Fall. That’s what. Lots of color (despite too much rain). We have reds and oranges and yellows.

Love all of these great colors which make the trees look like they are ablaze! Fall is my favorite time of year. (Although I might say that about Spring sometimes, too. I’m fickle.)

And there is knitting going on. Remember last week when I said that I wanted to make these cute mitts next? Here they are and I love them. Since I can’t keep my hands off of the skeins of Cascade Eco Alpaca when I walk by those shelves, I thought that I ought to make a pair of mitts to put ON my hands this winter. I made them extra long on both ends, because I like my wrists to be warm, and I like most of my fingers to be warm. (But I also like having my fingers not wrapped up in wool, in case I need to use my phone while I’m out and about.) In the “when will I learn?” category, I had to frog the first mitt when I realized that I didn’t pay attention to the cables and had one going one way and the next going the other way. Then I had to frog the second one when I realized that I paid no attention to the fact that I was supposed to be knitting the RIGHT one, not another LEFT one. (I tried just ripping out down past the thumb, but the yarn is so wonderously fuzzy that I was pretty sure it would be easier to just frog the whole thing and start over.) Really, I don’t know where my head was while I was knitting this week. Luckily, the end result was worth it and I will be wearing these all winter long. Need some quick gifts? The pair will only take a couple of evenings to knit and you’ll be done. Just pay attention to your cables and your thumbs. (Note – even with adding in extra length on both ends, it still only took 1 skein of the Eco Alpaca, with some left over. This would also knit up beautifully in Cascade 220, Malagrigo Worsted, Shibui Worsted, and Dream in Color Classy.)

There is a lot of yarn in the photo room today, getting ready for Monday night’s update. We may have filled up the whole UPS truck yesterday. I’m sure our driver was delighted to get all of those boxes out of his way, once he had made the delivery to Loopy Central!

Is anyone going to see that really scary movie that is coming out this weekend? Sometimes I like scary movies, but I think this one would cause me too many nightmares. I’m thinking I’ll pass on it. What’s another good one that is recently out? I’m in a movie-going mood and need some suggestions.

Sheri CollegeDaughterwenttovisitWebGuyinFLforherFallBreakthisweekend.
Betthey’rehavingfun!

I sure like this Multnomah pattern. I cast on for this second one, almost as soon as the first one was off the needles. It has 3 things that I like:

1. I can make it with fingering weight yarn. (Some of that laceweight yarn scares me. And we won’t even talk about broomstick lace.)

2. There is a lot of easy-peasy garter stitch.

3. The border is done in one of my favorite patterns – Feather and Fan.

Oh, and bonus #4. It doesn’t take 25+ hours to complete!

I was particularly motivated to get this one done because it is in Fall colors and I wanted to wear it this season. Although I’m sure I will wear it in the winter, too. I might need a spring colored version in a few months as well. I used 1 3/4 skeins of Colinette Jitterbug, and I adapted the pattern by knitting to 265 stitches before starting in on the Feather and Fan border.

Have you heard that shawls and scarves are “in” this season? (We are nothing if not hip, right?) I don’t see a lot of handknit shawls for sale, but I have been seeing quite a few scarves in the catalogs. Most of them are big, warm, worsted weight ribbed versions, done in solids and stripes. Like this one. And I liked some of the color combinations in this one. Here’s another, and another.

If you’re looking to make some of these, you can’t go wrong with Cascade 220. It has every color and shade variation known to man. 2 skeins of Cascade will do you. Or if you like the 4 color versions, get 4 colors and make two scarves out of them. How about team colors for someone’s favorite sports team? Or school colors for your sons/daughters/nieces/nephews? Maybe your sister always wears black and needs a red/white/black striped scarf to pep things up? Or maybe your brother would look great in a classy black/light grey/dark grey combo? Don’t worry about a pattern. Just do a simple rib (K1,P1, or K2, P2) and play with the colors and stripes. You can make them all the same width, or do random patterns. If you make one, I’d love to see photos! Here are some quick three-skein combos that I put together on the table in front of the Cascade wall. All of these are from the Cascade 220 line.

