It’s Week Two (of Three) for reporting the Random Acts of Kindness that you may have participated in this week! I so enjoyed reading all of your comments on last Friday’s blog post. I know you don’t do these things for the chance to win a skein of our Seasonings Series (although that’s a cool prize!). You do these things because it makes your day to help make someone else’s day, right? And all of us get to benefit from your RAK’s because we read them and it inspires us with new ideas for additional ways to help. So thank you again for all that you’re doing and for sharing back here on the blog. Like last week, I’ll draw 1 name for every 50 comments and I’ll be contacting those winners to pick the Seasonings Skein that they’d like.

I wanted to share one story with you that amazed me. Denise in New York works as a nurse, but in her spare time she makes teddy bears to distribute to kids in shelters at Christmas time. Here you see her sitting in the middle of the 850 9″ teddy bears that she sewed up from September until now. (This year’s work brings her total made over the years to 6200!) They are made with muslin on the front and a pretty fabric on the back, with matching bow around the neck. She then pops each bear into a brown paper lunch bag and makes that pretty by tying ribbon on the top. That way, each child gets to open a package. Some of the bears go to Hour Children, where her husband dresses up and gets to play Santa each year. The rest of the bears are distributed to shelters in her area. Denise has also started knitting up hats, scarves, mittens and slippers to share with women just entering the shelter system. I can only imagine how the work of her hands blesses the hearts of so many. Thanks for letting me share your story, Denise!

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to leave your RAK report below. We’ll draw winners on Monday.

Sheri likingtheideaofknittingforwomen’sshelters

One of the classes we’re teaching this quarter is “Your First Mittens”. I wandered by the class while it was in session and decided I needed to make those mittens, too. They are incredibly thick and toasty feeling. Made from a bulky weight yarn, they really keep the chill out. You can find the pattern free (Super Bulky Mittens for Women) and I made it with 1 skein of Malabrigo Rasta. I did add a total of 4 extra stitches to the mitten to make it a little larger, and I also did 10 rows on the cuff to make them a bit longer. This pattern would be equally stunning in The Fibre Company’s Tundra or Spud and Chloe Outer. I made this pair for a gift, but since it only took me one evening of knitting, I’m planning to make a pair for myself as well.

While I was looking for that pattern on Ravelry, I came across a few other fun, bulky (quick to knit) mittens and mitts you also might want to check out: Raglan Mitts, Axel Mitts (I like the turn-down cuff), Highly Regarded Mitts, Chunky Cables Wrist Warmers, Shelburne Mittens, Basket Weave Mittens, and Herringbone Mittens.

Of course as long as you’re making mittens, you might as well make a hat to match, right? So check out these cute bulky hat patterns (and remember – bulky usually means quick-to-knit): Garden Gate Mittens and Hat, Super Chunky Super Quick Toque, Thorpe, and Bella’s Hat. With just under two weeks until Christmas, it’s probably time to do a few bulky projects. Do you like to knit with bulky yarn? Those needles (size 11) seemed so big when I started, but by the second mitten I was whizzing right along with them. Plus, I really like that the mittens are so warm and thick. I imagine it’s the same with anything you knit out of bulky yarn. There are definitely a lot of pluses in using it.

Sheri whomightbeanewbulkyfan

Happy Monday to you! We just added lots of things to the website for tonight’s Monday Update.  Pop on over there and you’ll find:

Madelinetosh Pashmina – the lovely sport weight 3-ply that is 75% superwash merino, 15% silk and 10% cashmere. Since this feels so wonderful, it’s great for scarves, hats, cowls, mitts, gloves, mittens and shawls. (Shown here in Jade.)

Madelinetosh DK - a DK weight in 100% superwash merino re-stocked in just a few of the newer colors tonight. This yarn is beautiful for sweaters and vests (and equally fun for hats and scarves).

Madelinetosh Vintage – a worsted weight in 100% superwash merino in a newer-color re-stock as well.

Shibui Sock – re-stocked in several of your favorite colors. Not only is this fingering weight yarn great for socks, but it also works up nice for shawls.

