3 March, 2010 | No comments

Sweaters your way at our Spring Sweater Workshop

Coat weather will soon give way to spring sweater days, so this four-session Spring Sweater Workshop, taught by Pat Preston, is perfectly timed. (This one is not on our regular class list.) Get a head start on the season and make a sweater of your choice with our lovely new spring/summer yarns. Top-down, cable, easy lace and Fair Isle patterns are available. Patterns and yarn will be chosen at the first session; bring needles of various sizes so you’ll be ready to begin! Advance registration is required.

Skill level: Advanced Beginner/Intermediate
4 Thursday mornings, 11:30 AM–1:30 PM
March 18 & 25, April 1 & 8
Price: $80 for 4 sessions, plus materials

4 February, 2010 | No comments

New start date for February Fair Isle knit-along

Suffering from cabin fever? Dig out and join us for our Fair Isle Knit-Along. It gets started on Thursday, Feb. 18 (this is a postponement from Feb. 11) from 6 to 8 p.m. and continues on Feb. 25. (And if there’s enough interest, we’ll keep going in March.) This is not a class but an opportunity to work with our Fair Isle expert, Jennifer Woods, on a project of your choice (see an example, below). The cost is only $5 per session. Advance reservations are not required, but it would be helpful if you could call or e-mail us to let us know you’ll be coming.

4 February, 2010 | No comments

With match, over $1,200 will go to Haiti relief

Thanks to all who shopped with us during the third week of January. We were able to write a check for over $600 to Doctors Without Borders, designated for Haitian earthquake relief. One of our vendors, KFI (Debbie Bliss, Sublime, Ella Rae, etc.), will match the amount. Please note that in calculating our contribution,  we counted sales on Sunday, Jan. 17, as well as sales for the week of Jan. 19–24. We really appreciate the way everyone stepped up to the plate on this one!

26 January, 2010 | No comments

February–March classes: Fair Isle, entrelac, color, cabled gloves

Our latest class list includes some exciting late-winter projects. Avoid second-sock syndrome by learning to knit two socks at a time. Dip your toes into Fair Isle by making mittens or gloves. Master entrelac. Try your hand at cabled gloves. If your time is limited, choose a workshop on color, finishing or the reversible cable stitch (using our pattern for the Tom scarf, pictured below). Then there are our old standbys: beginning knitting (regular and expedited), beginning crochet, Knitting Beyond the Rectangle, drop spindle spinning. The complete list can be found by selecting “Classes” under “Pages” in the navigation bar at the left.

29 December, 2009 | No comments

Christmas at A Tangled Skein: A True Story

It was a week before Christmas, and snow was on its way. The caller had a British accent, which wasn’t surprising, since he was calling from England. It seems his mother, an avid knitter, wanted a Jordana Paige knitting satchel, color pink, for Christmas. His friend Trevor was visiting the Washington area and had been trying for the last two weeks, unsuccessfully, to find the bag. We were his last hope.

Yes, Cheryl told him, we have one. We’ll be happy to hold it for Trevor.

It turned out that it wouldn’t be that easy. It seems that Trevor was in Sterling, Va., without a car, and in fact was leaving from someplace called Dulles in just a few hours to return to the United Kingdom. Could he send a taxi to pick up the bag? A taxi would be very expensive, Cheryl advised, even if the driver managed to find Trevor.

Well, piped up Larry, it’s for Christmas, after all. He could deliver it. But how would he be able to find Trevor? Using her trusty iPhone, Cheryl snapped Larry’s picture and Larry set off for Virginia. There was, after all, only a half-hour window when the bag could be handed off to Trevor.

Cheryl sent Larry’s picture to England, whence it was conveyed, along with a description of Larry’s car, to Trevor in Virginia. Larry made his way, very slowly, around the traffic-clogged Beltway, wondering why his oil warning light kept coming on. As he neared the airport, Trevor called. Where the heck was Larry? Almost there, Larry replied.

When Larry reached the British Airways departure area with only moments to spare, he didn’t see a likely Englishman waiting for a Jordana Paige bag. But then Trevor called again, to say he was standing atop the Jersey barrier a few yards down the road. And there he was.

The handoff completed, Larry crawled back to Hyattsville. The bad storm began a few hours later, but Trevor made it out in time, clutching a very elegant Christmas gift.

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