Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! I hope you’re feeling loved by all of the special people in your life today. My favorite thing about Valentine’s Day is that it’s Knitting Daughter’s Birthday. And here’s one of my favorite photos of her when she was about three. Now she’s all grown up and enjoying life at college. I don’t know where the time went between then and now. I’m pretty sure that it was just a few weeks ago that she was sitting on the kitchen counter and I snapped this photo. WH and I zipped over to Indiana to surprise her over the weekend. Not for the whole weekend. You can’t surprise a college student for the entire weekend and expect that they don’t already have plans!  So we went late Saturday night and claimed Sunday morning (church) and Sunday lunch with her. It was a lot of fun and makes it a smidgeon easier to be this far away from her on her actual birthday, today. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIA!!)

So that’s my favorite thing about today. What’s your favorite thing about today? Leave your message in the comments below and we’ll run the random number generator on Friday, to see who wins some beautiful red yarn. See all of those skeins in the photo? We’re pulling prizes from there. We made that to put up on the webcam for you today, hoping you feel the Loopy love!

Sheri madeourfavoritesugarcookieslastweekwishIhadonerightnow

P.S. We do have an Update going up later today. Watch for new multi-colors of Universal’s Cotton Supreme, Namaste bags, Soak, Sajou Scissors, and misc. knitting gadgets!

A friend visited an Alpaca Farm here in Missouri (obviously when the grass was still green and snow and ice were yet to come) and sent me this photo. She thought it looked like this guy was laughing, and I agree!  Or at least he’s having a happy day.

We’ve had a busy week and I’m glad it’s Friday. Definitely time for the weekend! But first, I wanted to finish the second half of our Loopy Groupie list from last week. A big warm welcome to the following people, who have recently reached their Loopy Groupie status. We’re glad to have you here!