Shibui Silk Cloud – This light-as-as-feather yarn is great on its own. Try Stephanie’s Pretty Thing Cowl, but it’s also wonderful as a held-along yarn. I’m making a Cabled Rib Wrap using Silk Cloud held with Shibui Baby Alpaca DK. It’s so wonderful to work with. (Shown here in Cranberry.)

ChiaoGoo Needles – re-stocked.

Knitter’s Pride Needles and Sets – re-stocked.

Magma Pattern Holders – re-stocked in small and large sizes.

Reisenthel Bags – these polyester bags are great for your knitting projects and your shopping expeditions. They fold up tiny (2.5″ x 5″) to store in your purse, and they open up to 17″ x 23″ and hold 33 pounds when you need them to. 12 happy colors/fabrics to choose from. (Shown here in Bubbles Ocean Blue).

Lavishea Bars – Don’t you love these moisturizing bars? I keep them in my purse and in my knitting project bags. They make a great add-along gift if you’re giving someone a pair of mitts or gloves as a gift.

Loopy Square Tote Project bags – great for sock/scarf/hat sized projects, or shawl and sweater sized projects.

Socktopus Sokkusu – more of one of your favorite yarns! We have a few more colors going up next week again, and then we won’t have more Socktopus until next summer. They are moving their operations and it will take awhile to get set back up again.

Buttons, buttons, buttons and more buttons - I had fun buying more buttons and you’ll see what I mean when you see all of the varieties that we added in! You can find buttons under the Fun Accessories tab and we have them from Arnhild’s Knitting Studio, Buttons, Etc, Durango Buttons, and JHB Buttons.

Did you read the comments on last Friday’s RAK Reporting blog post? Wow – what fun ideas you all have had! We used the Random Number Generator to pick 3 winners for the week. Congratulations to Marilee in MO, Allison in CA and Melissa in IN. I’ve sent emails to all three of you so that you can pick your free skein from our Loopy Ewe Seasonings Series line. Thank you to everyone who participated. I’ve already had several emails from people who were motivated to do something more because of an idea or two that you shared on the blog. Be on the lookout for some Random Acts of Kindness that you can do this week, because our next reporting day will be this Friday!

Sheri whogotseveralnewideasfromyourpostsandwilltrythemthisweek

We sure enjoy seeing all of you knitters and crocheters popping in the shop every day. (Some of you pop in via the webcam, and others of you pop in in person). Last weekend we had a group of Loopy Groupie podcasters up here for a meet-up and shopping. If you are in the market for some new podcasts, you will want to give them a try! Leslie and Laura were here from The KnitGirllls. Mel was here all the way from Hawaii, where she podcasts at SingleHandedKnits. And Diane was up from Denver, where she podcasts at Knitabullspodcast.blogspot.com. Others in the photo – Loopy Office Manager Lynn wearing the cute Elf Hat that Laura made for her, and Tami who also came up with them from Denver for the day.  It was fun to have them here. I usually only get to see Leslie and Laura at the Spring Fling, so this was a bonus! (Speaking of the Fling – signups go through the end of the day on Tuesday, 12/11. We’ve had a great turnout for signups so far, and are so looking forward to having you here for the retreat.)

Today is our first Friday RAK Reporting Contest. Did you do something fun this week? Share it with us by leaving a comment below. We’ll use today’s comments to randomly draw a winner for every 50 responses, so check back on Monday to see if we drew your name. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Sheri finishedacutepairofmittensthisweek.
Photosnextweek!

It’s December! In previous years, we’ve done a contest all month long involving RAK’s. (Random Acts of Kindness). Last year we didn’t officially sponsor any RAK contests, because we moved the shop from St. Louis to Fort Collins the first week in December, and it was a little over-consuming. But I missed it, and we’re putting it back into the regular December schedule again. This will be our fifth year of December Friday RAK contests, and I’m so looking forward to reading the comments to see who is participating and what you have chosen to do. Thank you in advance for the love that you’re going to share!

There are three Fridays before Christmas, so each of those Fridays will be a RAK reporting day here on the blog. If you’d like to participate, you’re encouraged to do something special and unexpected for someone around you each week. They can be cost-free or expensive, big or little, anonymous or not. Pick something extra nice and out of the ordinary. Not things like “I held the door open for the mom with 3 toddlers at the grocery store.”, because I think we all do those kinds of nice things all the time. Or at least we should be! Need some ideas? If you click on the Random Acts of Kindness blog category over there —> on the right side of my blog, you can read comments from past RAK posts.

