Still buried in boxes, but finding a wee bit of time to knit and blog. It’s good stress relief. That’s what I keep telling myself. We have a nice deck that is perfect for knitting. I’ll have to take a picture and show you sometime. I did start a Citron with Kauni and I am having fun working on that when I can steal a few minutes here and there.

During our summer of Camp Loopy, we’ve been talking about fun memories we have from past camping and summer experiences. One thing I remember is catching lightening bugs. Did you do that, too? When you’re little, it feels like you’re catching floating stars and putting them in a jar. There’s just something magical about lightening bugs.

When our kids were little, we did something that we called Adventure Club each summer. We made a list of different things that we wanted to do and made sure to schedule something out-of-the-ordinary, each week. I took photos of each weekly event so that I could put it in our Adventure Club Scrapbook. At the end of the summer, instead of saying, “Where did the time go? We were going to do so many things this summer that we never got around to!”, we could pull out the scrapbook and see all of the fun times we had and the things that we did. One of the things we did one summer was to have a Lightening Bug Picnic.

The kids were in charge of catching a jar full of lightening bugs to “light” our picnic. I made up food to go with the theme. We had Moons (croissant sandwiches), Worms (pasta salad), Stars (Jello Jigglers cut into star shapes), Flower Pot Dirt (cinnamon muffins baked in mini flower pots), Clouds (popcorn) and Twigs (Twix candy bars). Of course half of the fun was that the kids got to stay up until 9:30 for dinner, because it didn’t get dark enough until then! It was a fun summer adventure.

This month’s contest is about summer memories. What is one fun thing that you did in the summertime when you were growing up? Maybe you did it once, or maybe it was a summertime tradition? Leave your answer in the comments below and we’ll use the random number generator to draw for a few $35 Loopy Ewe Gift Certificates next week.

Sheri backtoknittingboxesknittingboxesknittingboxes

When you go hiking in the mountains, you need a map, right? One or two steps down the wrong path and you might find yourself in a place you didn’t expect. The same goes with knitting. We use maps (ok, during non-camping times we call them patterns) to insure that we are executing the right stitches on each row. One or two stitches in the wrong direction, and we end up with a project that we don’t recognize. Thank goodness for maps/patterns that lead the way!

This week for a Camp Loopy celebration, we have put all of our single copy patterns up for sale at 20% off. (Pattern books and booklets not included.) There is no limit to the number of patterns you can get, so it would be a good time to stock up. The sale ends Friday night at midnight, Central Time.

Many of you have also already found the new section that we added to the website called, “Last Call“. These are yarn lines that we don’t anticipate getting again soon (if ever) and you can find some very good deals in there. Take a peek and see if there is anything calling your name!

Thanks to all of you who have emailed or messaged me on Ravelry and Facebook to make sure we survived the long 14 hour drive to Colorado. We did! And the cats did so much better than I had anticipated. After the first two hours of complaining, they settled down and slept much of the rest of the day. We have spent the week unpacking, with plenty more to go. But the important things are done. We have beds to sleep in and, even more importantly, the coffee maker is set up and has already been used every morning. Want to come join me for a cup? (But beware – I might make you unpack a box, first. The main floor is getting there, but OH, the basement….)

Sheri weatherupdate:hot,butnohumidityanditfeelsgreat!

One of the yarns I get asked about a lot is Kauni. I have ordered samples two different times (the first time being when we were still small and in the basement of our house) and each time, I put it on hold. Why? Because the multi-colors come in multiple misc. weights and it’s hard to sell it that way. Fortunately, the amazing colors and projects won out, and we’ve gotten the line here at The Loopy Ewe. We’ve categorized them in weight ranges, so if you need a bit less or a bit more, you can pick accordingly. This is not a soft yarn – it’s a very Shetland wool-y feeling ball. But it will soften up a bit in the wash, and you will have a lot of fun working with the colors, mixing multi’s and solids, and seeing the knitted fabric come off of your needles. I have one of their scarf patterns set aside with two skeins, ready to jump in. You alternate colors as you go. With the long color changes, it’s going to be a fun knit. How about trying it with LazyKaty? Or look how beautiful it is when done up in the Citron pattern. And another Citron. Ok, I think I just talked myself into a new Citron ….

We also added in Dream in Color Baby in the new Fire-Scorched semi-solids and it’s beautiful on this yarn base. Baby is a light fingering weight/lace weight and can be used for shawls, vests, socks, mitts and scarves. (Or maybe two colors for your next two-color shawl?)