Rebecca in AK, Audrey in Australia, Elka in MO, Christine in RI, Deborah in NY, Liesbeth in New Zealand, Patricia in VA, Gayle in Australia, Cynthia in Canada, Kathleen in MI, Deborah in CA, Judy in CA, Rikako in Japan, Laura in MI, Nathalie in the U.K., Robbie in AK, Sandra in OR, Lourdes in CA, Michele in OH, Susan in NC, Sarah in IL, Eleen in TX, Suzanne in TX, Jackie in NY, Marie in LA, Avery in NC, Jennifer in IA, Karen in FL, Laurel in NY, Jenn in PA, Jeanie in MI, Tina in KS, Cary in AK, Lynn in FL, Kristi in Canada, Carrie in TX, Lois in GA, Kathy in MI, Karen in PA, Dianne in ME, Abigail in IN, Kandice in CA, Tamara in LA, Yamamoto in Japan, Tracey in OH, Char in WI, Ginny in GA, Margaret in MN, Joel in WI, Gillian in MA, Emily in SC, Cheryl in MO, Heather in AL, Em in South Africa, Mary in OH, Renee in TX, Sumiko in IL, Reecca in NY, Katherine in Canada, Karen in WA, Katherine in MN, Beverly in CA, Judy in NY, Jennifer in NC, Patricia in Canada, Cecilia in NY, Carolyn in OR, Karin in GA, Lugene in CA, Maureen in AL, Kimberly in PA, Pernille in IL, Marie in LA, Diane in FL, Barbara in MA, Catherine in CT, Carol in OR, Michelle in NH, Susan in OH< Beth in MN, Judi in MD, Jill in WI, Rachel in NV, Marie in MN, Lieuvena in MO, Vicki in IA, Deborah in WV, Beverlee in KS, Darlene in ME, Elizabeth in VA, Joan in IL, Val in Canada, Janine, MI, Debbie in IL, Jenn in Canada, Sue in WI, Roxanne in NE, Joyce in CT, Barbara in MI, Lyndy in GA, Maryjo in CA, Nini in MO, Bailie in VA, Lauren in FL, Barb in VA, Michelle in NJ, Sarah in CA, Marcia in VA, Mary in NE, Catherine in MO, Lynna in CA, Heather in MD, Melissa in MI, Loraine in NY, Amy in OR, Davida iN NY, Donna in ME, Stacia in ID, Amy in CA, Danielle in NV, Margie in OH, Jennifer in DE, Patricia in MI, Tiffany in VT, Dawn in NC, Colleen in IL, Kerstin in Sweden, Karyn in NY, Kathleen in PA, Sherry in TX, Colleen in WA, Rachel in OH, Jessica in NE, Kristi in MO, Kathy in MO, Lisa in Australia, Cathy in PA, Christina in MI, Kelly in WI, Elinor in KS, Marina in NY, Karen in KY, Susan in MA, Sarah in CO, Sarah in MD, Joanne in Canada, Jean in MD, Mary in AK, Elaine in the U.K., Rhonda in KS, Nicole in the military, Sandra in CA, Catherine in Australia, Miwa in NY, Mandy in MO, Pat in VA, Linda in Canada, Megan in IN, Veta in WA, Sheila in MD, Amber in VA, Robbin in MO, Jeannie-Maree in Australia, Janet in MN, Luanne in FL, Jennifer in KY, Dawn in MI, Diane in CA, Nancy in TX, Sherilyn in MA, Kara in CA, Sheryl in MT, Heather in IL, Liz in CA, Bunny in NY, Jennifer in IN, Sandy in ID, Sarah in NY, Melissa in NY, Nancy in AL, Kim in OR, Teresa in MO, Susan in IL, Milly in WA, Chris in IA, Marybeth in KS, Caroline in FL, Michelle in OH, Christine in New Zealand, Allison in PA, Wendy in CA, Ann in NJ, Kristine in UT, Annette in PA, Denise in MI, Laura in MO, Jamie in MI, Hollis in NY, Kate in CT, Rachel in WA, Hyun-Jumg in CA, Shana in IN, Kate in IL, Diane in IL, Debi in Canada, Elizabeth in UT, Vanessa in MN, Cheryl in WI, Elizabeth in NH, Jean in MA, Kelly in NV, Erin in TX, Heather in TX, Agata in MN, Heather in OH, Beverly in SC, Karen in OH, Amanda in WA, Carla in MT, Bobby in TX, and Michelle in TX.

This is what I see when I look out my window at home – birds, birds, and more birds – at the birdfeeders and on the windowsills. They know a good thing when they find it. What are you seeing outside your window today?

Sheri ormaybethebirdsarewatchingmeknit?

I love the idea of yarn made from recycled blue jeans. My favorite weekend attire is comfortable jeans and a thick, warm sweater, so when Kollage’s Riveting yarn line came in, I nabbed a skein and made the “My Kind of Saturday” cowl. (How could I not? It even references the weekend!) This was quick to knit up and I picked a color that reminded me of my oldest, most favorite faded blue jeans, Cloud Denim. I knit it up just as the pattern called for, and I like the fit a lot. It’s large enough to easily go over your head, but still fits well enough to keep your neck and front warm when you’re out. I have about 40 g. of yarn left over. I wonder if I ought to find a fingerless mitts pattern for it. Or maybe I’ll combine that light color with a bit of a darker color and do 2-color mitts. Hmmm.  I’ll have to ponder that. (Edit: You bought us out again! More Saturday Cowl patterns and yarn on order. We’ll let you know as soon as it gets here.)

