dsc02314It’s January, which means another Challenge or Knit-A-Long! (Not that these Big Guys are knitting.  Rather, they seem to be stirring up trouble here at Loopy Central at the moment.) I had something in mind for this quarter, but in the meantime, Anne in MD started a Clapotis Knit-A-Long on the Loopy Groupie board on Ravelry.  There are so many of you working on that (myself included!) that I think it’s wise not to muddy up the waters and add yet another one. So – jump in and join us!  It started January 1st and you will find the pattern for free on Knitty.com (here’s the Clapotis link by the brilliant Kate Gilbert).  I’m making mine out of some Hand Maiden Sea Silk that I had in my stash. (Well, technically it was in my stash because I frogged the project I had started with it. Twice.) This is the first time I’ve done a Clapotis and I’m having a lot of fun with it. There’s something refreshing about purposely dropping stitches and watching them unravel. :-) Now I really want to make another one out of Amy’s Vintage Office.  It’s on my new list.  So leave a comment below if you’re participating in this KAL with us.  The fun thing about the Clapotis is that you can use any yarn that strikes your fancy.  Different weights and materials will render different sizes and draping, but it’s all fun.  If you’re on Ravelry, check out the Clapotis link to see what others have used and how it looks. I’m not sure when it ends on the Loopy Groupie board, but we’ll leave it open here for the first quarter, meaning you should finish by 3/31 and have your photos posted by 4/15. (Here’s a tip from Sandy in WY that I thought was great.  She added a stitchmarker to the very bottom starting point of her triangle, to keep it from curling up.  I wish I had known that when I started, as it about drove me nuts. I’ll definitely use that tip on the next one.) Be sure to add your photos from the 4th Qtr. Challenge ’08 to the Photo Gallery by 1/15 so that we can vote and award prizes.

Update on the things that many of you have been emailing me about and asking!

1.  We do have Schaefer’s new Nichole yarn on order and the first part of our order is shipping out this week. We’ll have it up asap.  We may put the first half up and then the rest later when it arrives, instead of making you wait for the whole thing. We also do have more Anne, Lola and Andrea on order for you.

2.  Namaste’s Zuma Eggplant order is stuck in Customs at the moment. They’re hoping they’ll have it to ship out to all of their shops by mid-January.  They know we’re all anxious to get it in!  If you are on our pre-order list, we still have one with your name on it for you.  If you did not pre-order and want to, I do still have a few available from this first order.  Email me.

3.  Sock Club details coming in Friday’s Blog Post. Sign-ups begin next Monday, the 12th.

4.  Malabrigo Sock and Worsted – have been on order for a long time, and we’re not sure when it will be in. But we’re looking forward to getting it.

5.  I’m heading off to our twice-a-year TNNA Market in a week, so that I can stay on top of all of the new yarns and trends for you! Email me if there is any line/yarn you’d like me to look into while I’m there.  I’ll add it to my list.

6.  Did you catch this week’s Sneak Up? We added lots of Hand Maiden Casbah, bellamoden Fingering, new Tempted Roving, Gypsy Knits DK, Loopy Soap, Romney Ridge Calendars, Addi Clicks,  Opal Wintermarchen, and patterns from Figheadh and Nelkin Designs.

dsc02317Lastly, Happy 25th Anniversary to my Wonderful Hubby. :-) I remember thinking 25 years was a long long time when my parents celebrated their 25th. It seems to go pretty fast when you’re the one in it! We were married on a cold, snowy night and it was beautiful. I added this particular photo because so many of you know my friend Janice, and if I’m going to show what Paul and I looked like 25 years ago, then I think you ought to see Janice and Steve, too. It was a fun weekend with all of our favorite friends and family there with us!

Sheri whothinkswealllookjustthesametoday(cough)