I mentioned last month that I had taken a crochet class at TNNA. I figured it was high time I learned how to do it. (Besides, there are some really cute crochet patterns out there. I want to make this and this as soon as I get this under my belt a little bit more.) I enjoyed the class and am surprised at how quickly it feels like you’re making progress, when you crochet. I started some granny squares for a 9-square pillow out of The Loopy Ewe Line, and I also started this baby blanket out of Rowan’s new Amy Butler Belle Organic Aran line. I really love the feel of this yarn, and it’s crocheting up beautifully. I don’t have specific plans for the blanket. It was just a fun project to get my feet wet. So far, so good! So I’m wondering how many of you crochet? Is it something you learned way back when, but now you knit instead? Or do you do both? Or have you not yet learned to crochet? Or are you too backed up on the knitting you want to do, to ever be able to add crochet into your life? Just curious.

We are welcoming lots of new Loopy Groupies today! We love sending out those Welcome Bags and feel honored that so many of you have become such great customers and friends. (You get to Loopy Groupie status when we’ve sent out 6 packages to you, although multiple Wollmeise orders in the same day all count as “one”. It gets complicated!) We’re happy to welcome these new Groupies in this latest batch: Cyrena in RI, Hikari in Japan, Robin in OH, Victoria in NC, Dana in TN, Juliet in AZ, Jeanne in CA, Christina in OH, Caryn in CT, Jane in NY, Monet in VA, Kata in Canada, Dorothy in KS, Annie in IL, Rosemarie in Canada, Kim in MS, Ellen in MO, Michelle in MD, Kelly in IL, Abbe in NJ, Elizabeth in PA, Stella in MA, Grace in NJ, Sharilyn in NY, Kittie in Switzerland, Lisa in IL, Lois in LA, Julie in DE, Mary in TX, Heather in TX, Vickie in MO, Aimee in NV, Jenny in MO, Christy in TN, Louise in Denmark, Kristie in MN, Linda in CA, Shelley in IL, Amy in PA, Ilona in Australia, Denese in MO, Helen in CO, Cynthia in OH, Kelly in AK, Nicole in Canada, Amanda in CO, Robin in OK, Kimberly in FL, Lael in WI, Loretta in MO, Christie in MD, Robin in WI, Megan in WV, Debbie in OH, Lauren in NY, Nancy in TN, Krystal in AZ, Lisa in WA, Karen in CA, Emily in PA, Andrea in CT, Beth in NY, Susan in VA, Joan in NY, Marianne in Norway, Amy in MI, Barbara in New Zealand, Sandy in IL, Linda in MN, Sharon in PA, Lisa in OK, Molinda in OH, Tami in WA, Kate in NC, Linda in IL, Lilie in AZ, Maartje in OH, Anna in Australia, Erin in IN, Rachel in IL, Shannon in CA, Julie in NV, Kyoko in Japan, Cathy in MO, Elizabeth in Norway, Barbara in NY, Andrea in WA, Megan in IL, Suzanne in TX, Elizabeth in OH, Lee in CA, Linda in MO, Carl in NC, Aliya in Canada, Ann in MA, Nathan in CA, Betty in Canada, Dee in TX, Alisa in WY, Jasmine in VA, Christine in MT, Lani in MI, Maria in CA, Elizabeth in NY, Brandy in PA, Sheri in AK, Ines in CA, Laural in MA, Sarah in MN, Cheryl in the U.K., Christine in MI, Andrea in OK, Paulette in WI, Debra in CA, Elisabeth in NM, Janna in CA, Cindy in WA, Bonnie in OR, Sherry in TX, Lana in IN, Kathleen in NY, Andrea in NJ, Katherine in Canada, Kathy in GA, Jennifer in NV, Monique in OR, Janis in IL, Lynnea in VA, Alicia in MD, Kim in SD, Lara in IN, Kirsten in MN, Sonya in IN, Maggie in MN, Kim in WA, Luann in MA, Cathy in VA, Ange in MN, Diana in IL, Jani in CA, Anyssa in MI, Debra in MA, Whitney in NY, Peggy in OH, Lynnette in CA, Jerrica in Canada, Melissa in OK, Lynda in NJ, Kristine in TX, Nancy in TX, Monica in IL, Lucy in NV, Melissa in CA, Kathy in ND, Andrea in Germany, Mona in NY, Erin in PA, Janet in WI, Melissa in CA, Krista in VA, Christine in TX, Suzie in MD, Elizabeth in OH, Janna in IA, Judy in AZ, Katherine in TX, Julie in NM, Marjorie in MA, Brenda in CA, Sandy in MO, Tanya in VA, Robyn in MO, Jessica in NC, Traci in Australia, Jennifer in ND, Rebecca in OR, Ghislaine in Switzerland, Mindy in