Then join us today from 2-4 PM and learn to knit the REPUBLIC HAT (scroll down a bit and you will see the model). This is a fashionable EASY cloche. We have new amazing buttons for the accent and just got SHELBY’S HAND DYED WASHABLE CHUNKY YARN in the store, so you can use that. We have lots of other choices as well. You will need size 10 circular needles 16” in length as well as size 10 DPNS. Don’t know how to knit in the round? We will show you! The program is free of charge, which beats even the Black Friday discounts you received!

We have been searching for YEARS to find a gorgeous MACHINE WASHABLE CHUNKY YARN. Leave it to the fabulous SHELBY to satisfy our needs in a big way. Her yarns are unique and beautiful, and she dropped off THREE GINORMOUS BOXES today. We have lots of colorways in both CHUNKY and WORSTED—all machine wash! If you are not familiary with Shelby’s yarns, this is a great time to check them out. She is a very talented LOCAL fiber artist ( just up the road in Germantown) and dyes colors exclusive to Woolwinders. This can be a really wonderful gift for someone who lives elsewhere—her yarns are not widely distributed and you will be a hero for turning a friend or loved one onto these skeins!

Just in time for the cooler weather, we received a large box from our favorite New Yorker, Cheryl Schaefer. Inside? Lots of ESPERANZA and KATHLEEN, her CHUNKY and SUPERCHUNKY wools. They’re luscious. Check these babies out. We have lots of pattern ideas and you can whip up a shawl, hat, or even a sweater in no time on big needles:

We want to have a TRUE day off tomorrow, so we are doing our usual Thursday blog today.
Mindful of everyone’s hectic schedule, we offer TWO books through www.amazon.com that should get you through last minute holiday scarves. If you have these PERPETUAL CALENDARS, you will NEVER need another scarf pattern again! Just pick a stitch you like, figure out your gauge, and cast on the appropriate number of stitches. VOILA!

And when you have had enough of food and family, come join us on SATURDAY and/or SUNDAY for our free programs that run from 2-4 PM. We promise to go light on the snacks! We will be working on shawls on Saturday, and on Sunday, we will be knitting the REPUBLIC HAT. This cute cloche takes 100 grams of CHUNKY YARN and 16” circular 9 and 10 needles as well as size 10 dpns.

We hope to see you over the weekend. Enjoy your turkey day!

Our computer system is back up and running just in time for Thanksgiving. Unlike our MA in Southern Lit (go on, ask us about Carson McCullers or Kate Chopin. Just ask. ), our stepson’s degree in Software Engineering is actually useful in the world of work. Ben was that tall handsome stranger climbing around under our cash stand over the past several days, and on very little sleep has gotten us a new computer, reinstalled our programs, upgraded our hard drive…..not that I really know what any of that means, but we are operational again. Many thanks to Ben and Lew who worked tirelessly to make this happen.

And a million thanks to all of you who came armed with cash and checks, just like the old days. About the only good thing that came out of this was the realization that many of you do, in fact, read this blog. That was really gratifying. And our customers’ cooperation was really heartwarming. Thank you again.

We are open 11-6 today, 11-3 tomorrow, and closed Thursday. Hope to see you during the holidays, but if not, have a wonderful weekend.

We always believed that our customers ROCK, and this weekend proved it. Thanks so much for your cash and checks—our cash flow appreciates it! Although we are in better shape than last week (thanks to our amazing IT department, aka our husband and stepson), we still would prefer the old fashioned payments. Hopefully we will be fully operational by tomorrow.

As for holiday hours, we will be closing at 3 PM on Wednesday and will remain closed until 10 AM Friday. We are having our annual sale this week on all yarns that contain the colors of PUMPKIN and CRANBERRY—15% off! And we have our usual FREE programs this weekend; the shawl KAL continues on Saturday and we feature a great and quick CHUNKY HAT on Sunday from 2-4 PM. We’ll post more about that on Wednesday.

Let’s start with the GOOD, since we are, by nature, highly optimistic. We have just received our new KNITTING BAGS, NEEDLE CASES, and ACCESSORY BAGS from SLIPPED STITCH. These are funky and fabulous:

and we will have them ready for purchase TODAY. Hurry in. Once our weekend folks AND our staff see them, they will not last long. We have already taken two!

OK, and now for the bad. Our computer system is still gaflooey (sorry for the techno-speak), at least as it pertains to credit cards. We REALLY appreciate your patience with all of this and we should have an interim measure in place by Tuesday. But until then, if you can give us a check or cash, you will have our eternal thanks. We will keep you posted. All of this has given us definite proof that there IS Murphy’s Law. But you all have been wonderful. Many, many thanks.

