This has to be the quickest knit scarf I’ve done. One thing I don’t like about knitting scarves is that they seem to go on and on forever and …. I get bored. But this was fun and the open lace sections made the inches just fly by. This is Wendy’s Lace Stripe Scarf from Wendy Knits Lace. My copy of this book has so many page corners turned down that it certainly qualifies as one of my top favorite knitting books, even though this is the first thing that I’ve made from it. Oh, but there will be more! This is out of 2 skeins of Madelinetosh DK in the Plaid Blanket color. I’m thinking that it would knit up even faster in worsted (although I would alter the number of cast on stitches so that it didn’t get too wide.) It’s a scarf pattern that I can see making again, maybe in Madelinetosh Vintage or Dream in Color’s Cashmere Worsted. (Neither picture captures the color just right, although the top one is closer. It’s more of a deep forest green.)

So do you have a pattern that you have enjoyed enough to knit more than a time or two? What is it? Leave your answer in the blog comments and you’ll be entered in this month’s blog contest! We are drawing for two goodie bags (shown here). Each prize contains our Small Loopy Project Tote, a Loopy Travel Mug, a Loopy Heel Soak (hiding in the back of the bag), a Little Loopy, and a skein of multi-colored Wollmeise (each prize bag has a different skein – we’ll send you a pretty one).

Our official Colorado Loopy shop grand opening is this Saturday, January 28th,  from 10 am – 4:30 pm. We will have an in-store drawing for two of these bags as well as giving away two of them here on the blog. We’ll announce the winners in next week’s blog, and will also contact you if you win.

I’m looking forward to hearing which patterns have captured your attention enough to make multiple times. I have several on my own favorites list! (Like these new Cloisonee Mittens out of Cascade 220. And wouldn’t you know, we just re-stocked all of our 220 colors? With 248 different color choices, I might get a little carried away with color combination options…)

Sheri whohassevenprojectsonthe”startrightnow”list
butwhat’safewmore?

Monday always brings new things to The Loopy Ewe. That makes Mondays so much more bearable, don’t you think?  Something to look forward to. Tonight we added in:

Madelinetosh Vintage – at last! We’ve had this on order for a long time, waiting for enough of the base yarn to be in. We put it up in 77 colors tonight. If you’re using it for sweaters, don’t forget to alternate skeins as you knit. We always do the best we can in matching skeins for you (and we’ll let you know if they are way off, before shipping), but with any hand-dyed yarn, it’s still smart to alternate, due to subtle variances. You might try one of these patterns:  Pichu-Pichu Sweater, Black Cherry Lambic Scarf/Cowl, Mo Shawl, or Cranberry Capelet. (Shown here in Terrarium.)

Studio June Eight Bells – Jill’s popular 8-ply heavy fingering weight superwash is back in re-stocks and new colors. This would be a fun one to use for Froot Loop Socks (and every.single.time I try to type “loop”, I type it as “loopy” and have to go back and delete the “y”, FPS), Hitchhiker Scarf, or the Herbivore. (Shown here in Dancing in the Moonlight.)

Atenti Bags – Overnighter Bags - These big bags are great for travel. I always pack mine full of projects when I go out of town (because heaven forbid that I should run out of projects in the middle of a trip). It also makes a great carry on bag, or a pretty place to corral all of your smaller project bags at home.

Atenti Bags – Carpet Bags - This is a new style we’ve added in that’s perfect for single projects, whether it’s small (like socks) or large (like sweaters). Wooden handles, lined inside, and done up in the beautiful fabrics and great workmanship that you know to expect from Atenti. (Shown here in Camellia Sky).

Twentyseven Soap – All of your favorites scents have been re-stocked and they are making our shop smell good.  But we’re ready to share the good smells with you now, so order up and we’ll send them on their way. I’m sure it will make your whole order smell awesome, en route!

ChiaoGoo Needles – Re-stocks on all sizes, all lengths that we carry (24″, 32″, and 40″).

Marie Mayhew Designs – Re-stocks and new patterns from one of our very favorite felting designers. Plenty of sweet things to make for Spring, including two that come as optional kits – a lamb and a bird’s nest.

