Is it ever too soon to begin gift knitting for the next round of birthdays and holidays? We think not! To help you get some projects done and set aside for future gifting, we’ve developed our first Giftables Club and we’re excited to share it with you.

This is a 3 month club with shipments going out mid-February, mid-March, and mid-April. We’ve designed three projects that are perfect for gift giving (even if you are gifting it to yourself, which is perfectly acceptable). Each month you’ll receive an exclusively dyed luxury yarn (valued from $29.75 – $36.00), a pattern written just for that yarn, and a fun little extra tucked in. The cost of the club is $40 per month, plus shipping. Two of the months include patterns that are suitable for the gal friends in your life, and one month will include a pattern that will work for either guys or gals. If you’d like to be a part of the Club, we ask that you commit to purchasing all three months of it. We don’t need payment yet. You’ll receive an email each month when the package is ready to ship out to you, and you can pay at that time. If all that sounds good and you’re ready for 3 months of giftable kits with beautiful yarn, you can sign up by clicking here. (Now sold out! We will have another round of the Giftables Club this Fall. No worries.)

We hope you enjoy this as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it all together for you. Mid-February will be here soon and we’ll be sending the first package out to you!

Sheri makingtheseupfornextyear’sChristmasgifts
andsohappytobeaheadofthegameforonce

I have had a busy few days back here in St. Louis, helping my folks with a house project. Thank goodness for those awesome Loopy Elves, who keep things rolling along at the shop whenever I’m gone! I’m heading back to Colorado tonight and am looking forward to being in the shop tomorrow to see what new things have arrived while I was gone. But before I head home, I wanted to put up tonight’s Update. We’ve just added in:

String Theory Caper - one of my long-time favorite yarn bases. This is one of the softest 80/10/10 bases we have. (Superwash Merino, Cashmere, Nylon). I used it for socks, but it’s also perfect for shawls, cowls, scarves and mitts. Keep it close to your skin, because it’s really wonderful. We have it in 45 colors for you tonight. (Shown above in Beach Plum.)

SpaceCadet Creations - Stephanie is a new indie dyer to us and works her magic in Pennsylvania. We have her Oriana base for you tonight, which is an 8-ply fingering weight in 100% Superwash Merino. You’ll like this yarn for socks, scarves, hats and shawls. The 8-ply base gives a little extra strength and stability to your projects. We have it in some multi-colors and some semi-solids, all equally gorgeous. (Shown here in Beguile.)

Shalimar Missy – a Bulky weight yarn, just in time to whip up some quick hats, cowls and scarves! This soft and squishy yarn is really nice to work with and wonderful to wear. Of course being a Bulky weight, your projects will go quickly as well. In addition to hats and scarves, consider using this for warm mittens and cozy sweaters and vests. You’ll love it. We’re really happy to have added the Bulky weight to our lineup of other great Shalimar yarns available at The Loopy Ewe. (Shown here in Tequila Sunrise.)

Have fun checking out the new things, and we’ll get your Boxes of Fun packed up and shipped off to you tomorrow. I’m contemplating a new (Shalimar Bulky) hat project myself.

Sheri whohopestogetsomeknittingdoneontheflighthometonight

Have you ever wondered what goes on in the shop at night, after everyone has gone home? I’ll tell you what. Loopy gets into trouble.

He dives into the M&M’s for dinner:

And then has coffee (not decaf) to wash them down:

He takes an after dinner nap in his hammock the cowl displays:

And then rolls in the cashmere:

He hides in the project bags, planning to ambush the next customer who comes by (and then gives up when he realizes it’s nighttime and the store is closed):

He tries on the Scojo glasses:

And then messes up the needle wall:

He sits on the red couch all by himself and pretends he owns the whole place:

And then he tells secrets to Herman (who knows not to believe him):

He hangs out with Big Loopy and Socks:

And freaks out Webcam Loopy by jumping on his back and boxing his ears:

By morning, he’s nestled back into a batch of yarn, as if nothing had happened. Until everyone leaves that night again ….

What trouble would he get into at your house at night?

Sheri gladhesettlesdownduringthedaywhencustomersarehere

I have a thing for old collectibles. The warm woods, the weathered look, the knowledge that these things have been around for a long time. I like poking around in antique stores and flea markets, seeing what treasures I might find. One thing I look for is old darning eggs. I like that people used to fix their socks, instead of tossing them and picking up another 5-pack at Target. Of course as sock knitters, we all know the value of handknit socks and I would reckon that most of us darn any holes that might show up, right? These old darners work great. Once in awhile I’ll see a darner with a silver handle. Very pretty, but too expensive. And a friend gave me an old glass darner, which is cool. Not really the kind of thing you’d throw into your sewing basket, I don’t think. But mostly I just collect old wooden ones.

Another thing I like is antique sock blockers. I’m always looking for unusual shapes and sizes. I like this single one a lot because it has a 10 at the top, which I assume means that it’s a size 10. That was one long sock, as this measures 34″ from top to toe.