TX, Sharon in IN, Meghan in Canada, Cheri in WA, Paulina in the U.K., Geri in NY, Lana in IL, Terri in ID, Erica in IL, Liberty in MN, Beverly in IL, Jennifer in MA, Jodi in MI, Laura in NY, Sheryl in CA, Melissa in KY, Tina in MD, Elaine in NH, Sheryl in CO, Linda in MO, Lucia in MA, Irma in CT, Julie in CA, Donna in HI, Gavi in TX, Sharyl in IL, Meghan in NH, Joline in Canada, Stephanie in MI, Amy in NY, Kim in WI, Arlene in Canada, Bianca in VA, Beth in MT, Cheryl in MI, Kyrie in MD, Shawntaia in NY, LeeAnn in CT, Allison in NC, Jill in GA, Josephine in MD, Linda in IL, Shannon in OH, Jill in MI, Christine in MN, Patricia in NY, Dorothy in MN, Kathryn in AZ, Michelle in FL, Bwen in CA, Hilona in The Netherlands, Suzanne in CA, Ashley in the Military, Kristy in WA, Joni in TX, Joyce in MN, Vicki in KS, Crystal in WA, Jan in MN, Joan in NY, Amy in IL, Beth in MO, Jen in MD, Deborah in VA, Jennifer in KS, Marnie in Canada, Crystal in Canada, Sarah in TX, Elizabeth in NC, Cheryl in Canada, Elaine in MA, Paula in NY, Bonnie in NJ, Beatriz in FL, Rachael in WI, Kristen in TN, Marie in IL, Wendy in WA, Sarah in NH, Debra in CA, Mary Jane in MN, Stephanie in AK, Patricia in WA, Seanna Lea in MA, Daniele in France, Michelle in OH, Melissa in MI, Gail in MD, Elizabeth in TX, Heidi in OR, Doreen in NC, Kelly in HI, Janet in MA, Karen in OH, Christelle in NV, Emily in WI, Abby in IL, Teresa in CT, June in KY, Lisa in MA, Connie in IA, Stephanie in MD, Margaret in Australia, Judi in TX, Jennifer in Canada, Syd in AZ, Catherine in WI, Ralph in MO, Kathryn in TX, Cheryl in CA, Mary Ann in Canada, Kathy in VA, Susan in NY, Elaine in VA, Leslie in CA, Darinka in IL, Wendy in CA, Cristi in CA, Julie in VT, Cindy in MD, Nikki in KY, Holly in CO, Nancy in TX, Margaret in VA, Vicki in MO, Wanda in FL, Kathy in TN, Shelley in UT, Maureen in MI, Deborah in CA, Kathy in IA, Natalie in NC, Abi in NC, Karen in PA, Traci in NV, Marie in OH, Melissa in OK, Danielle in VA, Felicity in Canada, Carla in IL, Jayne in CA, Christina in WA, Michelle in Canada, Emily in KS, Ruby in NY, Genny in NV, Jennings in CA, Selma in NY, Heidi in NJ, Cheryl in IL, Susan in MA, Emma in Canada, Anne Sofie in Norway, Cate in Australia, Jana in MA, Heidi in NJ, Melissa in OK, Erica in CO, Rafidah in Singapore, Lillian in Canada, Michelle in IL, Dorothy in PA, Angela in CA, Maryann in CT, Jeri in TX, Dian in Canada, Amy in CO, Nobuko in Japan, Eleanor in NY, Brooke in CA, Shelane in FL, Elaine in WA, Katherine in WA, Ann in IL, Chanina in Israel, Darrell in MO, Kristin in IL, Cindy in SC, Constance in MD, Sidney in NC, Elizabeth in Canada, Anne in MA, Susan in IL, Patricia in VA, Sarah in NC, Lisa in VA, Valerie in UT, Victoria in MO, Jennifer in WA, Paulette in IN, Barbara in IL, Wendy in WI, Susan in NH, Eileen in CA, Megan in TX, Sonicka in OR, Dawn in ND, Chiho in NH, Sylvia in MO, Julia in TN, Jadqueline in NY, Kate in MA, Laura in Canada, Terry in NY, Carrie in CO, Mary in PA, Kim in TN, Denise in GA, Ellen in CO, Michael in CT, Cynthia in MN, Lani in AK, Charlene in CA, Kimberly in TX, Hildegunn in Norway, Barbara in CA, Marilyn in PA, Ingalill in Sweden, Tanya in Canada, Stacey in NY, Corie in MO, April in Canada, Michelle in WI, Renee in WA, Theresa in MD, Miriam in Canada, Deb in OH, Susan in AK, Amber in NM, Allison in CA, Benne in TN, Carol in PA, Stephanie in TX, Jessica in VA, Leslie in NY, Deranda in AK, Anne in CA, Darcie in WV, Ruth in MO, Anna Marie in MO, Donna in MI, Sarah in TX, Tommye in GA, Leah in Australia, Megan in OH, Monica in OH, Lisa in CT, Amy in TX, Allison in NY, Danielle in NY, Natsu in Japan, Janet on OR, Aporanee in VA, Alicia in CT, Karen in CA, Evelyn in CA, Suzanne in MI, Emily in RI, Sheila in PA, Leanne in PA, Alisha in TX, Christina in NJ, Claudia in CA, Kay in IN, Barbara in PA, Lise in FL, Elaine in NY, Sam in CA, Christi in TX, Ashley in SC, Sue in MD, Dawn’l in MN, Erica in OK and Jamie in PA.