Pattern Holders – So many of you emailed when I did my blog post on basket/project organizing, and asked if we were going to start carrying the pattern holders that I showed in the photos. We have them for you in three colors – blue, black, and fuchsia. The heavyweight vinyl is great for keepting your patterns wrinkle-free as you knit or store them, and the 9 x 12 size means that your multi-page 8 1/2 x 11 patterns or leaflets will slide in there easily.

Lavishea Bars – Back in all scents, ready to pop in a purse or a knitting bag. This is a good way to keep your winter-dry hands moisturized.

Soak - Still backordered on some scents and sizes, but we have a good stock back on several of the options. I use this for washing all of my handknits.

Loopy Ewe Brown T-shirts - We had these in the late spring of last year, and they went quickly. These chocolate brown shirts have one of our favorite knitting quotes on the front: “In the rhythm of the needles there is music for the soul.”

You might notice us adding a few things mid-week, here and there. Now that we’ve increased our in-store shopping hours and days, we sometimes find ourselves needing to re-stock needles or other accessories at odd times of the week. This week we added the Atenti Overnighters, ChiaoGoo Needles, Soak, Lavishea, and T-shirts mid-week. They’ll always show up under What’s New when they go up (even mid-week), but I’ll also make sure to include them in the Monday blog posts as well, so you don’t miss anything. For new items and big yarn re-stocks (like Madelinetosh, Malabrigo, Dream in Color, etc.), we’ll make sure to hold off on those until a regular Monday Update so that everyone has a chance for those at the same time.

Have fun shopping and we’ll be in bright and early in the morning to get packing things up for you.

Sheri hadtostartacutenewhatthatcuteBabyHazelworeintotheshoplastweek.
HopeitgoesquicklysoIcanshareitwithyou!

…. was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who popped in to check us out. We enjoyed meeting all of you and it was fun to share the Loopy space with other knitters again. I kept forgetting to take pictures all day, but here are a few:

Christy and Eileen. Christy has been an online orderer for over a year and is a Loopy Groupie. So fun to meet her in person! Eileen asked me where I went to high school. (Which is a question that only the St. Louis people will understand. Eileen lived in St. Louis before here. I haven’t been asked that question for months. It’s a weird-joke-St.Louis thing…) Eileen’s sister-in-law was watching her on the webcam from Wisconsin. (Hi, Eileen’s sister-in-law!)

Pat who traveled up from Highland’s Ranch with her friend (who did not want to be in the photo, as she was here incognito), and became instant BFF’s with Elf Jody, because she told Jody she’d teach her to knit. Never mind that we’ve offered this to Jody before. Apparently she was waiting for Pat to appear and offer.

Some of the knitters who came for our first Loopy Knit Night, which was fun! I frogged something twice before deciding that I had to find a simpler thing to knit when I’m surrounded by other knitters. There were others there who managed to chat and knit something that takes a brain at the same time, but apparently I was not one of them. (Please note Herman-the-mail-cart eavesdropping in the background there.)

We’re looking forward to more fun shoppers today and tomorrow. Stop in if you’re near us in Colorado! (And I only remind you of the state because we still get a few calls a week from people wanting to know our hours …. and they live in St. Louis.)

Sheri thinkingthereisnothingwrongwithcomingtoshop
evenifyouAREinSt.Louis.Hopaplain/train/automobile!

Not that those two things have anything to do with one another. Or … actually … they might, if you were making a beautiful cowl and needed a new project bag!  The new bag from Namaste this season is a backpack in their wonderful looks-and-feels-like-leather-but-it-isn’t material. We have these on order and expect them at the end of January or early February. You can pre-order one, or you can wait for us to put them up on the website. Cost is $85, payment on pre-orders is not due until we are ready to ship them to you, and the color choices are: Espresso, Black, Eggplant and Red. Email if you’d like us to set one aside for you: support@theloopyewe.com.