I wish you could have seen the Elves kicking it up yesterday. Not kicking it up as in forming a dance line, but kicking it up as in working their tails off. Donna, Sue and Lori all came in on their day off to join Susan, Karen, Anna, Mary and Vicki, in order to get the other half of our pre-ordered Club Loopy kits out, along with getting most of the Update orders out. They’re amazing and I am so lucky to have them here! We’re still working on the remaining orders today, and we also have the February Club Loopy kits ready for individual sales. We saved a good number of kits to be sold individually, for those of you who would rather purchase month to month, and for those of you who were sad to miss out on the 3 month bundle. I’m not showing the photo here in the blog, because I know that many of you like being surprised by the contents, each month. However, if you want to see the kit and order one, click here. It will take you right on over. The kits are pre-boxed and ready to ship right out, so like all of our other kit offerings, they do need to ship by themselves.  The yarn is luscious, the patterns are fun to knit, and the Baggu Bag has my favorite fun knitting quote on it. (Personally, I think it reminds people of just how talented knitters really are, given the basic materials that we have to work with.)

Sheri hopingtofinishaninterestingscarfsoon,
sothatIcanshowittoyou

Our line of Loopy Legends are back! You know that previously, we have dyed up some special colorways in honor of some of the Loopy Legends around here. We had to find a new dyer for that line, and I turned to one of my favorite companies with it comes to beautiful multi-colors – Lorna’s Laces. I knew that Beth and her team would be up for the challenge. I didn’t want to show them pictures of another dyer’s work, so the only direction I gave them was to tell them the same thing I told the first dyer – “Here are the colors that go in this colorway – we’ll look forward to getting these in your interpretation of it.”  In some cases, the colorways are similar to the first batch. In other cases, they are quite a bit different. It was so fun to get these cases of yarn and see how they turned out. I think you’ll agree with me – they did an awesome job on these.  (Shown here: Sharon’s Island Time.) Now that we have the original 24 Legends back in stock, we can start working on our next batch of brand new Legends. How do you become a Legend? We keep an eye on our top customers and frequent shoppers. There’s no magical threshold or number, except that you have become a Legend to us in one way or another. We’ll keep adding to this line, now that we have it up and going again.

Also in tonight’s Update, we have lots of Sanguine Gryphon Bugga and Skinny Buggy to share with you. We get this line in regularly, because we know this is one of your favorite merino/cashmere/nylon lines. Plus, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock big skeins, the March color for the Skacel’s Trekking Knit-A-Long, re-stocks of Kollage’s Riveting yarn and patterns that sold out last week, and a new line of hand-made project bags from Three Bags Full. (Many of you know MicheleinMaine on Ravelry, and have already discovered her beautiful bags.) Finally, we have two more patterns available from last year’s sock club – Karya Socks by Monica Jines and Autumnal Neck Cozy by Wendy Johnson. You’ll find those in the Sock Club section, under patterns.

Enjoy checking out What’s New and check back on Wednesday, when we’ll have the first Club Loopy kit up and available for individual purchase. (For those of you who pre-ordered the kits, we’re shipping yours out today and tomorrow.)

Sheri whodidnotknitontheUltraPimasweaterthisweekendafterall.
Startedanewscarfpatterninstead.

Since we were covered in ice this week, the birds were particularly interested in hanging out around our birdfeeders that day. Paul (WH) had fun trying out a great lens (macro lens, maybe?) on some of them. If you really like birds, you can click on the photos to make them even bigger.

The female Cardinal is named Ethel. She and her husband Fred have been hanging around our birdfeeders year-round for the past six years. They’re my favorites, and they’re the only birds that we (ok, I) have named.

Somehow this Robin seems out of place. I see more Robins in the spring and summer.

Our cats Gracie and Zoe love sitting on the window ledge, watching them. Or maybe they’re dreaming about catching them.

Today we’re welcoming a new batch of Loopy Groupies!  I can’t believe how long it has been since I listed them. So long, in fact, that I’m doing half of them today and saving the other half for next week. And then I’m going to go to www.teuxdeux.com (where I keep my brain and my schedule) and put this task into my calendar so that I remember to blog them more frequently. I know you all like to see the names, because if I forget someone, you always email to let me know! So a warm welcome to our latest Loopy Groupies. We’re so glad to have you here!

