I picked Lorna’s Laces Pearl for my First Quarter Challenge yarn, because I love the way it looks in a shawl. I made a Traveling Woman in Red Rover Pearl a couple of years ago. This is the Mizzle pattern by Patricia Clift Martin, free on Ravelry.  It looks like it knits up into a pretty scarf/cowl/shawlette type accessory in the fingering weight that is called for. Since Pearl is more of a DK weight, my shawl was a little larger and I like that length and size. I used 2 skeins of Pearl for this and now I have it on display here at the shop, which is where most of my shawls end up. I really love knitting shawls, but I very seldom wear them. I always think they look wonderful on everyone else and kind of dorky on me. But it doesn’t stop me from continually adding shawl patterns to my knitting list, and having several in progress at any given time.

We’re still collecting votes for the Fourth Quarter Challenge, so make sure to email us (support@theloopyewe.com) with your vote. After I blogged that on Monday, Cheryl from MA emailed to ask whoever won the third Camp Loopy project vote. That reminded me that I never finished that off!  Here’s why. We asked for voting right before *Thanksgiving, which turned into The Big Loopy Move, which turned into The Second Loopy Move, which turned into Christmas, which turned into The Grand Opening*. We only had 11 Project Three votes cast at the beginning, and all 11 people voted for 11 different projects. I know that there were over 600 photos to go through, but you all did that very well with the first two camp projects. Typically, we have lots of voters weighing in with voting. I intended to re-blog it and ask for more votes, and then … well … things were a little crazy around here and I just forgot. (Repeat reading from * to *.)  So now, instead of asking you to vote again, I’ve just used the random generator to pick five winners from Project Three.  So congratulations to Una-Mary in Australia for the Absolutely Love It Shawl, to Amy in WA for the Lazy Loopy Shawl, to Barbara from MN for the 800+ Yards, to Kristine from TX for the Camp Sweater,  and to Beth from NY for the Travel Shawl for Camp Loopy.  We’ve added a $25 Loopy credit to each of your accounts, and I know you’ll have fun spending it. (And thank you again, Cheryl, for the reminder!)

So back to the issue of knitting shawls and (me) not wearing them. Do you knit shawls? And do you wear them?

Sheri stillenjoyingmyPalindromeScarfandIwilldefinitelywearthat

This has to be the quickest knit scarf I’ve done. One thing I don’t like about knitting scarves is that they seem to go on and on forever and …. I get bored. But this was fun and the open lace sections made the inches just fly by. This is Wendy’s Lace Stripe Scarf from Wendy Knits Lace. My copy of this book has so many page corners turned down that it certainly qualifies as one of my top favorite knitting books, even though this is the first thing that I’ve made from it. Oh, but there will be more! This is out of 2 skeins of Madelinetosh DK in the Plaid Blanket color. I’m thinking that it would knit up even faster in worsted (although I would alter the number of cast on stitches so that it didn’t get too wide.) It’s a scarf pattern that I can see making again, maybe in Madelinetosh Vintage or Dream in Color’s Cashmere Worsted. (Neither picture captures the color just right, although the top one is closer. It’s more of a deep forest green.)

So do you have a pattern that you have enjoyed enough to knit more than a time or two? What is it? Leave your answer in the blog comments and you’ll be entered in this month’s blog contest! We are drawing for two goodie bags (shown here). Each prize contains our Small Loopy Project Tote, a Loopy Travel Mug, a Loopy Heel Soak (hiding in the back of the bag), a Little Loopy, and a skein of multi-colored Wollmeise (each prize bag has a different skein – we’ll send you a pretty one).

Our official Colorado Loopy shop grand opening is this Saturday, January 28th,  from 10 am – 4:30 pm. We will have an in-store drawing for two of these bags as well as giving away two of them here on the blog. We’ll announce the winners in next week’s blog, and will also contact you if you win.

I’m looking forward to hearing which patterns have captured your attention enough to make multiple times. I have several on my own favorites list! (Like these new Cloisonee Mittens out of Cascade 220. And wouldn’t you know, we just re-stocked all of our 220 colors? With 248 different color choices, I might get a little carried away with color combination options…)

Sheri whohassevenprojectsonthe”startrightnow”list
butwhat’safewmore?

Not that those two things have anything to do with one another. Or … actually … they might, if you were making a beautiful cowl and needed a new project bag!  The new bag from Namaste this season is a backpack in their wonderful looks-and-feels-like-leather-but-it-isn’t material. We have these on order and expect them at the end of January or early February. You can pre-order one, or you can wait for us to put them up on the website. Cost is $85, payment on pre-orders is not due until we are ready to ship them to you, and the color choices are: Espresso, Black, Eggplant and Red. Email if you’d like us to set one aside for you: support@theloopyewe.com.

Here’s a cowl that I made for a friend right before Christmas. Pattern: Honey Cowl, Yarn: Wollmeise Lace, held and knit double. It’s one of those patterns that looks great when it’s done, but is a lot of knitting knitting knitting knitting knitting of the same stitch when you’re working on it. Cute, though. And warm. I continue to be quite sold on these long cowls. Unlike scarves, they stay around your neck and you don’t worry about getting out of a car and losing it in the parking lot! (Maybe that only happens to me.) I also like that you can double them up to make them warmer around your neck, and then unloop them as you walk in and out of shops and get too hot. (Maybe that only happens to me.) Someone needs to design a few more of these. My favorite continues to be Carrie’s Summer Wind Cowl. I’ve made three and still didn’t keep one for myself. Right now I’m finishing up a scarf, which I’ll show you next week. I hope I don’t lose it in a parking lot when I wear it out and about. (Does that really only happen to me? Have you ever lost anything you’ve knit?)

