We have decided to close today, largely due to road conditions. We don’t want anyone to get hurt in an effort to buy yarn! So here’s what we are going to do. First off, if you signed up for the ENTRELAC class, we will either refund your money or give you a store credit for a rescheduled class in the spring. Just call the store this week to let us know what you want to do.

Second, we are going to PUSH all the SUNDAYS IN THE SALON ahead one week. So we will do the SNOWBOARD HAT next Sunday, the FELTED SLIPPERS on Feb. 14 and so forth. We will have our lovely webmistress STACY, who lives in sunny Florida, to take care of changing the schedule. We hope your schedule allows for some flexibility.

Everyone stay safe today. We are going to finish our CITRON shawl out of MALABRIGO SOCK yarn and begin a lovely scarf out of their SILK MERINO (ooh, we see a spring program here!).

But you have obviously hunkered down because of the snow and so will we. The roads are bad and getting worse, so the store is closing early; we will close at 2:30 today. Please check the blog before heading out tomorrow.

Means SUMMER YARNS IN THE BINS!!! And we have more. So get ready for the warmer weather by checking out our new offerings from GEDIFRA and KARABELLA.

First up, this amazing yarn from GEDIFRA called FIORISTA FINO. No, it’s not the name of a European Coup—it’s a unique almost tye-dyed kind of thing that has to be seen to be believed. It’s such a great yarn that we have an entire magazine of patterns devoted to it:

And we have more SPRING/SUMMER pattern books from them as well. GEDIFRA is very fashion forward, so if you want to be really chic this coming summer, you will love the books.

And back in stock, two of our favorites from KARABELLA: VINTAGE COTTON and ZODIAC. Both of these yarns are mercerized cotton (one sport weight, one worsted) and are wonderful for all sorts of summer tops:

Including big boxes from ROWAN with all sorts of SPRING GOODIES in them. Included were gorgeous magazines:

Cool books for grown ups and kids:

And some amazing yarns like CALMER, SUMMER TWEED, and the new REVIVE made from recycled clothing! Come check it out:

And not to give them short shrift, we are also well stocked with NEEDLES and NOTIONS thanks to our lovely friends at BRYSON and CRYSTAL PALACE.

Each Thursday morning we try to link to a book on www.amazon.com so that you, our wonderful customers, can get the best prices on craft books. We also like to remind you of upcoming weekend events at the shop.

So today, check out our recommendation for these cold winter days/nights. Is there anything cozier than handknit socks? We don’t think so:

And we are excited about this last weekend in January. Not only do we get to show off some of the new stuff at the shop, but we will conclude our SATURDAY KAL with many thanks to PAIGE, who led an enthusiastic group in the knitting of FAIR ISLE and CABLED AFGHAN SQUARES.

On Sunday, we have just TWO SPACES remaining for the SNOWBOARD HAT. Since they are calling for snow this weekend, this quick knit on super chunky yarn may be just the ticket! If you have 16” SIZE 15 needles, bring them along. Your yarn choices are plentiful by combining 2 strands of BULKY YARN. Want to participate? Give us a call at 240.632.9276. We will teach you how to knit in the round if you don’t know how, but please remember that the free weekend programs are NOT substitutes for basic knitting skills. You must know how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off to participate.

And a quick note. Marietta has the weekend off. She will be at the shop today from 11-2 and tomorrow from 11-6. There is NO LEARN TO CROCHET class this weekend.

We are beyond excited about the arrival of SPRING YARNS!. They provide an opportunity to knit a lot of things without sleeves (yay!) and come in such gorgeous colors. Three GINORMOUS boxes from CASCADE arrived today (Albert the UPS Guy said no one is more excited at his arrival than we are) and we spent hours unpacking, tagging and shelving the yarns. Thanks to KAREN, FLO and KERRY for all their help!!

In addition to reorders of 220, 220 SUPERWASH, and SIERRA, we have two new yarns: LUNA and ULTRA PIMA.

LUNA is a 100% cotton, worsted weight, with a spin reminiscent of the old Misson Falls Cotton (but a better price and softer hand):