBER classes on the schedule. In the interest of time, we give you below a description of a NEW CLASS that starts next week—BEGINNING FAIR ISLE SAFARI. A group email will go out tonight with pictures, but we didn’t want to wait until Lew got home from driving his youngest to college today! We are SO excited about this class!!!! It will meet WEDNESDAY MORNINGS 9:30 -11:30. If you have EVER wanted to explore the world of color knitting, this is the way to do it! Four sessions, $95.00. If you want to see a picture of the lovely PAIGE wearing the FAIR ISLE HAT class participants will knit in four weeks, just click on the link below.

Download file

“Explore the world of color knitting in our Fair Isle Safari! This beginner’s class will cover such traditional Fair Isle techniques as corrugated ribbing, chart reading, stranding, weaving, decreasing, and working an invisible jog all while knitting a soft and snug hat in the round. Participants will need 1 skein each of 4 compatible colors of DK weight yarn, 1 size US 2 16” circular needle, 1 size US 3 16” circular needle, and a set of 5 US 3double-pointed needles. To make the exact model on display for this class use this yarn: 1 skein Rowan Wool Cotton in Cream; 1 skein Rowan Wool Cotton in Brown; 1 skein Simply Shetland Silk Lambswool in Ardvreck (#034-orange); and 1 skein Simply Shetland Silk Lambswool in Kildrummy (#019-green).”

And as for this weekend, we will be wrapping up the SATURDAY BABY OWL KAL—if you have been participating and haven’t gotten the matching HAT pattern, let us know. And SUNDAY we will open up the SALON at 2 for a FINISH-ALONG from this summer’s programs! So bring your hats, scarves, and everything else you may have started, relax with a glass of wine and some snacks, and finish those projects!!!! Just give us a call to let us know you will be here either day—we want to make sure we save a place at the table for you. Both programs run from 2-4 and are free of charge.

Our ARTYARNS order has arrived! Come check out the beautiful SILK RHAPSODY GLITTER that graces the shop. This lovely SILK/MOHAIR blend has just a thread of glitter (some silver, some gold) running through it, for the ultimate in dressy fashion. We have shawl and scarf patterns galore that work with this yarn—a store favorite:

We promised to blog about our first BLOCKING experience with HERSHEY’ S CLEANERS today. We are DELIGHTED to report total satisfaction. They did a beautiful job with our THREE BUTTON WRAP made from the JOSEPH GALLER ALPACA and charged a very reasonable fee of $5.00!!! So go with confidence to this lovely cleaners on Frederick Road in Gaithersburg right next to the Touchless Car Wash. A beautifully blocked garment, a clean car….what more could you ask??

KIM HARGREAVES is one of our favorite designers, and we missed her terribly when she left ROWAN to go out on her own. She has partnered with their US distributor, our pals at WESTMINSTER FIBERS, so that we yanks can get her gorgeous designs. Check out her HEARTFELT, which we sold so quickly we barely had time to blink. It’s back in stock:

We’re going to post a bit early this week because we are off to Florida for a few days at the end of the week to hang with mom. Join us SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 in the Salon for the lovely SCHAEFER UNDULATING SCARF. We made ours from SUSAN, but you can use any lightweight yarn, including KOIGU, JITTERBUG, TILLI TOMAS LACE etc. We made the unbeaded version, which is what we will be teaching on Sunday; there is a lovely sample at the shop. Please, though, remember that the free programs in the Salon are NOT substitutes for basic knitting instruction. You should have the skills to knit, purl, cast on, bind off, increase and decrease to participate in the programs. Don’t worry, though, if you haven’t done lace. We’ll get you through that.

As always, the program is free of charge; just call to reserve a spot.

We have been on a quest to find someplace that blocks hand knit garments ever since our favorite cleaners changed management. And we found it!!!! HERSHEY’S CLEANERS, on Frederick Road, will do all blocking for you, including blocking to measurements. They do the blocking for St. John Knits, so they have got to be good! When you bring your things in, tell them WoolWinders sent you. Exact address is 106 N. Frederick Road in Gaithersburg. As an added bonus, they are right next door to a great touchless car wash. Two errands done at once!

