Classes, events, free patterns….don’t miss the WINTER NEWSLETTER this week! The only way to get it is electronically. So sign up on the bottom left side of this page and follow all the prompts. You will then be the FIRST to find out everything going on at the shop! (as an added incentive, we have an email going out tomorrow about a special DECEMBER event. Don’t miss it!)

And a big SHOUT OUT to our very own MARIETTA, who has the courage to follow her dreams even in a wobbly economy. We are delighted to have more of her time beginning tomorrow, when she works MONDAYS at the shop in addition to her weekend gigs. IS’s loss is our gain. We are so proud of you, Mar. You can read all about her new career path in the newsletter.

Family all gone? Hang at the shop today and get some crochet instruction as well. The SUNDAY IN THE SALON features adorable CROCHET animals. These make wonderful quick holiday gifts. As always, the program is free of charge and runs from 2-4 pm. We know everyone’s stuffed, but there will still be snacks and wine.

We always love Thanksgiving weekend because it gives us an opportunity to see folks who visit the area of every year. So come on by! We will be open today until 3, then closed tomorrow so we can overeat like everyone else, and then reopen at 11 on Friday. There will be Thanksgiving treats in case you didn’t eat quite enough, and lots of wonderful ideas for holiday projects.

We continue our Saturday KAL with the selection of holiday shawls and will be modeling the easiest one to do. We have a sample of the mid-challenge Ruana at the shop, and as far as the third one (aka MENSA), we are not too embarassed that it kicked our butt and we gave up. But CAROL, CINDY, and HEATHER forged on and we look forward to checking out the FO.

On Sunday, once you’ve gotten rid of the family that always seems to outstay their welcome, kick back at the shop from 2-4 PM when MARIETTA will be leading the Salon program to CROCHET adorable stuffed animals that go really quickly. We’ll have the usual wine and treats. And watch for the exciting news about MARIETTA in the winter newsletter, which should be out next week.

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone. KNIT ON!

And we got some great ones in today! Check out SIMPLY SHETLAND 5, BABYKNITS HATS & BOOTIES, ROWAN CROCHET WORKSHOP, and MASON DIXON KNITTING OUTSIDE THE LINES. You can even read them in the car on your way to Thanksgiving Dinner! Come on. Treat yourself. Or better yet, put them on your wish list card!

One of the greatest benefits of a wonderful staff is that you actually look FORWARD to getting together. Last night was the annual WoolWinders Holiday Party and staff (we missed you Paige and Kim), spouses, guests, and even some kids partied hard at the lovely NORMANDIE FARMS INN. It’s the official kick-off to the holiday season.

And please note: we will close at 3 PM on Wednesday, November 26 and will remain closed on Thursday. We will be open at 11 AM on Friday the 28th and hope to see many of you then. We wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy holiday!

Well, we THOUGHT we had received all of the KOIGU, but in walked Javier the UPS Guy today with SIX more gorgeous colors of the KPPM. We now have 41 (yes, that is forty-one) colors of this gorgeous yarn. So of course we had to come up with a project for it—keep your eyes peeled for our WINTER SCHEDULE which should be out DECEMBER 1. We have a fabulous SHAWL for the FEBRUARY KAL which takes seven skeins. We plan on starting it Thanksgiving Day, so you can check the WIP on the blog!

For Paige’s fabulous FAIR ISLE BAG program on Sunday. It’s free of charge but there is prep work, so please give us a call if you want to participate. We will get you all set up with the proper materials and make sure you are ready for the program!

We now have the lovely BUTTERMILK ROAD knitting bags, accessory cases and circular needle holders back in stock. These NEVER last long, and are perfect gifts for you to put on your wish list in time for the JINGLE BALLS evening on December 5. Also back in stock, popular colors of CASCADE 220, 220 SUPERWASH and SIERRA.

Join us Sunday for a very special program led by the QUEEN OF ALL THINGS FAIR ISLE*--aka the lovely PAIGE. No matter what you are giving as a gift this season, give it in a gorgeous knit GIFT BAG. A sample is shown below. There is prep work to the program:

So that we may concentrate on learning the Fair Isle stranding technique during the salon, please take the free gfit bag pattern(s) home with you when your purchase your materials for this project and begin the bag, knitting up until the point when you need to start working from the Fair Isle chart. The Fair Isle charts will be provided during the class on Sunday.

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*We admit to feeling extreme trepidation when we saw this on the schedule as our Fair Isle skills rival our Crochet ones. But fear not, you will be led by a true expert, whose knowledge of the technique is second only to her passionate love for it!

Considering taking the Metro to the Inauguration celebration in January? You certainly don’t want to lose your Metro Card going to or from the festivities, right? You need METRO MITTENS (scroll down to see the sample). Our very own KERRY will teach you how to make these on Sunday from 2-4 PM. We only have THREE SPACES LEFT and there is some homework to do beforehand. So give us a call at 240.632.9276 to participate in this FREE program!

Javier the UPS Guy staggered in under the weight of a ginormous box today. We were delighted to learn it was the rest of our KOIGU order!!!! Eighteen more glorious colors of the KPPM yarn. Let the SOCK/SWEATER/SCARF/HAT knitting begin! Oh heck, you can even make a great baby blanket out of this exquisite MACHINE WASHABLE yarn!!! And what better yarn to put on your WISH LIST for our JINGLE BALLS celebration in DECEMBER?????

As promised, here is a photo of the really cool METRO MITTS that will be this SUNDAY IN THE SALON program. See the button? That’s where the pocket is for the metro/id card!

