We hope you are having a good start to the new year. In spite of the frigid weather, we're feeling cozy here at WoolWinders with lots of winter projects in full swing and new yarns arriving weekly. In addition to the wonderful array of classes at Annapolis and Rockille shops, we also have new products to share with you! 

We are excited to carry a brand new yarn that is getting rave reviews from knitters around the country. Stolen Stitches Nua is a yarn developed in collaboration by Jeni Hewlett of Fyberspates and Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches.The blend of different fibers creates an amazing yarn. The merino wool gives it an incredible softness, the yak provides a wonderful (and unique!) silkiness, while the linen gives the stitches striking visual texture and provides strength to the fabric

The blend of fibers also creates rich and interesting colorways. The linen absorbs dye in a way which allows the yarn to have a natural tweed effect, and the yak is the key to the subtle color palette. It adds a natural light brown to the base yarn so all the colors are just that little bit darker in the finished yarn.

Nua is a lighter yarn with a bit more bounce, making blocking easier and helping projects (especially garments) to hold their shape nicely. This yarn will be nice for a poncho or sweater that can be used in many different seasons. Stop by Annapolis or Rockville to see this unique yarn in person! 

Come meet Gayle and get your Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible signed in person! That's right, in addition to the Japanese Lace Scarf class, we're having a book signing with Gayle! 

We will have books for sale or you can bring your own. 

Saturday, January 27
12PM - 1:30PM
WoolWinders Rockville

For more info about the Japanese Lace Scarf class, please see the class page. For more information about Gayle, please see our previous blog post. And if you have any questions please call or email us.

We are Excited to welcome back Gayle Roehm - who is coming to WoolWinders Rockville right after she completes a full set of teaching courses at the famous Vogue Knitting Live! in NYC. Gayle will be joining us for a Japanese lace knitting class and a book signing! 

Description: Knitters who love beautiful stitch patterns are delighted with the "Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible: 260 Exquisite Designs by Hitomi Shida," recently published in English. This class will give you an exclusive preview of one of the designs - Hitomi Shida's Exquisite Scarf! Join the translator to knit the scarf project from this book, and gain experience and insight into the complex charts and symbols. We'll start the body of the scarf in the first class, practicing chart-reading and some of the more complex maneuvers, to be sure you can work on the project later at home. In the second class, we’ll complete the “frill” at one end. The pattern will be provided; you don't need to purchase the book ahead of time.

Class Dates/Times:

Saturdays, January 27 & February 10

2PM - 4PM 

Materials Needed for Class: Approximately 350 yards of DK-weight wool or wool-blend yarn, preferably in a light color. A set of straight or circular needles in US size 6 (4.0mm); you may want to have a couple of additional sizes to get gauge, especially if you're a tight or loose knitter.

Cable needle.

Small amounts of smooth waste yarn. 

Location: WoolWinders Rockville

MORE ABOUT GAYLE

Gayle teaches knitting classes around the country with a focus on using Japanese patterns. She loves to introduce knitters to the pleasures of Japanese designs, and her knowledge of the subject is unmatched. She majored in Japanese studies, speaks Japanese, and lived in Japan during and after her college years.

She went on to business school and worked as a management consultant all over the world, including many visits to Japan. She is an avid knitter and has been incorporating Japanese patterns for many years.

With the rise of the internet, anyone anywhere can find a wide range of Japanese books and patterns but many have found the translating difficult. Enter Gayle, who has been able to provide instruction on how to translate these beautiful patterns. Her classes have been VERY popular at events such as Vogue Knitting LIVE, Stitches, Interweave Knitting Lab, Yarnover, Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat, Sock Summit and more. Gayle’s designs have been published in Knitter’s Magazine, Interweave Knits, A Gathering of Lace, and by yarn companies. For several years she translated Japanese patterns for Dancing Fibers (now Sunrise Yarns/Diakeito), and she prepared the Japanese section for the book Knitting Languages. She also sells original work at a local fiber arts gallery. 

We are very excited to welcome her back to WoolWinders! Come meet Gayle at her book signing and her class! 