Wendy in WA, Heather in MI, Susan in MI, Mary in OH, Michele in Canada, Noriko in Japan, Susan in NC, Fabienne in CA, Kim in IA, Donna in OK, Kerryn in Australia, Bethann in MO, Theresa in MO, Chanina in Israel, Andrea in MA, Karen in OR, Mai in WA, Sue in AK, Rena in MA, Melissa in MN, Melanie in NJ, Pamela in NM, Cindy in NV, Susan in IL, Barclay in NJ, Gaetane in Canada, Melissa in KY, Barbara in Australia, Barbara in KS, Dean in LA, Mette in MO, Erin in GA, Nancy in OR, Debra in OH, Necia in AR, Debora in GA, Jillian in NJ, Michelle in WA, Carrie in IA, Sandy in WI, Lisa in MA, Sue in CA, Mary in VA, Mel in FL, J.F. in MI, Susan in TX, Ruth in CO, Janine in the U.K., Christine in MI, Danielle in NY, Paula in KY, Debora in CA, Susan in CA, Kathy in AK, Karen in VA, Penny in NE, Karol in MO, Samantha in NC, Holly in NH, Christine in MA, Kelly in Canada, Dori in TN, Jennifer in NJ, Sara in CA, Calista in OK, Marietta in GA, Glennalee in IN, Rebecca in OH, Carol in NJ, Kay in WI, Terri in TX, Arlene in NY, Hinkmond in CA, Louise in CA, Diane in CA, Kimberly in SC, Laura in IL, Pamela in NY, Patricia in NJ, Fahy in MA, Jill in IA, Rosemary in MO, Michelle in OR, Judith in TN, Heather in GA, Marilyn in Canada, Judith in VA, Jill in MD, Dana in TN, Anna in Poland, Mya in CO, Jenifer in TX, Susan in IL, Celeste in Australia, Jessica in SD, Preita in CA, Virginia in NV, Nancy in OH, Glenda in WA, Debra in PA, Iris in OH, Clara in ME, Bettye in TX, Eilene in MD, Kathie in CA, Karen in VA, Vivian in Canada, Laura in HI, Ann in KS, Melissa in AR, Jennifer in SC, Meghan in NC, Melanie in IN, Kurt in CA, Rosemary in Australia, Cynthia in OR, Anne in the U.K., Caroline in TN, Melissa in SC, Amy in OH, Daniela in TN, Suzanne in OR, Teri in IL, Kym in TX, John in SC, Jane in KS, Alpha in NY, Teresa in WV, Sarah in NC, Laura in SC, Nina in CA, Cindy in PA, Maxine in Canada, Toni in WA, Chantel in IN, Joan in OH, Christina in CA, Hiromi in Japan, Nancy in MA, Shelly in WA, Katie in TX, Joann in CA, Lani in CA, Helen in Norway, Amy in KY, Jennifer in MD, Hollie in the military, Lorraine in VA, Candy in WI, Stephanie in D.C., Marcela in MI, Jeanett in TX, Mandy in MO, Janet in TX, Wendy in CO, Melissa in Canada, Kristina in NC, Mary in OR, Miranda in WI, Eevi in OR, Rachael in IL, Susan in NY, Heather in MO, Mary in CA, Sandy in MT, Nancy in VA, Bettie in MO, Valerie in NM, Debbie in KY, Mollilou in AR, Adrienne in IL, Shannon in CA, Jill in CT, Candace in NC, Kelley in CA, Jill in ME, Christine in WA, Candice in CA, Jennifer in Canada, Erica in Canada, Carol in VA, Courtney in WA, Kat in AK, Rosemary in CA, Kimberly in PA, Hope in NY, Elise in MA, Jan in CA, Tara in MN, Patricia in MA, Rosemary in Australia, Marcella in MD, Christine in MD, Suzanne in CT, Amy in CA, Michelle in Canada, Leslie in WI, Barbara in MI, Alice in FL, Anastasia in NH, Marianne in TN, Terri in OR, Davilyn in OH, Ann in NY, Therese in CT, Omar in Australia, Michelle in CA, Theresa in CA, Catherine in Norway, Robin in NJ, Megan in MO, Silvia in CA, Carol in OH, Ashley in NJ, Tara in GA, Erin in VA, Meg in FL, Elizabeth in VA, Beverly in MN, Sheri in KY, Adrienne in OR, Amy in OR, Teresa in CA, Kay in OK, Meagheen in NY, Rasa in OH, Gaye in CO, Jenna in TX, Emily in VA, Laura in Canada, Mary in IL, Dawn in ND, Jennifer in TX, Gwynne in NJ, Patty in CA, Julie in NY, Lynae in IL, Amanda in FL, Alexis in MA, Angela in FL, Claudia in Germany, Debra in IN, Janet in MI, Tamara in MO, Yuka in Japan, Sandra in NY, Jennifer in CA, Sara in NV, Tanya in ND, Martha in KY, Jennifer in KS, Gail in WI, Jamie in KS, Martina in Canada, Erin in Australia, and Rica in Norway.