Colors on the left: 4001, 8893, and 9408

Colors on the right: 2403, 9499, 9543

Colors on the left: 7811, 8414, 9411

Colors on the right: 9407, 4008, 8339

Colors on the left: 9424, 8686, 1208

Colors on the right: 8906, 8404, 7814

It’s time to vote on your favorite finished Girasole from our 3rd Quarter KAL. Hop on over to the Loopy Photo Gallery and pick one, then email your choice to support @theloopyewe.com.  We’ll tally up the winner next week. I know many of you are still working on yours. Just add it in to the gallery whenever you finish up. We love seeing how they all are turning out!

And we have winners from our October blog contest, last week! Thank you for all of the cupcake suggestions (and for making me make peanut butter frosting). We’re sending colorful yarn prizes out to: Noella in MA, Shelane in FL and Bonnie in OH. Congratulations to each one of you!

Sheri nowthinkingImightneedastripedscarf
Butfirst,I’llstartTravelingWoman

Here’s the Multnomah shawl that I finished this week, knit with Hand Maiden Mini Maiden. (I love that yarn. Soft and beautiful, a slight sheen from the silk, and everything turns out looking great.) I weighed the leftover yarn and estimate that I used about 2/3’s of the skein (about 360 yards). The original pattern was knit with 412 yds so I’m not sure how I had so much left over. I started another one this week and plan to make it a little wider across the shoulders. Someone on Ravelry mentioned that they increased the stitch count to 265 before bordering. I like it when other people figure those things out and pass them on. In fact, there are notes on increasing the size if you look up the pattern on Ravelry. Here’s the lesson I learned about blocking – pin everything, including the lines down the center. I’ll reblock this one before gifting.

Elf Susan brought in two recent projects that turned out so cute and I wanted to show them to you. The first is a baby hat out of Malabrigo Seleccion Privada. (We told her to bring the baby WITH the hat, but she did not.) Love how the Malabrigo striped up. She also made a one-skein scarf out of the new Araucania Panguipulli for her college nephew, with a simple seed stitch pattern. After seeing this, I went and pulled some Panguipulli for myself. The variety of colors in the multi-ply makes everything you knit look interesting. And while I’m showing you photos, here is a quick scarf that I knit up using the new Lana Grossa Cento. I used 2 skeins (just K,P down and back, 18 stitches), but I’d probably use 3 the next time to make it a little longer. I did it in the blue/purple colorway for College Girl, who likes purple a lot. Such a quick knit on size 10 needles – about 2 hours start to finish. The colors blend from lights to darks to lights. (Yes, I did wash the colors out with my flash.)

Paul and I went antiqueing on our way home from Indiana last weekend. (4 stops, plus one unfortunate stop at a Flea Market that we won’t discuss. Suffice it to say that we won’t need to stop there again….) In my quest for weird book titles, I found this one: “Around the World on Two Skeins of Wollmeise $60″. It was only $2, so I bought this one. Still thinking about “Instantaneous Personal Magnetism”, though. This book and a wooden clamp for WH were the two purchases of the day. We spent a whopping $8.

Monday is a holiday here in the U.S., so no mail and no Loopy Elves working that day. We’ll ship all weekend orders out on Tuesday. However, I will blog on Monday, and we’ll do the update late afternoon or evening, because we have things that you will want. (What, you ask? We have Tempted Glam Girl, our first order from indie dyer Georgia of Fiberphile, more Hand Maiden Swiss Super Sea Sock, an exclusive limited edition color in Dream in Color Smooshy (Ocean Currents), their new Knitosophy line, and 3 new fingerless mitt patterns from Monica Knits. Watch for it all on Monday!