Here’s a cowl that I made for a friend right before Christmas. Pattern: Honey Cowl, Yarn: Wollmeise Lace, held and knit double. It’s one of those patterns that looks great when it’s done, but is a lot of knitting knitting knitting knitting knitting of the same stitch when you’re working on it. Cute, though. And warm. I continue to be quite sold on these long cowls. Unlike scarves, they stay around your neck and you don’t worry about getting out of a car and losing it in the parking lot! (Maybe that only happens to me.) I also like that you can double them up to make them warmer around your neck, and then unloop them as you walk in and out of shops and get too hot. (Maybe that only happens to me.) Someone needs to design a few more of these. My favorite continues to be Carrie’s Summer Wind Cowl. I’ve made three and still didn’t keep one for myself. Right now I’m finishing up a scarf, which I’ll show you next week. I hope I don’t lose it in a parking lot when I wear it out and about. (Does that really only happen to me? Have you ever lost anything you’ve knit?)

Sheri whoshouldalsoprobablywearmittensonastring

The long-awaited Cascade 220 re-stock is here! I know (from your emails) that many of you have been waiting for us to get it all back in. We’ve been letting our supply dwindle since last summer, in preparation for our cross-country move. Now that we’re in our final spot again, we have re-stocked the shelves. (Shown here in 2410 Purple). This is a great sweater yarn, as well as for afghans, scarves, mittens, hats, and felting projects. It’s so nice to see that wall full again in the shop.

Along with that re-stock, we’ve also re-stocked our Fixation, Eco Alpaca, and Eco Duo from Cascade. You know me and Eco Duo. It is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve used it for my Girasole, for my Never-ending Scarf, and for multiple pairs of fingerless mitts. I am slightly addicted to the stuff.

We added a new yarn base from Georgia at Fiberphile – her Super Squish DK. (Shown here in Bayou). Wonderful colors, wonderful to knit with, and great for sweaters, vests, hats and scarves. Try it for The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief, a Chinook Scarf, or an Everglade Hat.

We added in the new DK line that Stonehedge Fiber Mill has just come out with in their popular Shepherd’s Wool line. I know you all have been loving the Worsted weight that we added in a few weeks ago, so I’m sure you’ll love this as well. The DK weight comes in 120 yard skeins, making it a great choice for colorwork. I’m always drawn to colorwork mittens – such little works of art. Try Bird and Vine Mittens, Rigmore’s Selbum Mittens, or Flower Stars and Net Caps and Mittens. Or hats – how about the Flora Hat, the Norwegian Snowflake Hat, or the Fair Isle Ski Hat? Colorwork. I need to tackle it and get good at it. There are just too many fun patterns out there.

It’s snowing here tonight – maybe that’s why I have mittens and hats on my mind. The more colorful, the better!

Sheri whoenjoyedtoday’sNoMailMonday,
butisreadyforBusyTomorrow

For those of you nearby who have been patiently waiting for us to open up the in-store shopping part of The Loopy Ewe, I’m happy to say we’re just about ready for you! I know – you’ve been looking at the Loopy Webcam for the past couple of weeks, wondering what still needs to be done. But trust me – there has been much to do, in between getting all of your orders shipped out this past month. What you see on the webcam – and here in the photo – is just a little part of it all. (If you click on the photo to make it larger, I think you can practically walk right in …) Here are the details:

First shopping day: Thursday, January 19th (10 am – 8:30 pm)

Official Open House: Saturday, January 28th (10 am – 4:30 pm)

Regular Hours (starting January 19th):

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 10 am – 4:30 pm
Thursdays: 10 am – 8:30 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

In addition to our shopping hours, please feel free to join our Loopy Knit Group on Thursday evenings (usually from 5:30 – 8:30 pm). We’ll set up as many chairs as we can accommodate, but if you come one night and the chairs are full, please do come back a different week and try again. We expect different people, different weeks, and you’re always welcome.

A couple of additional notes: We love dogs, we love coffee, and we love food. However, none of that is allowed in the shop. (Rules of the lease). So enjoy Dazbog coffee and Panera cookies and pastries before or after you pop in!

How to find us: We’re at Front Range Village. You can park down the middle of the two buildings, or you can park in the back lot (Toys R Us is back there, but park up near the Front Range Village buildings, not way over by the toy store). To get up to us, go under the arch between the north buildings (the arch says “The Offices at Front Range Village”), and in that side door, around the corner from Verizon. Take the elevator to the second floor, turn right, and we’re the first door on the right.

We’re looking forward to having you here at the end of next week! (And to all of our online Loopy customers – don’t you want to Road Trip on over??)

Sheri and The Loopy Ewe Crew