That’s the first half. More next Friday. In the meantime, have a great weekend and get lots of knitting done. I picked out a sweater pattern and an Ultra Pima color and will start in on that. It would be nice if I’d stick with one project and get it done in a reasonable amount of time. Too much to hope for?  What are you doing this weekend – anything fun?

Sheri warminguptoawhopping35degreesthisweekend.Heatwave!

Well, we ended up with more sleety ice than snow, in the end. We did get snow on top of the ice and it’s beautiful, but nowhere near the 7-12 inches they were predicting. It was messy and slippery out there yesterday, so we all stayed home and off the roads, as instructed. I think the ice pelted the windows until mid-afternoon, at least. I was inside, knitting and drinking coffee. (And although I was tempted to strike out for Starbucks – a simple 3 blocks away – I decided that would be foolish and made my own coffee. Maybe if it hadn’t been sleeting so hard ….)

Here is the February Dream in Color Dream Club pattern, Pleiades, by Beth Kling. I got the pattern about a week ago and loved it so much that I started in on it right away. (Note – this is not the February color! I made this out of  Deep Sea Flower, because I wanted a blue scarf/shawl for someone. I’m saving the red to make another one for me.) We have sold out of the extra skeins as of now, but remember, we will continue to put additional skeins up as the pre-order people make decisions about whether or not they want to buy their reserved skein. The last batch will go up next week on Wednesday, the 9th. And as soon as Dream in Color gives the go-ahead, we’ll offer the pattern separately. We’ll keep you posted on that. (I’ll repost one of these photos when the pattern is available, just to remind you of what it looks like and to let you know it’s ready.)

This was a great pattern. You knit the leaf-y border vertically, and then pick up stitches along one long side to continue knitting the garter part and then the ruffle, horizontally. I ran out of yarn on the ruffle, and so I had to make it 5 rows shorter than called for. Just an FYI if you’re making this – watch your yardage on the ruffle and end it when you need to end it.

On the February color – the Dream in Color gals mentioned to me awhile back that this was going to be a pink color, and I felt like we’d already had enough pastel-y colors in the Dream Club, so far. They’d heard that from others, too, so they were offering to over-dye it in reds if someone preferred that, and we preferred that! I love how these skeins turned out – absolutely gorgeous. But that’s why you might see some pinks and some reds, being offered out there in different yarn shops. Depending on your monitor, the skeins might even be a little redder than what is showing up on your screen.

For those of you who missed out on some of the Kollage Riveting colors and patterns, we have more on order and hope to have them up in the 2/14 Update. I finished my Saturday cowl – will share that when we get more patterns and yarn in. I really like this yarn.

Sheri brrrrrr.reallyreallyreallycoldhereinSt.Louis.Howaboutforyou?