Sheri lovingthecoolmorningsandeveningsthatFallbrings

Don’t you love to see a lace project blossom into “beautiful” as you pin it out and block it? Yes, the blocking process takes some (backbreaking) work. Yes, you do need to invest in quite a few T-pins to block a Girasole. But OH is it ever worth it. I had to leave mine all pinned out on the floor for an extra day, just because I liked walking by it and admiring it.  My hubby said, “I can’t believe that’s what you’ve had in your lap for 6 weeks!”  He’s right. On the circular needles, it just looks kind of like a balled up bunch of yarn. (Well, it IS a balled up bunch of yarn.) Of course Gracie had to keep a close eye on it to make sure that it didn’t get up and walk away. (Note the cat toy in the corner of the photo. She even stopped playing with her toy to assume the position of Girasole Guard.) After watching it for awhile she knew it was safe, so she walked right over the top of it and plopped her fluffy self down in the very middle. (Yes – I know I have a double YO in one spot where there was only supposed to be a single. But honestly, since that’s the worst of the mistakes on this biggest-lace-project-I’ve-ever-done, and since it’s fixable, and since this blanket stays with me, I’m ok with it.)

I’m still going back and forth about which yarn I want to use for the shawl version that I want to knit next. You all keep picking such fun choices that it makes me stop and re-evaluate my decision every day. I have 3 different choices sitting in my Loopy cart, waiting for me to decide.  I’ll keep you posted. For those of you who have bought this same Cascade Eco-Alpaca for your Girasole – isn’t it hard to put down? The whole reason I decided on this for my first one was because I had to stick my hand in this yarn every single time I walked by the shelves that house it here at Loopy. FPS. I’d like to make a sweater out of it one of these days, too.

In other yarn news, we have lots going on! I’ve been meeting with yarn reps and sending in orders and the boxes continue to arrive. (Wait til you see some of the new things that we’re bringing in. You’re going to love them!) One of my reps was here yesterday and he stood in the middle of everything and said, “It’s so big and bright and full and clean and colorful!” It’s always fun to share the in-store shop with people who appreciate it. (Like Jaci who made us all say, “awww!” by getting all teary when she walked into Loopy Central on her Spring Fling shopping trip. After ordering from us for so long, she loved seeing it in person. She took a photo of herself by the sign and sent it to her Teen-age Daughter, telling her that she had cried. Teen-age Daughter immediately texted back and said, “OMG. You did NOT!”  I guess Teen-Age Daughter wouldn’t have been touched by the tears like we were….)

Sheri whowishesyoucouldALLcomeshopinpersonhere!

I woke up to such a great thunderstorm this morning. Long, loud crashes of thunder that seemed to go on and on. (The cats – not so thrilled with that. They dove under the bed.) This is what it looked like in my front yard today. It’s very green around here right now! I really ought to live in Seattle. By the afternoon, the sun was out.

We had a crazy day here at Loopy. I am particularly fond of the mailman today, as he brought us 2100 boxes. You gotta love a guy like that. Consequently, invoices for Sock Club were emailed out today, and the Sneak Up is back on for next week. (It’s a good thing. We have lots of things waiting in the queue.) You all are so good about paying those Sock Club invoices quickly. I think we got most of the kits out today as well. In case you didn’t catch it, we did re-stock all of our Namaste bags yesterday, including the Malibu and Laguna in Eggplant.

We were also busy with shoppers. Thursdays and Fridays are drop-in days, and it’s fun to see where everyone comes from. We get St. Louis shoppers, but we also get out-of-town shoppers almost every week, who are just passing through. (Can you imagine that conversation? “Honey, as long as we’re driving in the midwest on a Friday, can we drive an extra two hours to swing through St. Louis so that I can stop in at The Loopy Ewe to shop for an hour? Please?”  And you know how much guys like to drive longer and then detour. For knitting. Sometimes the weary husbands come in with their wives and sit on the red couches and eat Loopy Kisses while their wives shop. Other times, the wives send them down to Starbucks so that they can shop in peace. It’s kind of funny.)