Have a great weekend and I hope you find time to knit and/or crochet at some point in the next few days!

Sheri readyforaweekend.You,too?

Kathy from MO had the best reason for not finishing her challenge sweater in time. Chickens. She wrote, “The summer challenge sweater was almost done-a short cardigan crocheted from DIC Classy Butter Peeps.  Then I discovered the chickens LOVED to watch me crochet.  So this past week, every day I did a few rows on the back as I sat outside with the flock.  The night before last I joined it all…and the back was twice as long as it should have been. I still cannot believe I over-crocheted the back because I was entertaining the chickens by crocheting.”  She even sent me pictures as evidence. I think that’s probably the best excuse I’ve heard yet, for not finishing by the deadline!  Note how one is particularly determined to get right into the middle of the situation. Or rather, on top of the situation.

I have the same problem. No, not with chickens. With Zoe, my cat. She loves curling up on my lap when I am knitting. If, heaven forbid, I should have my laptop on my lap for a bit, she sits on the arm of the chair and gives me the evil eye until I move it off to the table next to me and she can reclaim her spot. (Really – she can be quite intimidating with her eyes.) This photo was taken last summer while I was knitting my 100% Alpaca Girasole. There’s nothing quite like having a large throw on your lap, made out of 100% really really warm Alpaca, along with a furry, warm, purring cat, in the middle of 100 degree weather and 90% humidity. Special times.

So do you knit or crochet with pets that feel the need to be RIGHTTHEREWITHYOU while you work?

Sheri Idolikehavingalapcatinthewintertimewhenit’scold,though

We’ve had sort of a double sweater challenge going on over the past several months. In January, I announced that we were going to be knitting sweaters for the first challenge of the year. I had the hardest time deciding on a sweater pattern. There were just too many great options. I started in on a vest and then got distracted by another project (this is so typical with me – Knitter’s A.D.D.), and when I went back to the vest again, I couldn’t figure out where I left off. Too many cables and wonderful patterns in there to just jump back in and hope for the best. Lesson 1 – take copious notes if you’re going to wander off into a different project before the first one is finished. I just need to frog it and start over at some point.

When the weather started getting nicer, I started thinking about summer sweaters. And the Universal Cotton Supreme was calling my name. I issued a Mini Challenge to see who might want to join me in working on summer sweaters, and some of you jumped in. I finished the Zoe Cardi at the beginning of July and …. it’s waaaay too big. Seriously. I’m really sad because I love the color and the pattern. In a fit of ignorance, I kept knitting away, even while imagining that it might be looking too large as I was going along. sigh. I was trying to make it XL and I think it ended up as 2X or thereabouts. Lesson 2: Turns out that 4.5 st/inch and 5 st/inch IS a big deal difference overall. FPS. So here is a photo and now I guess I give it away or something. I have to work myself into that mindset. It’s still too fresh. (Note – the neckline is not wonky, like the picture indicates, and the true color of the yarn is the full photo, not the sleeve detail photo. Although I’m sure these things don’t bother you like they bother me in the photos.) This does mean that both my unfinished vest and my completed summer sweater were unsuccessful in this past challenge. Bugger. However, I’ve jumped into the new challenge with both feet. Since it started, I already finished one sock, and am working on granny squares to make a pillow as well. Hopefully this makes up for the last challenge.