Sheri whoshouldalsoprobablywearmittensonastring

I turned to this hat because I was making a boring-to-knit cowl and needed something to get my knitting mojo back. The idea was to knit 4 rows on the cowl and then spend the rest of my knitting time (for that day) on the hat. Of course once I started in on the hat, I had no desire to go back to the cowl, so I haven’t touched it since.

This is the Skinner Hat by Melissa LaBarre, knit up in a new yarn line that we’ll be adding in to the shop soon. (Still under wraps, but I love the yarn.) It’s a 50/50 merino/silk and knit up beautifully. The hat is long so that it slouches in the back when you wear it. (Or if you have Rapunzel braids, I would imagine you could tuck them all up in there and keep them warm and dry.)

Guess who else likes merino/silk blends? Zoe had a good time checking it out.

“Mine?”

I thought I’d celebrate Thanksgiving week by giving away a few things in the blog this week. It seemed fitting to share some extra prizes with all of you, since YOU are at the top of The Loopy Ewe Gratitude List this year. Today’s giveaway – 5 of you will win a copy of this pattern, just because I liked it so much and want to share it with you. If you’d like to be in the running, leave a comment below. We’ll announce the winners on Wednesday’s blog (where we’ll then have another giveaway to share with you.)

Sheri oughttogobacktothecowlnow,butmightstartsomethingelseinstead

Well, as promised, I have made another cowl – a Summer Wind Cowl, just because I so enjoyed the first one. This one is out of our Loopy Legends Janice’s Sunshine in Winter color. The colorway represents a mixture of snow and cold (white and blue) with a brilliant winter sun shining through. I love it. Also? I’m pretty sold on the idea of these long loop continuous cowls.

You can wear them long:

You can wear them looped twice around your neck:

Or you can wear them more like a scarf:

I’m making another long cowl in a different pattern, and …. I’m bored. Oh, the cowl will be nice when it’s done and I’m knitting it double-stranded with Wollmeise Lace, but it’s sucking the knitting mojo right out of me. Each night I think I’ll knit and then I don’t want to pick that project up. So guess what? I think I need to start a new project. Don’t you think? Maybe I can talk myself into a set of 4 rows on the boring cowl (because that’s the pattern repeat) and then I can hop over to the more interesting project. That might just get me through it.

I’ve been keeping my cowls, scarves and shawls draped over this mannequin (bought for $10 at a shop going out of business), in my little office by the front door. It’s easy to grab one on my way out, and I like seeing them layered there.

Although, to be honest, it usually looks quite a bit messier. More like this:

Also? I don’t like that front door and I don’t like the terra cotta colored tile in this new (to us) house. But both items are way down on the “gotta change that” list, since they are perfectly fine and serviceable for the time being. Darn it.

Do you have a place to keep your most wearable knits out and easy to pop on as you walk out the door?

Sheri hopingtogetmyknittingmojobackagainsoon

It didn’t take long for me to become totally smitten with two-color shawls, after Camp Loopy this summer. As I was going through and approving photos, there were certain patterns that just looked so eye-catching, no matter what colors people used and no matter what yarn they knit them up in. One of those was Kristen Kapur’s Cladonia Shawl. (We’re currently out of our copies, but you can find it here on Ravelry). I loved the shape, and I loved the edging. I knit this up in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport (Grand Street Ink) and The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga (some spider-y named color way, I think?). It was fun to knit and went pretty quickly. I did a regular picot bind off so that it wouldn’t be quite so loopy. (Do a knitted cast on of 2 stitches, bind off 4 stitches, place the 1 remaining right-hand stitch onto the left needle and repeat.) I have yet to find my blocking wires since the move (you know, they come in a big long tube? The kind that would only fit in so many boxes? FPS), so this was just steam blocked with an iron. I’ll re-block it properly when I find the missing wires.

Another shawl on my soon-to-make list (in fact, I found yarn at Loopy this week for it) is the Sothia. Gorgeous. I know that ruffle will take close to forever, but I’ve done 2 Mara’s, so I’m pretty sure I can stand it. (And hey – the pattern is on sale until the end of October. Happy Birthday Robin!)

I was also particularly attracted to Spectra (which I’m thinking I will make with Zauberball and something), Daybreak (which will be a Loopy Ewe Solid/Jitterbug mix and also? Stephen, stop with the awesome patterns already), Catkin (I already have 2 Madtosh sock colors set aside – a copper and a teal), and Pamuya (which I may knit as a one-color out of JulieSpins Silky NorthShore. And guess what? That’s a teal colorway.). I made one Pamuya for camp, but really want to make another as well. I’m not a big fan of the two colors I put together for the first one, but it was definitely an interesting pattern to knit.

Are there any two-color shawl patterns that catch your eye? Or do you have a one-color pattern that you’d like to turn into two?

Sheri shippedmyselfaboxofyarnfromSt.LouistoFortCollinstoday