Why do we ask you to report back in on Friday? Because your RAK’s inspire other people to go out and do the same. I love the emails that I get in December, where people are telling me how inspired they were when reading someone else’s comment about something nice that they did. You have no idea how your one idea might spur or encourage lots and lots of other people who read about it. That way, your RAK goes even further than you originally intended. To further encourage you to report back in via a blog comment here, we’ll be drawing one name for every 50 RAK comments we get on the Friday blog posts (12/7, 12/14, 12/21). You will win your choice of yarn from our new Loopy Seasonings Series, and we’ll also be adding something extra to your prize as well, because that’s all part of the fun.

Our first reporting day is this Friday and we’ll announce the winner next Monday. You have a few days to do something nice and leave a comment on Friday’s post. (Then – you will have another opportunity to do something else next week, for that Friday’s post.) I hope you’re up for it!

Sheri alreadyplottingmyfirstRAKoftheseason

Happy Monday to you, the first full week in December. Are you done with your holiday knitting yet? Is it time to treat yourself to something fun? We have some great options that went up in tonight’s Monday Update!

The Loopy Ewe Seasonings Series - We gave you a taste of this with our August Anniversary Kit, and now the whole line of color is ready. Each set comes with a 430 yard skein of the main color and a coordinating solid mini skein (approx. 100 yards). We call the mini skein the “seasoning”, because everything is better with a little seasoning, right? This line is perfect for socks with coordinating heels and toes, shawls with a coordinating edge (like Breath of Fresh Air, or pretty much any shawl where you want to pop the edging a bit), hats/gloves/cowls with coordinating edging, etc. We have 27 color combos for you to choose from, and will be adding more colors as we move forward with the line. We’re happy to have the talented people from Lorna’s Laces dyeing up this line for us on their Shepherd Sock yarn base, which is one of our favorites. Here are a few of the 27 colors:

Cinnamon Toast, Undercover Agent, Loopy Lodge

Vacation Day, Sweetgrass, Icicles

Loopy Cakes – Thanks for the fun feedback on our first offering of Loopy Cake sets! We have used some of your great suggestions for another round of Cake packages for you. Each Loopy Cake set has 6 different mini skeins (approx. 110 yds. per cake, 660+ yards per set) that coordinate around a theme. In addition to the Autumn, Baby, Rainbow and Steampunk sets that we still have available, we’re adding in these new tonight: Chocolate & Roses (luscious pinks and browns), Manly (great for striped hats/gloves/scarves for guys), Starry Night (inspired by Van Gogh’s famous painting) Whisper (the softest, sweetest colors), and Doll Parts (hair and skin tones for knitting dolls). Each set is great for colorwork and fair isle (like Colorwork Christmas Ornaments), for knitting cute striped patterns (like Leap, Zig and Zag Sock Yarn Blanket, and Starfield Cuffs) , for baby socks and clothes (like Saartje’s Bootees, Tiny Shoes, and Wee Tiny Owl Socks) , for Hexapuffs and Sock Yarn Blankets, for small items (like Sweater Ornaments, Mini Mittens, Holly, Ivy and Steve which look great in Christmas Colors, but I want them in Chocolate and Roses or Whisper, Cabled Coffee Cuff, and Seed Stitch Bracelets) and for coordinating with other multi-colors. Here are the new Cake Sets:

Chocolate & Roses, Starry Night, Whisper

Manly, Doll Parts

JulieSpins – Silky 435. This fingering weight yarn comes 435 yards to the skein and is 50% Silk, 50% Superwash Merino. It has a beautiful light sheen and wonderful hand. You’ll like it for shawls, scarves, lace, and lightweight sweaters. Shown below in Leafy Shadow, Persian Violets, and Night Bird.

GoKnit Bags - we’ve re-stocked all of the colors in this great project bag line.

KnowKnits Bracelets – we’ve re-stocked all of the colors in these quick-to-knit kits, perfect for gift-giving. You can see the set I knit up on this blog post.

Have fun perusing and shopping, and we’ll look forward to packing up all of your orders asap!

Sheri startingsocksoutofLoopyLodgethisweek