We love the MANOS WOOL/SILK BLEND for its drape and lightweight coverage. It’s a wonderful yarn to work with (just ask Stephanie!) and we were delighted to receive some new patterns for the yarn from designer JUDITH SHANGOLD. They’re quite cute:

We have always found Judith’s designs to be classic, well-written, and easy to wear. We think you will agree! And remember, if you buy the yarn for the project, the pattern is FREE!

We have a special treat in store for you this SUNDAY from 2-4 PM. The one and only KERRY will be teaching the program—METRO MITTENS. These spectacular mitts have a secret pocket for your transit/Starbucks/student ID card—how cool is that? Kerry is on her sixth pair, which guarantees she will be an expert instructor. We will post a photo of one of the pairs tonight when we get home—for some reason our store computer seems to be spitting out our jpg files today.

As always, the program is free. You will need 220 yards of worsted/heavy worsted yarn, and dpns size 5 and 7, as well as markers, tapestry needle, 2 3/4” buttons, and some waste yarn. And there is homework. Please cast on 40 stitches on the smaller dpns and join without twisting. Working in the round, work a two row repeat of k1, p1 (row 1) and k1 tbl, p1 (row 2) for 3”. If you don’t know how to work on dpns. please come to the shop sometime during the week and we will show you how!

Give us a call if you want to join Kerry in this great gift program!

“Woolwinders’s Knitting Night is Finally Here!Don’t forget that this Friday November 14th is Woolwinders’s first Knitting Night! If you are one of the 25 people on our list who signed up for this event, remember that the fun begins at 7:00 p.m! Bring a cushion to sit on and a favorite dessert or snack to share if you like and enjoy this evening of purely social fun with other knitting fans. Please remember: although you will be able to make purchases, this is not a class nor a safari so please bring projects with you that you will not need help with. This is the perfect opportunity to spend some time on those holiday gifts and to make new knitting friends, all at Woolwinders’s friendly, relaxed atmosphere. See you Friday!”

Kris, where are you? We left a message on your phone to let you know that you won the October raffle, but haven’t heard a peep out of you!!! Please get in touch with us so you can pick up your beautiful bag. If you are a friend of Kris’, please let her know!

Can’t you feel the chill in the air? We continue our fall knitting this weekend with both the SATURDAY KAL (a choice among three holiday wraps) and the SUNDAY IN THE SALON RUFFLED SCARF.

Sunday’s program promises to be a lot of fun. Our lovely friend PAULINE was the inspiration behind this unique scarf—all knit in silk with room for a keyhole (i.e. a bit buttonhole). Once finished, you pick up the stitches around the keyhole with KIDSILK HAZE or PARISIENNE and create a fabulous ruffle through which you pull one end of the scarf. A fabulous accessory sure to dazzle, and best of all it is EASY!!!! Pauline has made several already and we bet you will too.

As always, both programs are free of charge and run from 2-4 PM. Please do call us, though, so we can save a spot at the table for you. And in addition to the yarn, you will need appropriate needles, both straight and DPNs.

As promised, here is a picture of the beautiful SILK NEEDLE CASE sewn by our very own MARIETTA. It’s yours if you win the November raffle at WoolWinders:

Now quit reading the blog and go VOTE!!!

Wow! Let’s give a little plug to CONSTANT CONTACT, that amazing email program. We started getting calls immediately after releasing the notice of ONE opening in the Fiona Ellis program next week. So the program is now filled.

Please note that the shop will close early that night—no late hours. We will close at 6 PM for the program and resume late hours the following Thursday, November 20. Thanks.

Now that our sale is over, we can continue with our gift raffle. This month, we feature a gorgeous RED SILK DUPIONI NEEDLE CASE handstitched with love by our very own MARIETTA. She has promised an email picture tonight. Each time you spend at least $15 at the shop, you are eligible to win. We’ll draw the winning ticket on November 30. And we don’t even ask if you are truly giving it as a gift! Keep it for yourself. We’ll never tell.

We had an awesome FALL SALE! Thanks to all who came, shopped, and conquered our bins of discounted yarns. At the end of business today, we drew our raffle tickets and the following lucky folks won:

3rd prize (Cozy Knits for Cuddly Babies): ANNE COTE

2nd prize (Private Knitting Lesson): GRETCHEN KRIMMEL

1st prize (15 % discount on all purchases for one year): JUDY CRUMRINE

Congrats to all. And thanks.

We love chaos. So in the midst of our big FALL SALE, when the entire store is discounted at least 15%, we offer two afternoons of knitting fun. Today we begin our NOVEMBER KAL, featuring three holiday wraps in varying degrees of difficulty (we will be wearing the mid-range RUANA, so come check it out).

And tomorrow, we have expanded our FELTED BOWL Sunday in the SALON to include some really cool VASES which KERRY whipped up seemingly overnight. We have plenty of feltable yarn, including MANOS, WOOLY STRIPES, CASCADE 220 and CASCADE 109; we recommend bringing your assortment of circular and double pointed needles. We will have all the patterns available.

As always, the programs are free of charge, run from 2-4 pm and offer refreshments and lots of company. So come on out, check out the sale, enter our drawing to win a 15% discount on ALL PURCHASES FOR ONE CALENDAR YEAR, and oh yeah, get some holiday gifts done!

And yes, we finished and felted our YOGA MAT CARRIER. It’s really cool, despite the fact that we seem to have twisted the strap. We’ll have it at the shop today so you can check it out. If you have the book LAST MINUTE KNITTED GIFTS, the pattern is in there and takes six skeins of MANOS or CASCADE 109.