Last night’s SWATCH-A-THON was a huge success (despite the storm), thanks to the efforts of twelve wonderful folks who came out and helped us knit up all our new yarns. By the end of today we should have them all displayed around the shop—STEPHANIE was kind enough to take some home to get them a warm bath but promised to have them back early today. We’ve walked around the shop this morning and feel certain that we now have models or swatches of virtually EVERY YARN IN THE SHOP. So now when you want to see how something works up, we can show you with confidence! Thanks again to everyone who came last night. You rock!!!!

Join us this weekend as our KAL progresses—everyone’s BABY OWL is looking adorable. And we even have a matching hat pattern to give you c/o KATHY Y, KATHY C, and MARIETTA who worked it out! And on Sunday we are featuring the popular MULTI-DIRECTIONAL SCARF. Learn modular knitting in the easiest way possible using ANY YARN YOU LIKE FROM THE SHOP. ANY GAUGE, ANY YARN!!!!!! And we’ll even show you how to turn it into a shawl. As always, both programs run from 2-4 PM and are free of charge. Just give us a call so we save you a seat!

And the uber-gorgeous ROWAN 44 is back in the house! These flew out of here last time so if you want one put aside, give us a call. We will hold your copy with a credit card, or even mail it out to you!

One of the most popular yarns at WoolWinders is JOSEPH GALLER PERUVIAN TWEED. And for good reason. This modestly priced DK weight alpaca is produced in huge hanks, dyed with natural dyes (think creme, brown, black), and can be held double to create a beautiful chunky weight garment. We are using it to knit the model for the THREE BUTTON WRAP. It’s now back in stock but won’t last long!

Also in stock, thanks to a visit from our UPS guy:

Three new NASHUA books using many of their yarns including the lovely new GEOLOGIE
New color of REGIA sock yarn
A beautiful tan tweed colorway of FELTED TWEED

All are checked in and ready for purchase!

We are thrilled with the response for the SWATCH-A-THON that will be held on THURSDAY, AUGUST 14 from 6-8 PM. All of our “regulars” are participating—thanks for giving up an evening of your own knitting to help us out, and in addition we have filled with rest of the slots. If you have signed up, please bring an assortment of needles with you ranging in sizes 4-15. If there is a size you particularly love (or hate) working with, we will honor those preferences. We have LOTS of yarn to swatch. And everyone helping out will receive 15% off ANYTHING they buy that evening, in addition to the fun of “playing with yarn” all night. There will be plenty of wine and snacks—can’t wait to see you!

Our favorte Tshirt reads “ENGLISH MAJOR: YOU DO THE MATH.” We say this as a way of apologizing for the math errors in the BEADED BAG pattern that we gave out recently. Our lovely friend JANICE was kind enough to rework the pattern as she made the bag. She has made two and so is confident that all the math in this revision is correct. We will have printed copies at the shop. Thanks for your patience! And a million thanks to Janice.

LITTLE BEADED BAG (REVISED)
MATERIALS:

1 skein Beaded Silk (approximately 150 yards)
1 pair Size 5 or 6 needles
Tapestry needle
Fabric for Lining
Handles or Snaps (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Cast on 134 stitches

Create the Ruffle:
Row 1: Purl
Row 2: K1, K2tog across row (should end up with 89 stitches on the needle)
Row 3: Purl
Row 4: K2tog, K1 across row (should end up with 59 stitches on the needle)

Bag:
Row 1: (right side – set up row): P1, K12, P3 three times, K12, p1
Row 2, 4 and 6: Knit the knits and purl the purls
Row 3: P1, C6F, C6B, P3 three times, C6F C6B, P1
Row 5: Knit the knits and purl the purls

Repeat rows 1 – 6 until the bag measures at least 7.25 inches ending with having knit a wrong side row. (Note: If you are using a 150 yard skein of Rock Star beaded silk you can knit until the bag measures 8 inches.)

Ruffle:
Row 1: K1, M1, then K2, M1 until you get to the last two stitches on the needle then K1 M1 K1 (should end up with 89 stitches on the needle).
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K1, M1, K1, M1, then K2, M1 until you get to the last two stitches on the needle then K1, M1, K1
Row 4: Purl (should end up with 134 stitches on the needle)
Row 5: Bind off

Finishing:

Sew the sides of the bag together using a mattress stitch. Construct the lining of bag. Whip stitch the lining to the finished bag. Attach handles or snaps as desired.