I like them in pairs, too. I think that pair without the holes probably took a lot longer to dry socks than the ones with holes down the middle to help the air circulate better. Maybe they just hung them by the fireplace, like Christmas stockings. Anyway, now they’re fun to put up around the shop.

Do you collect anything old related to knitting/sewing/crocheting/quilting?

Sheri wholikesoldsewingneedlebooks,too

It’s nice to be back with you for a regular Monday Update again! We have been stockpiling things in the stock room over the holidays, and tonight we start back into sharing the new things with you on Mondays. Just up, we added in:

Madelinetosh Merino Light. This single-ply fingering weight yarn is great for shawls, scarves, lightweight sweaters, and more. I used it for two different two-color projects (and have a few more 2-color combos squirreled away in my stash for more shawls to come.) I used it for a Pamuya:

And I also used it for a Whippoorwill:

It’s a wonderful base to work with. If you haven’t yet tried it, you ought to.

Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. This is a luscious base. Also wonderful to work with, and so soft to wear. It would make great socks, scarves, cowls, hats, shawls, mittens and gloves. I used it to make a 28′s Cousin 53:

We also added in notions from HiyaHiya – Puppy Snips, Kitty Snips, Dumpling Cases, and Yarn Ball Stitchmarkers. How cute are these Snips?

We’ve also re-stocked the HiyaHiya needles (circulars, DPN’s, Interchangeable sets and tips, etc.)

And several different scents and sizes of Soak wash.

Remember, all of your 2013 purchases accumulate points in our new Loopy Rewards Program. We keep track and send you fun little gifts each time you earn them. We’ve had a great time sending out reward gifts already this week, and we look forward to sending out many more. We appreciate you all here!

Sheri thinkingaboutstartinganewprojecttonight.Howaboutyou?

We have a lot of fun with our Quarterly Challenges each year. Be sure to take a look at the projects completed last year in the challenges for First Quarter, Second Quarter, and Fourth Quarter. (During the summer we do Camp Loopy instead, which involves a monthly challenge for 3 months in a row. You can find those photo galleries here, here and here. Lots of beautiful projects in there!)

Before I announce the First Quarter Challenge for 2013, we need to vote on a Reader’s Choice award for our Fourth Quarter participants. Take a look at the Fourth Quarter gallery and email us your favorite project (support@theloopyewe.com) and we’ll announce the winners soon. Thanks for your voting help!

Our first challenge project for 2013 involves 1 skein of yarn and cables. You’ll need to pick a one-skein project that features cables in the design. You can use any weight of yarn, but just a single skein. You might consider Hats, Cowls, Socks, Shawls, or Mittens/Mitts/Gloves. One of my favorite cable projects was my Camp Loopy 2011 mittens (All the Water by Through the Loops, shown above.) At that time, I mentioned wanting to make a pair of red mittens, and a pair of yellow mittens, too. Of course I haven’t done that yet, so maybe now is my time. Although I could use a new cabled hat, too. And I saw some really cool sock patterns with cables. Choices, choices.

Details:

- The challenge runs from today through March 31st. All projects must be done and photos uploaded to our First Quarter Challenge 2013 Gallery by 3/31.

- If you’d like to order yarn for this project, you can get 20% off of the skein you choose to work with. This discount is available between now and next Friday, January 11th. You must leave us an order note, letting us know which skein you will be using for the project so we know which one to apply your discount to.

- If you purchase this project yarn between today and 1/11 and finish your cable project and upload a photo of it by 3/31, we will double your Frequent Shopper points for that skein. So if your skein is $18.50 after discount, you will see 18.50 added to your point tally when we ship the yarn, and another 18.50 added to your point tally when we have received your completed photo (by 3/31). With our new Loopy Rewards Program, the extra points accumulate to earn you even more rewards!

- You are also welcome to participate using stash yarn, as long as it’s a line that we carry here at The Loopy Ewe. You won’t be eligible for the double Frequent Shopper points, but if you finish in time and upload your photo to the gallery,  you’re still eligible to win a Reader’s Choice award or our random drawing done with all entrants.

Do you need some pattern suggestions for one-skein cable projects? I’ve started a list for you! If you have other ideas, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Hats: Princess Lace Beret, Soft Shimmers Hat, Koolhaas, Antler Hat, Declans Hat, Claudia, Gretel, and Iced Hat.

Mittens/Mitts/Gloves: Bellas Mittens, Fetching, Knotty Gloves, Vancouver Fog, Eugenia’s Mittens, Wanderlust, Yummy Mummy Wristwarmers, and Wood Hollow Mittens.

Socks: Owlie Socks, Java Socks, BFF Socks, Neely Ohara, Katniss, Sunshine, Aragorn, and Smaug.

Shawls: Marin, Creekwood, Batik, Sunset Shawl, Theia, Dubliner, and Lafant Wrap.

Cowls: Cream and Sugar Cowl, City Creek Cowl, Lava Flow Cowl (shown here), Nennir, Cabernet Infinity Scarf, Heart on a String, Tom’s Crossed Cowl and Caera Cowl.

Are you up for the Challenge? And if so, what are you going to make?

Sheri contemplatingyarnchoices