DSC00983.JPGYay! We’re a year old today! Boy, things are different today than they were a year ago! For instance, last year on this day, I was sitting here watching my screen, waiting for someone to find us and order. :-) Today, several of us have been packing your orders non-stop all day long, and the mailman just continues to roll his eyes. I’m sure he means that in a nice way. We have grown from just a few yarn companies in stock when we began, to over 40 different companies and indie dyers, just in the yarn category. We started with a few accessories, and now have lots of fun things to choose from. (Why? Because before The Loopy Ewe, I was always looking for fun little knitting accessories and things to buy – either for gifts or just for myself. I could never find a good selection of them to pick from.) Of course we’re not done. We have more wonderful things in the works for you here in the coming months. If you’ve been with us for very long, you know there is always something new being added in!

jkhappyannivWe had a special colorway dyed up to celebrate – it’s called “Happy Anniversary to Ewe” and it’s from J. Knits. (I love their yarn. It makes such soft socks.) Julie at J. Knits asked me what my favorite colors were and I told her cranberry and hunter/sage green and …. whatever other color works with it. I love how this turned out. I sent a skein to pattern designer Debbie O’Neill (who has won some of the Cherry Tree Hill pattern contests, and has been a long-time Loopy customer) and she came up with this beautiful “Celebratory Chevrons” design. (Click on the photo to make it bigger and see the pattern.) The pattern will be free with the purchase of this special J.Knits colorway, and after the limited edition yarn is gone, we’ll also have the pattern for sale. The yarn will be available here starting at the end of next week. We’re waiting for the rest of our shipment to arrive.

IMG_1595I told you we’d have a fun contest to celebrate our anniversary and I made it very simple. I want ALL of you to be able to enter, so instead of giving you a list of questions to answer, all you need to do is answer one question: How many skeins of yarn do we have in stock here at The Loopy Ewe today, on our first anniversary? Not how many companies, or how many different colors, but how many actual skeins? Leave your answer in the comments. I have pulled out 21 skeins of yarn – one from most of our indie dyers. The winner with the closest guess is going to receive 6 of them as the grand prize. (If two people guess the same correct answer, we’ll draw for it.) However, we’re also going to randomly draw five more names from the comments and each of those DSC00984.JPGfive people will win 3 skeins. We wanted to give away more than one prize and we wanted you to have a chance just by putting in a guess, right or wrong. :-) (And as you’re trying to figure this all out, maybe you ought to know that I have Woolly Boully, Fiesta Boomerang, Fleece Artist Somoko, Duets Skinny, and Apple Laine boxes sitting here waiting for the next Sneak Up.) So give us your best guess and we’ll award the prizes on Friday the 10th – so you have lots of time to get in on this one! Here is a photo of some of the yarns that will be awarded. (Do you see Bart & Louise in the Garden and Loopy’s Red Socks in there?) Speaking of contests, did you want to know who won the July Blog contest? Last week over 400 of you left comments on your favorite book. I loved reading all of your suggestions and now have a long list of “must read” books. The random winner from last week is Alyson , who wins a $35 Loopy Ewe Gift Certificate. :-) (Yes, the random generator picked comment #5, out of 411!)

Since we’re celebrating our anniversary, I did want to thank so many people who have helped us over the past year. The biggest kudos goes out to my hubby, College Guy/Web Guy, and Knitting Daughter. They have put in soooo many hours this past year and it has been such fun to truly make this a family business in every sense of the word. Special thanks to my parents, and WH’s mom and sister who have all helped with Sock Club packages. (More family – yay!) Thanks also to our wonderful team of helpers – Susan, Carly, Peri, Cindy, and Diana who pack orders, make gifts, and help with bookkeeping. (And a special shout out to Anna and Vicki who came by today to talk to me about starting work here in the fall when College Guy, Knitting Daughter, and Peri all go back to school, and ended up staying all day to help pack orders because they’re just that wonderful. Aren’t they going to be great to have working here?) A special thanks to my dear friends Janice and Monica, who are my biggest cheerleaders, to Wendy for mentioning us on her blog and sending so many fun knitters our way, and to every single one of you who have added our blog button to your site, mentioned us in your blog entries, told your friends about us, and have helped spread the word. We have been blessed many times over by you and your friendships and we consider ourselves very lucky to have met you. We hope to continue to earn your business and friendship for many years to come. Hugs to all of you!

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