Optional finishing: You may have enough yarn remaining to make an I-cord approximately 20 – 23 inches long (or whatever length pleases you). If you choose to do this, before attaching the lining, secure the I-cord to the seams in the interior of the bag up to the point the ruffle begins on each side (I-cord will be sandwiched between the bag and the lining). Secure the lining to the bag. Attach snaps as well. This way you can use the bag with or without a strap/handle as needed.

Come join us today from 2-4 for the BABY OWL SWEATER KAL—we have a few people from last week who are on vacation and won’t be here today. We’ll get you started—don’t worry. This is a no-fail pattern from the 1960s that makes an adorable baby or toddler sweater! If you have needles, bring size 2 and 3 for the baby; 4 and 5 for the toddler.

And tomorrow we repeat the popular LINEN TIE program for our SUNDAY IN THE SALON. You will learn how to create a stitch so beautiful it almost looks woven, and end up with a fabulous looking tie as well.

Both programs are free and run from 2-4 PM. Just give us a call so we save a place at the table for you!

And thanks to everyone who responded to our SWATCH-A-THON notice on the website. We are completely filled and can’t wait to have all the new yarns swatched up and on display! Thanks again. We love our customers!

Please note: we will be going to our amazing finisher MARINA on MONDAY, AUGUST 11 instead of tomorrow. Anything brought to her last week will be back then; anything going out will be brought to her on Monday. Thanks.

We have been with BLUE SKY ALPACA since they had one tiny table at the 2002 TNNA Show. They have an entire area now, and yet still produce a consistently beautiful product and deliver on time. Is it any wonder they are one of our favorite vendors? We are now restocked with their lovely ALPACA SILK and pure ALPACA. Both are wonderful for shawls, sweaters, hats, baby stuff etc.

The WOOLY STRIPES is one of our favorite ROWAN yarns. Whether you use it for felting or just plain knitting or crocheting, the colors are amazing and the hand is luscious. Try it in the SONNET sweater for vertical rather than horizontal striping!!!

And we are leaving them with KERRY, BRENDA, KATHY, GAIL and PAIGE to figure out where to put it all while we are off for the next two days!!!! We have great faith in their abilities. To whet your appetite, check out the yarns below that we ordered in the amazing SCHAEFER colors: ANNE (sock yarn), NANCY(worsted), ESPERANZA (chunky) and BLOSSOM (loop mohair). We have some wonderful patterns free with purchase of yarn, some which CHERYL SCHAEFER brought to us personally and others that just work well with the yarns. And we even got in a few AFGHAN KITS as well. SCHAEFER always flies out of the shop and we expect this season to be no different

Two quick notes about today’s program—we have a very few spaces left for the BEADED BAG. The yarn used (either beaded or simple silk if you would prefer to make the bag without beads) needs to be wound first, so if you are planning to attend, please come early or have your yarn wound and ready! And bring your size 6 needles as well. (No need to purchase additional needles at the shop!) Finally, if you are slow to cast on, feel free to do so prior to the program—you will need 147 stitches! See you later on today.

LUCINDA GUY’s new CROCHET FOR KIDS just arrived. Thinking about gifts for the children in your life???? This book is wonderful. Twenty projects ranging from toys to sweaters. Get your hooks ready!

Our store is filled to bursting! We literally have three bins reserved for the Shetland, two for the Blue Sky Alpaca….and that’s it. And the SCHAEFER has shipped, so if anyone has any ideas about where to put those gorgeous yarns, let us know. We are exhausted, but so grateful for all the help our staff gave this week in the unpacking, labelling, and shelving 18 boxes of yarn, patterns, books and needles. And we even had wonderful volunteers. Our Thursday night knitters dove right in and began labelling the COLINETTE, CASCADE, and LANTERN MOON. And STEPHANIE and DOROTHY returned today to give us even more help. Thanks, guys! We love you. We have some great pics on our new camera, which Lew has graciously agreed to download either tonight or tomorrow morning.

We LOVE this time of year. Our bins are filled, our hearts are bursting, and our mind is busy with project planning. Come get inspired with the gorgeous yarns and dramatic designs for fall!