Whatever your fiber-crafting goals are, WoolWinders is here to help. We have a full list of classes scheduled for the 2018 Winter season at both Annapolis and Rockville for Safari and Project classes. Below you'll find the classes schedule for January - including a special class and book signing with our friend, best selling author Gayle Roehm!

Please take a look at the classes and make 2018 the year you invest in something that brings you joy, satisfaction, and peace! We hope to see you soon at WoolWinders Yarn Shop! 

Today we continue our feature of June Cashmere, the luxury cashmere yarn company that will be featured at the WoolWinders Annapolis Open House on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th. 

We hope you've enjoyed learning a little about June Cashmere over the past few blog posts. June Cashmere is an extraordinary company, with extraordinary yarns and an extraordinary story. WoolWinders Yarn shop is very excited to bring June Cashmere to you!

We hope to see you at our Annapolis shop on Saturday, October 14th (11am - 6pm) and Sunday, October 15th (12pm - 5pm). Amy Swanson, of June Cashmere, will be here on Saturday to tell you about the company and show you the beautiful yarns.

We are also giving away door prizes to lucky customers. AND, we're offering 10% off storewide* all weekend! More details about June Cashmere and the Open House can be found on our Facebook Events page. We hope to see you there!

*Discount excludes June Cashmere, patterns, and classes and only pertains to WoolWinders Annapolis during the weekend of October 14-15, 2017.

Today we continue our feature of June Cashmere, the luxury cashmere yarn company that will be featured at the WoolWinders Annapolis Open House on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th. 

June Cashmere yarn has only been on the market for a year, expanding from a few colors to now offering a dozen naturally dyed hues. There are two weights of yarn (DK and lace) in plies of three and six strands. This allows for incredible stitch definition in knitting. The stitches bloom upon washing, showing off the softness of the fiber. This is a luxury yarn that any fiber artist would love to work with and anyone would love to receive as a gift, either as a skein or knit up in a scarf and hat set. Simply, it's warm and beautiful!

Today we continue our feature of June Cashmere, the luxury cashmere yarn company that will be featured at the WoolWinders Annapolis Open House on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th. 

June Cashmere actively invests in the communities where cashmere is gathered. They promote village-to-village training sessions teaching best practices for increasing the quantity and quality of cashmere fiber production.

This textile company truly cares about producing a luxury yarn that in turn provides betterment for Kyrgyz families. June Cashmere prides itself on restoring cashmere to its most pure and luxurious form with a process that ensures Kyrgyz traditions are not lost. Such an investment in people and resources shows that June Cashmere is a gem of a company that we are thrilled to help support. 

We are excited to host our first Open House at the WoolWinders Annapolis shop. We are especially delighted to feature June Cashmere, a company known not just for beautiful cashmere yarns but also for their efforts in creating a social and economic endeavor with the people of Kyrgystan. Keep reading below to learn more about this remarkable company and their yarns. We hope to see you at the WoolWinders Annapolis Open House on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th!

We could go on and on about how we love cool, crisp mornings, bright sunshiny afternoons, freshly-harvested produce, colorful landscapes, and all of the feelings that lend perfectly to our favorite hobbies - knitting and crocheting!  This time of year gives us good reason to stock up on fall favorite yarns and to begin knitting and wearing sweaters and other knitwear. This is why we are so excited to bring you our new Fall and Early Winter classes. The class lineup  features our foundation classes like Knitting 101 and Fixing Mistakes, as well as new sock, technique and project classes. And many of you have been asking, so we’ve added a couple sweater classes - for humans and pups!  Hoping to see you at Rockville or Annapolis soon!

Check out our classes!

Rockville Safari Classes

Rockville Project & Technique Classes

Annapolis Classes. 

Mark your calendars so you can join us in the Rockville shop on Saturday, July 29th to celebrate 15 years of being your Local Yarn Shop in Rockville, Maryland. We’ll have special discounts and several door prizes. We know that YOU are the reason we are still in business after all these years. Come celebrate our anniversary with your Local Yarn Shop staff on July 29th!!

You WON'T want to miss it!!