Lorna’s Laces sent us their newest colorways (introduced at market in June), as well as a start to our Solemate order with them. Solemate is a new yarn base that has 55% Merino, 30% Outlast, and 15% Nylon. Outlast is a viscose fiber that interacts with your body temperature to moderate your temperature from being too hot or too cold. I tried a demonstration at the Lorna’s Laces booth at market (which involved wearing mitts – one with Outlast, one without) and it really works! This yarn will be great for socks, as well as mitts, scarves, cowls and hats. (Is it too much to ask for PJ’s and sheets out of this stuff??) We have quite a few colors, but more in the works already.

For all of you Camp Loopy campers, the t-shirts are in! We took the Camp Loopy logo and had it printed on white t-shirts to show off the bright colors the best. While the kids around you are attending camp and getting t-shirts, don’t you think you ought to be showing people that you attended camp this summer, too? The t-shirts are a nice weight and run a little large. Perfect for summer wear, exercising, lounging, and sleepwear.

As I mentioned on Friday, I’m up to my ears in boxes and moving at the moment. You can think about me tomorrow, as we trek 14 hours across Missouri, Kansas (wind turbines – ugh) and Colorado with the two cats. I will be glad to get to the new house tomorrow night! No blog on Wednesday or Friday (the movers will be unloading and the internet company will be there at some point to hook up our service), but I will be back next Monday with Update news. And I’ll have to let you know how the 14 hour car ride (with two cats) went…. The one good thing about that long car ride tomorrow? Knitting time!

Pop on over and check out all of the new things we put up tonight. The Elves will be busy pulling and packing your orders tomorrow!

Sheri currentlyhavingfunwithmittensandmynewtwo-colorshawl
butgoingtoaddaKauniCitrontothebunch

Time’s up! (Well – at midnight tonight.) Put down your needles and back away from Project One. I know that many of you have already finished, due to the 500+ photos already up in the Camp Loopy Project One Gallery. GREAT JOB on that! I’ve spent a lot of time looking at each one of your projects, and I’m really proud of the way you all have risen to the challenge. Your projects are just amazing and I hope you have had fun with Project One. I also hope that you’ve found a few more two-color shawls and scarves that you want to make, because then I’ll be in good company!

This is also the day we can jump into Project Two. Time starts now! For a refresher on Project Two details, see this post. You can start any time today, or after, with projects being finished on or before 8/15, photos uploaded 8/16. I am particularly amazed at the people who ordered yarn for project one a week or two after we had started, and they still finished ahead of time. Some of you must knit like the wind! Here is the beginning of my Project Two Mittens. I love cables and this pattern looks wonderful. If last month is any indication, I’ll probably find several more patterns to put on my list, as I see your photos start pouring in.

WH and I have a long car ride to Colorado next week. The time has finally come for the move! The movers arrive first thing in the morning to pack up the moving van (which means we’ll probably be up late tonight, finishing up the final boxing up.) One thing I’m not looking forward to? Two cats in the car for 14 hours. One of them will see this as a big adventure and will be perfectly fine. The other one doesn’t like change and will tell us about it the whole way there. Oh, it’s going to be a fun trip. One thing both cats will miss – having a screened porch to hang out in. Here’s a picture of Gracie, ohsoclose to a squirrel who happened to be climbing up to the bird feeder. He knew the cat was there – see the angry action of his tail, which is a blur? Gracie was stupefied. Zoe would have jumped at the squirrel and scared him to death. (Does that give you a clue as to which cat is adventurous and which cat is a scaredy cat?)

I’ll be somewhat removed from emails and Ravelry for about a week. I’ll check as often as I can, but if you need something that the Elves can help you with, please use the support @ theloopyewe.com address. After next week, I’ll be back to more regular communication. I will, however, have a Monday Update and blog post for you, so watch for that. More fun stuff has arrived!

Sheri whowillnotmissthisSt.Louisheatandhumidity

For my Camp Loopy Project One, I chose to knit the Pamuya shawl. I had seen this on several Spring Flingers in April and it immediately went onto my “must make” list. Everyone I talked to about it told me that it was fun to knit because there were enough different things going on that you never got bored knitting it. They were right. It was fun to work on.

I originally planned to use Madelinetosh Merino Light in Celadon and Mansfield Garden Party (which I showed you together here).I However, after adding a couple of rows of Garden Party, I realized that it wasn’t going to work, so I substituted Shoreline instead. I’m kind of wishing I had just started over and added a different solid color to Mansfield, because it’s such a beautiful mix of colors. I guess I’ll save it for another one. Maybe Faraway So Close, which I ran across again the other day. They have a similar look to them, don’t you think? I did start in on my Cladonia with a red Bugga and a purple Lorna’s Laces Sport. So far, so good! That will be a fun project.