No, watch your mind! POS stands for Point of Sale! And our POS is now a POS.

We are having computer problems and as a result are unable to process credit card payments at the moment. We hope to have everything back in working order quickly but just in case, we’d appreciatre it if you would bring a check or cash with you. We will post an update when our technology is better than the current cigar box we are using at the moment.

Thanks!

So we have our weekly BOOK SELECTION from our pals at www.amazon.com as well as info about the upcoming weekend.

First off, we are, of course, obsessing about holiday gifts and we are checking out EVERY book that will help us in this endeavor:

Click on the link and you will be taken to the amazon site. While there, you can buy ANYTHING YOU WANT!!!! As an amazon affiliate, anything you get will help us as well!

And join us this weekend to make gifts for yourself or any loved one. We continue our SHAWL KAL on Saturday from 2-4 PM. And on Sunday, a really easy CHEVRON SCARF that will make everyone think you are a heck of a lace knitter!!! If you have NEVER done lace, this is a great way to learn. You will need 300 yards of WORSTED WEIGHT YARN (variegated looks lovely and the pattern is shown in JOJOLAND RHYTHM) and Size 8 needles, as well as markers. We are delighted to report that we FINALLY received our order from CRYSTAL PALACE and have short needles in stock again!

As always, both programs are FREE OF CHARGE and run from 2-4 PM. Come join us!

Thanks for asking! But that doesn’t stop us from posting the BOOK OF THE WEEK. We salute our intrepid hookers this week with a really clever set of CROCHET PATTERN CARDS. We love the portability of these, and the designs are very fashion forward! Our LEARN TO CROCHET sessions are booming, thanks to MARIETTA, so join in the fun on SATURDAYS from 12-1. You will be using these patterns before you know it!

And we can’t log off without giving a SHOUT OUT to our amazing staff. Imagine our surprise when we logged on this morning to discover that the blog has been kept up to date. You guys ROCK!!!!

Oh how we love the UPS man! Today we are most grateful for many many sets of the ADDI LACE NEEDLES and the ADDI NATURA’s. Still no straights and dpns - but we hear they are on their way.

In other UPS delivery news, we are fully re-stocked in the ever popular CASCADE 220 and the CASCADE SUPERWASH.

Do not forget to join us this Saturday for LEARN TO CROCHET with Marietta from 12-1, or our SUNDAY IN THE SALON from 2-4 with Kerry in making a 1-2 skein worsted weight dog sweater.

The lovely TEAL colorway of COCOON is back in stock. Since we sold the last batch within a day, we would suggest a quick trip up here if you want any……Also some IVORY CREATIVE FOCUS SUPERWASH is back in stock!

So you know what that means. First off, the book of the week through our lovely friends at www.amazon.com:

Maybe it’s because our ears were freezing when we went out for our morning walk today, but we love this book! Check out the great hats within—suitable for all levels of knitters. And remember, that once you are on the amazon page through this link, you can buy ANYTHING and it benefits your local LYS. Hey, that’s us!

This weekend marks the beginning of a new month for our Saturday KAL. We begin a month of lovely SHAWLS. We have lots of patterns for you, and if you have never knit LACE, this is your month!! 600 yards of sportweight yarn or around 1000 of laceweight will do just about any of these patterns. So have at it! Shawls are HUGE this year. Why not be fashion forward?

On SUNDAY we continue MITTEN MADNESS, and it has been an insane run! Join KERRY as she instructs on three separate mitten patterns. We had a full house and lots of fun last week; we expect it to continue. Please remember that the Saturday and Sunday programs require basic knitting skills: casting on, knitting, purling, and binding off.

And new at the shop—we are proud to announce the arrival of MORE SHELBY YARN in WORSTED WEIGHT—both superwash and pure merino. Her yarns are literally flying off the shelves, so hurry in!

Also in, the special edition of INTERWEAVE KNITS: ACCESSORIES. Holiday gifts, anyone?

If so, please give us a call. We found a problem with the CHOCOLATE CHERRIES and BLACK colorways—they don’t felt!!! We have made TILLI TOMAS is aware of the problem and the company stands by their products—if you bought the yarn from us, please bring it back to the shop and we will give you a refund. We are returning the yarn to the company and they will speak with the mill that produced it. This applies ONLY to black or chocolate cherries from the last delivery (September). All the other colorways of FLURRIES and WHISTLER are felting just fine!

GAIL was kind enough to email us some photos taken during the FOX 5 MORNING NEWS show on TUESDAY. We now have the pattern for HOLLY’S HAT at the shop—she aptly demonstrated that yes, it can be done within a few hours, even for a total beginner! She was really a good sport! And again, many thanks to our staff and customers who braved the early, dark, and rainy morning to participate.