Take a look at the other entrants into our double-sweater-challenge and do some voting! We will draw two names out of all entrants (because we combined both challenges into one gallery), but we also want to award a prize for the Reader’s Choice award. There are Loopy Ewe Gift Certificates to be won! Send us your favorite (support@theloopyewe.com) and we’ll tally them up and announce winners (and then show pictures in the blog) next week. A big thank you to all who participated. You all did a great job on your sweaters.

Our current challenge is to knit something fun with our new Loopy Ewe Solid Series line, and many of you have chosen to participate in that one, as well. Check out the details on this blog post. You have until October 1st to finish, which gives you lots of time!

Now on to the new things for the week. Tonight’s Update included:

* many amazing colors of Sereknity Yarn (I wish you could see these in person. So many in-person shoppers last week walked directly to these shelves, saying “ooooooh, these are so pretty!” because the colorways are just that eye-poppingly gorgeous.)
* more colors of Hand Maiden’s Bess (the cashmere/wool blend that is turned into a machine-washable yarn without the use of chlorine in the process)
* new knitter’s gift tag line from the Pat Aube Gray Studios
* re-stocks of WIP tubes and DPN tubes
* new reference booklets – The Knitter’s Handy Guide to Yarn Requirements, and a new Colorwork booklet and colorwheel, for help in color combinations.
* RED Namaste Oh Snap Pouches – the ones that we had made for our Sock Club and Loopy Lite kits in May. We promised you that we had ordered some extras to have for a limited time, and they’re up and ready to go.
* re-stocks and new patterns from Wendy Knits pattern, Born to Knit patterns, and Kalamazoo Knits patterns
* a new line of THE cutest crochet patterns ever – Patty Davis Designs. (Well, at least that’s what I thought when I ran across this booth at TNNA – “these are so stinkin’ cute!”) Patty is on a mission to make patterns so fun that everyone will want to learn to crochet (if you don’t already know how). I already pulled to owl and bird pillow patterns for myself.

Just a note on the timing for Monday Updates. I generally like to do it after the west coasters have gotten home from work, but before the east coasters have gone to bed.  That means it usually ends up being sometime between 8 and 9 pm, Central time. Of course once in awhile we’ll do a Monday late afternoon, if I’m not going to be around that evening to put things up. Or Tuesday evening, if Monday was a holiday and we weren’t here over the weekend to do the photos. But that doesn’t happen very often. Most weeks, we’re very predictable on time and date, and we’re happy that you’re all on top of that schedule. Pop on over to the website to check it all out!

Sheri whopromisestodo”real”gaugeswatchesfromnowon
sothatsweatersendupfittingwhentheyaredone

There were a few questions about my striping sock from Wednesday’s post, that I wanted to answer. Kathy said, “Where are the yellow combos?” And Sarah, also a fan of yellow, agreed. They’re right – I missed yellows! I pulled a couple of yellows to photo for you. What do you think? Lemon, Ice and Colonial Blue on the left, Iron, Celery and Butter on the right (Kathy’s combo, which I loved).

Striping was the next question.

Molly said, “Your stripes look perfectly straight … care to share your jogless stripe in the round method?” Well first of all, I showed you the prettiest side. Of course. But the way I do a “fairly jogless” stripe (emphasis on the fairly), is that when I’m switching to a new color, I knit the first stitch on that new-color row with both the old AND the new color. So if I’m going from dark brown to blue, the first stitch on the first blue row is knit with brown and blue held together. Then on the next time around, (the second row) I knit those two stitches together to turn it back into one stitch. Here’s a photo of a section by the toe where I did brown to blue to tan to blue to brown. It works pretty well.

Diane asked, “Do you carry your colors down the sock inside somewhere or do you go through weaving in all those ends when they are complete?” and Dr. Jackie asked the same thing, a few comments later.

For this sock, I carried the yarn inside the sock (catching it every 4 rows) and I don’t like how it looks. On the next one, I’m going to carry the yarn in the small sections (blue to tan to blue) but weave in the rest each time. Actually, I learned a quick way to weave in ends from a Lucy Neatby class I took a couple of years ago.

1.Hold the tail of the old color off to the left and your working yarn (new color) as normal. (In the case of the photos below – I’m weaving in a tail from my short-row toe.) You’ll be knitting the working yarn – the one attached to the ball -  as normal, but positioning your right needle over and under the tail you’re weaving in, as you knit down the row.

2. On the first stitch, duck your right needle under the tail and catch the working yarn to make your stitch as normal. (See photo, below.) The yarn going off to the left is my tail that I’m weaving in. The yarn going straight up is my working yarn (attached to the ball).