One of the shoppers today was James. You’ve heard me mention him before, because he is the one who named the Elves. He came in about two years ago and commented on how “those Loopy elves” were scurrying around, packing up orders, and the name stuck. Today he brought his very first ever lace project, and his second ever lace project, both completed recently. His first lace project is this Girasole by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. I am also working on my own Girasole and really enjoying it. (I’m using this yarn. James used Cascade Eco-Wool, I think.) We both agreed that this is a great first lace project, because the charts are so easy to read and do (and no purling. James is a fan of no purling. I’m a fan of knitting lace in the round so that you don’t have to make the symbols do the opposite on the back side of the project.) His second lace project was done for a friend – this pattern, out of Dream in Color Starry (he said it took 2.5 skeins). That’s Elf Donna modeling it, and she didn’t want to give it back. I don’t blame her. I love seeing completed lace projects. It’s amazing to me how you can turn yarn into such incredible works of art with two sticks. I am tempted to do another Girasole out of a fingering or sport weight when I’m done with the alpaca worsted one. (I know, I know. Finish the one I’m working on first…)

I hope you all have a great weekend. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you out there who are mothers or have a mother. I’m happy that our two college kids are meeting us halfway between here and their school so that we can have lunch on Sunday. That’s a GREAT Mother’s Day to me!

Sheri didImentionhowhappyIwastohaveboxesagain?BecauseIreallyam.

What is wrong with this weather? Yesterday it was 79 degrees here in St. Louis, and today I woke up to a 17 degree wind chill. That’s just wrong, no matter how you look at it. (Is the weather wacky where you live, too?) The good news is that I made it up to Indiana and back, and had a great time meeting with the classes and seeing College Guy and College Girl. Here’s a photo of the second class I spoke to. Some of the students in the first class overlapped to this class, so they got the evening off and didn’t have to listen to me twice. I know how much they appreciated that! This was the E-Commerce class (the first one was a Systems class) and they had some great questions at the end. It’s always fun to talk to people who are interested in what you do. This is the last year that Web Guy will be there to back me up – I’m a little sad about that. Of course no trip to Gas City/Upland/Taylor would be complete without coffee at Paynes (don’t these Caramel Lattes look wonderful?) and ice cream at Ivanhoes. I wish you all could experience both.  We might’ve gotten coffee at Paynes more than once in the 3 days I was there. (Or maybe even more than twice….) They roast their own coffee on the premises and they really need a good website so that people could buy it online. I brought some home with me.

Look what came in the mail recently – a gorgeous new scarf. Claudia (who introduced me to Wendy’s Feather and Fan scarf last year at the Spring Fling), made this for me for my birthday, only she took that pattern and knit it lengthwise instead of horizontally. I love the new look. I asked her about the details in doing it this way (because I knew you’d want to know, like me) and she said that you would cast on 400 stitches if you’re a loose knitter, and 418 if you’re a tight knitter. I think I knit on US 4’s when I did Feather and Fan scarves in Wollmeise. (I’ve made a few of those – you’d think that I would remember that detail.) I will have to give this new pattern a try.

We did do a Sneak Up this past Monday night – I know that almost every single one of you found it, because the Elves have been super busy getting all of those packages out this week! We added in all of the new colors of Dream in Color Baby, Bugga from The Sanguine Gryphon (which you immediately bought out), Toasty from Numma Numma, more Dream in Color Smooshy in the new colors, new patterns from Through The Loops, Knitspot, and Nutty Creations, Schaefer Anne, Schaefer Lola, Schaefer Nichole, and a restock of Knitting Nerd/Knitting Girl/Crochet Geek vinyl stickers for your car.  And guess what else just arrived today? Little Loopys!  We’ve had the larger sized Little Loopys for awhile because the smaller size was backordered, but they  have arrived. (Can you pick out the one in this bag who is obviously looking for trouble? Or most anxious to get out of the bag?) We’ve emptied all of the boxes and bags of the little guys and they’re now cavorting all over here at Loopy Central. I love it when we have lots of them here because they just make us smile. I hope you’re already planning on taking Little Loopy (or the Little Loopy postcard) on your summer vacation in/out of town this summer. It’s our very favorite yearly contest, and it starts again on June 1st. (Postcards will be going out with all of your May orders.)

Sheri whoisalsogoingtotakeLittleLoopyonSpringBreaktheweekafternext