Don’t forget that all of your Project One knitting must be done by midnight on Friday, with photos uploaded to our Camp Loopy Project One Gallery by midnight (my time) on Sunday. (International knitters have until Sunday, 7/24 to upload photos, due to increase shipping times). Due to the high numbers of photos being uploaded for this project, it does take us a bit of time to approve them all. If you can see the photo in on your Loopy account page and if you uploaded it by midnight, don’t worry if it doesn’t show up for a few days after that. They appear in the order they were uploaded on our approval page, and I will be sure to note which ones were there by the deadline, even though we’ll still be working through all of them!

For those with questions on how to get your pictures into the gallery - after logging into your Loopy Ewe account, go to your account page and you’ll find a link to add photos there. Here is a note that I put up on the Loopy Groupie board on Ravelry, to answer some of the most often asked questions.

• Don’t forget to tag the yarn that you have used for the project. When you upload the photo, you’re given a list of items that you’ve purchased in the last few months, to make it easier. If you purchased the yarn earlier than that, just leave the yarn name in your photo notes so that we know what you used.
• We can only approve photos that use yarn that we have available at The Loopy Ewe (or that you purchased from us in the past, even if we no longer carry that line).
• I’ve loved seeing different views of your projects (and your cute dogs and cats wrapped up in your shawls). However, we’re only approving one photo per project, since we will be doing random drawings and such. One photo per project keeps it fair to everyone.
• We generally approve photos about once a week, although I’m doing them more often during Camp Loopy. If you get them uploaded by the deadline, we will make note of it, even if it doesn’t show up as approved right away. If you can SEE the photo in your account page, then you know it uploaded and is just pending approval.
• Do feel free to upload them after the deadline so that we can see what you did, even if it wasn’t done in time! Of course the extra perks are contingent on getting it done by the deadlines. But either way, we still want to see your beautiful work.
• If you have trouble uploading, it could be that your photo is too large. (They are limited to 3 MB). Or try a different browser.
• FOR CAMP LOOPY PROJECT TWO: make sure that your photo shows the pair, not just one. Two socks, two mittens, or two gloves. We want to make sure that you completed both of them. (This coming from someone with Severe Second Sock Syndrome, so I’m only pointing the finger at myself. And that’s also why my Project Two will be mittens.)

Sheri seeingallofyourfinishedphotoshasbeenhazardoustomy”mustknit”list.

Wow – so many things went up in tonight’s Update. The boxes have been pouring in here at The Loopy Ewe! (We like to keep the UPS guy and the FedEx gal really really busy in the hottest weather possible. Today’s heat index – 115. Don’t you want to come visit?) Just up:

The Sanguine Gryphon – not only did we get our monthly order of Bugga, but we also added in their Mithril laceweight line. Same beautiful dye technique, but on a lighter base. At just $20 for 750 yards, it a great deal, too. (Shown here in My Sweet Rose.)

Dream in Color - more Smooshy and more Everlasting in fingering weight.

Dragonfly Djinni - the merino/cashmere/nylon base that I continue to love so much (and I know you all do, too)

Studio June – laceweight in 100% cashmere. Wonderful yarn base, beautiful colors. (Shown here in Orchid.)

Done Roving Yarn – a new indie dyer that we added in at market this summer. Brilliant colors on a fingering weight base.

Malabrigo Lace – re-stocks

Alchemy Juniper - re-stocks and new colors in multi-colors and semi-solids

Mountain Colors Crazyfoot – re-stocked and new colors

Hadaki Bags – a new line of project bags for you, in 3 different sizes and styles. (Shown here in the French Market style in Cobalt Paisley).

Lots and lots of patterns. New lines and re-stocks  in Westknits, Ysolda Teague (including her awesome new sweater book), MimKnits, Knit and Tonic, Grace Akhrem, Cosmic Pluto Knits, Connie Chang Chinchio, French Press Knits, Designs by Romi, The Shetland Trader, and Tiny Owl Knits.

Need some ideas for new patterns? Check out the Project One Camp Loopy Photo Gallery. There are over 350 photos in there, and I have 50+ more awaiting approval. I am so proud of everyone who has risen to the challenge and knit a beautiful two-color shawl. We’ll continue to add the photos as they come in. The official due date for Project One is this Sunday (with the project done on Friday and two days to wash/block it.) I’ve decided to knit a Cladonia and have pulled a skein of Bugga and a skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport for it. (Thanks to all of you who knit that for your camp project and inspired me!) And I know, I know – Camp Loopy Project Two is starting this Friday as well. I’ve always been one to have multiple projects going at one time. You know that about me. I did finish my Project One shawl. Photos on Wednesday’s blog.

Sheri notenjoyingtheweatherhereinswelteringSt.Louis