3. On the next stitch of the row, pop your right needle over the tail and catch the working yarn to make your stitch as normal. (See right photo, below.)

4. Repeat #2 & 3 a few more times and then pull the tail slightly to tighten it up a bit. Cut off an extra tail.

Does anyone else have jogless stripes or weaving tips to share?

Sheri thisblueisthetoeofmyNorwegianRosesocks!

I used to love to color when I was little. (Heck, I’d probably still like coloring if given the chance!) I am transferring all of those “love to play with colors” tendencies, to my knitting. I’ve had a lot of fun mixing and matching colors in this new Solid Series line. It’s like having a big artist’s palette to play with. Here is a sock that I knit up over the weekend, using Surf, Coffee and Mocha.

The pattern is easy – I started toe up and used this pattern:
16 rows Coffee
4 rows Surf
8 rows Mocha
4 rows Surf
and repeat.

On the heel, I alternated between just the Surf and Mocha (4 rows each) in the middle of my 16 Coffee rows. I love the color combination. I need your opinion on the second sock – should I make it just like this, or should I do 16 rows of the Mocha and sandwich the dark coffee color in between the Surf? Slightly different?

Of course then I had to come in to Loopy and play with more possibilities. (Don’t you wonder what the other people in our building thought, when I started sticking yarn in the bushes and taking photos?) For this pattern, I try to pick a light and dark color in the same family, and then a “pop” color. The socks take 1 skein of each color, although you’ll have leftovers of the colors in the 4/8/4 sections. Here are some other quick combos that I pulled this morning:

Blackberry, Mauve and Malachite:

Mulberry, Carnation and Coffee:

Serenity Green, Pine and Plum:

Black, Apricot and Orange:

Lake, Whisper Blue and Kiwi:

Strawberry, Slate Blue and Navy:

What do you think? It’s fun to play with colors, isn’t it? I thought I’d start in on my Norwegian Rose socks tonight, but I’m vacillating. I really want to start an old-fashioned granny square blanket, too. And I am anxious to start one of these patterns as well. Decisions, decisions.

Sheri it’shothothotoutside,butIstillhadcoffeetoday.
There’ssomethingwrongwiththat.

Full to Overflowing #1: Remember this field that sits next to our building? (The one that famously fills up with floodwater about once every five years and makes us all panic?) Right now it’s full of Queen Anne’s Lace flowers. So pretty. WH took a wander through there and used some of his famous photo skills to capture their beauty up close.  I don’t remember seeing this many flowers in there in past summers. It is definitely full to overflowing with pretty white lace. (And probably full to overflowing with bees as well. I didn’t feel a need to investigate that part at all.) Since I have not taken even one hour to add flowers to any part of my yard or front porch (that is sad, isn’t it?), it’s nice to be able to enjoy this scenery at work.

Full to Overflowing #2: Things here at The Loopy Ewe. We had so many things come in this past week, that tonight’s Update was extra fun! Hop on over to see:

* The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga and Skinny Bugga – in both re-stocks and new colors
* Hand Maiden Camelspin – a luscious silk and baby camel mix, wonderful for shawls and scarves.
* Rowan’s New Amy Butler Belle Organic line – 50% Organic Cotton, 50% Organic wool, great for sweaters, vests, baby items, home decor, and more. Available in DK weight (pictured in photo) and Aran weight. We also have her pattern book in stock.
* Madelinetosh Pashmina – the merino/silk/cashmere blend you’ve been waiting for. 19 colors today, but more coming over the next few weeks as they work through our big order.
* Lorna’s Laces – new colors Fjord, Robot Overlord, Turtle Rodeo, Unicorn Parade, and Patina
* Schaefer Yarn – new colors and re-stocks in Audrey, Anne, and Heather
* New bags from: 3 AM Enchantments and Della Q
* New patterns from: Dangercrafts, Grace Akhrem, Ysolda Teague, Heirloom Stitches, Knit and Tonic, Stephen West, and Bekah knits.

So did you get a long weekend this past weekend? And did you do anything fun? Did you make progress on your knitting and crocheting? I washed and blocked my Mini Challenge Sweater, and then turned Surf, Mocha and Coffee into something I love. I’ll share photos soon. Next, it’s time to wind up Malachite and Whisper Blue for Norwegian Rose socks.

Sheri whoshouldnothaveincludedfoodnamesintheLoopyEweSolidSeriesLine
Sometimesitjustmakesmehungryandthirsty.