There’s not enough knitting going on around here at the moment. (For me, personally, that is.) Here are two things that are currently “in-progress”. The first is the scarf that I’m working on out of Malabrigo Silky. I’m using two skeins. I plucked the stitch pattern out of a stitch dictionary and I’ll add it to the Free Patterns link when I have a finished scarf to photo. In the meantime, if you want to start one, here are the basics:

Cast on 39 stitches (or a multiple of 6, +3.) I’m using a size 4 needle with this Malabrigo Silky. Knit four rows in garter stitch.  Work the following pattern (6 rows) until scarf is desired length, knit four more rows in garter stitch, bind off.

Pattern (repeat stitch sequence in brackets until the end of the row):

Row 1:   P3 [K3, YO, P3]
Row 2:   K3 [P4, K3] 
Row 3:   P3 [K1, K2tog, YO, K1, P3] 
Row 4:   K3 [P2, P2tog, K3]
Row 5:   P3 [K1, YO, K2tog, P3]
Row 6:   K3 [P3, K3]

P= Purl, K=Knit, YO=Yarnover, K2tog=knit two stitches together, P2tog=purl two stitches together 

The other thing I’m working on is a Cabled Rib Wrap out of Shibui Baby Alpaca and Silk Cloud. (Knit together, it takes 4 skeins of Baby Alpaca and 3 skeins of Silk Cloud.) I’m using the natural color. The pattern says it will end up being 18″ x 67″ and I can’t wait to wrap up in it this fall and winter!  I wonder if it would be fun to knit this with one color of Baby Alpaca and a different color of Silk Cloud? I may end up making a second one out of another color, too.

I know you’re waiting for our Third Anniversary Kits to go up! We’ve decided to start pre-sales for them on Friday. (Too many of you have emailed and begged us to do this, so that you don’t miss it. You talked us into it.)  We’ll process the pre-sales as you order them, and then we’ll start shipping them out next week and the week after. This year’s kit revolves around “Loopy’s Knitting Lounge” and it’s a theme that we have more plans for in the coming weeks. (There may be some opportunities for some of you to be an Honorary Loopy Elf in the future. Interested?) I’ll have a photo of the kit on Friday’s blog, when they are available to start ordering. (Oh ok, here’s a teaser photo, but you can’t see everything. Remember when I said that this rug in our Knitting Nook here at Loopy Central would play a part in something later in the summer?) More info on Friday!

This month’s blog contest question has to do with knitting groups. Do you belong to a group that gets together regularly to knit? How often? If you don’t have such a group, do you wish that you did? Or do you like knitting on your own? (Leave your answer in the comments and we’ll draw for prizes next Wednesday.)

Congratulations to all of you who completed your Second Quarter Challenge Socks!  Please take a minute to vote on your favorite from the Q2 Photo Gallery and email your answer to support AT theloopyewe DOT com. We’ll announce the winners next week!

Sheri what’sthemachinecalledthatbreaksupconcrete?Therearetwoworkingonthestreetoutside.
PoundingPoundingPoundingPoundingPoundingaway.