I like having friends who knit. Knitters are fun friends to be connected to. It’s always fun to see what they’re working on, and sometimes they even let me borrow their beautiful work to show to you (and display in the shop). For example, this gorgeous shawl that my friend Sheryl made. (Sheryl’s hubby Michael is a Loopy Elf.) This is the Dandelion on the Meadow, done in Madelinetosh Prairie in the Violin color. Isn’t it pretty? I wish you could feel it. It’s almost weightless. The nice thing about making a shawl out of lace is that it’s very lightweight, but very warm (if you’re knitting with wool or silk).

And a closeup:

I’m working on a Nuvem (“working” meaning I started it last Thanksgiving and haven’t worked on it since that week. But hey, it’s in my knitting bag, ready any time I want to get back at it!). It’s another shawl that calls for lace weight yarn and is going to be very warm to wrap up in. Viajante is another new pattern done in lace that you might like.

Speaking of connections, are you connected to us in all the ways you can be connected to us? (Because we love connecting with you! And also, I’m trying to see how many times I can use connected/connections/connecting in one paragraph….)

You can find us on:

Facebook We  post on there about what has gone up in the Monday Update, what I’ve blogged about, what might be happening in-store on a certain day, questions I’d like your input on, and then yesterday we posted a fun video taken around the shop – go check it out!

Pinterest I have boards on there for Project & Pattern Inspiration, Colorwork, Crochet, Yarn Bombing, Tips, Ambitious Projects and Unusual Projects. There are so many fun things to find and share on Pinterest. I’m going in and adding to the boards every couple of days and there’s always something new!

Instagram This is our newest project, so watch for that to grow in the days to come. We’ll be adding photos from around the shop, photos of incoming shipments, photos of the Elves being silly, photos of Loopy being silly, and anything else that will give you the flavor of things around here.

Ravelry The Loopy Groupie board is the best. Seriously. If you have any knitting question, you can pop it up there and have an answer almost immediately. It’s awesome. You’ll also find pattern ideas from other Groupies, product sharing, finished-project photo sharing, and Loopy Swaps going on from time to time.

Twitter We mostly use Twitter for announcing Monday Updates and Wollmeise Updates. If you don’t have Twitter, you can still get a text to your phone when we post to Twitter. Just text “follow theloopyewe” to 40404 and you’ll get our texts on Mondays and Wollmeise days.

Come connect. We like having you around! 

Sheri whocan’tbelieveit’stimetogohomealready.
Wheredidthisdaygo?

When the Madelinetosh Vintage came in a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed to (immediately – that’s what you would have done, too, right?) cast on for a worsted weight shawl. I’ve really been wanting to do Ashby, but I didn’t want to have to pay that much attention to charts right now. So I chose to make the Amery. It was a leap of faith. There is only one photo of the pattern on Ravelry and it doesn’t show it all spread out. But I liked the ribbing and the I-cord bind-off edge, so I jumped right in.

I love the color (Baltic). The shawl is very heavy, done up in the worsted weight it calls for. And it’s very very long. 76″, without blocking. I can’t figure out if I should wear it like a shawl (with long, long ends) or a scarf (that happens to be deeper in the middle.) I couldn’t even fit the whole thing in a photo.

There’s plenty to wrap up in.

And it’s very warm. If I made it again, I’d probably use a DK or Sport weight. (Like Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport, or String Theory Hand Dyed Merino DK).

A couple of things to note – it calls for a 32″ circular needle, but you’ll need at least a 40″ length. I probably should’ve even gone up to a 47″ length. I spent a lot of time squinching the yarn around and around the needles. (Spellcheck does not like the word squinching. But you know what I mean.) It also calls for 750-840 yards and I used 4 2/3 skeins of Vintage, which is about 940 yards. Don’t run out!

Here’s the thing that really annoys me. Knitting almost 5 full skeins of worsted weight yarn is about a sweater’s worth. If I can make this shawl/scarf in a couple of weeks, then why in the world can’t I whip out a sweater? I must have a real mental block about sweaters. FPS.*

Sheri nowIthinkI’llgopickoutsomeVintageforanAshby

*For Pete’s Sake

I had a lot of fun making this new cowl. I am finding myself wearing infinity cowls, more and more. I like them better than scarves, because you don’t risk having them drift off while you’re out and about running errands. Some infinity cowls use a lacey pattern, which makes the cowl perfect for wearing inside or out, long or short. This Loopy Cakes Cowl is a little smaller and knits up denser, keeping your neck warm when you’re out. The pattern is easy and the yarn (from our Loopy Ewe Solid Series) keeps it nice and stretchy. I used one Loopy Cakes set and had a bit of each color left over.

Loopy Cakes Cowl

Yarn: 1 Loopy Cakes Kit (I used Chocolate and Roses, but you can make this out of any of the Loopy Cake combinations.)
Needles: 32″ US #5 (3.75 mm)
Gauge: 26 st/4″ in Linen Stitch

Figure out the color sequence you’d like to use with your 6 colors.

With your first color, cast on 323 stitches, using a stretchy cast on. (My new favorite is the German Cast On. Here’s one video on how to do it.)

Add a marker to indicate the beginning, and join in the round being careful not to twist.

Knit 8 rows in the Linen Stitch pattern with your first color. Change to second color and knit 8 rows with second color in the same pattern.

Continue knitting 8 rows of Linen Stitch with each subsequent color.

When you have gone through all 6 colors once, start over with the first color and work through this same pattern again with each of your colors, for a total of 12 stripes (2 stripes of each color).

Cast off with a loose bind off.

Linen Stitch Pattern
Row 1: K 1, Sl1 with yarn forward
Row s: Sl1 with yarn forward, K1

(You’ll be slipping as if to purl.)

Approx. finished size: 6″ wide, 50″ around.

Be sure to share photos if you make one for yourself. I think it would be beautiful in several different sets. This pattern also works well for leftover yarn bits worked in a mish mash of colors instead of the stripes.

Sheri picturesofourbackyardaftertheweekendsnow.
GoodthingIhaveawarmcowltowear.

We had a great Snow Day yesterday! (Not a Snow Day in terms of being off from school or work, but a Snow Day in terms of it being beautiful and white and wintery all day long). I know the Midwest was hit by a big snowstorm yesterday, too. I love snow and am always happy to see those big flakes coming down. Knitting Daughter and I took last weekend off for a Girls Birthday Weekend higher up in the mountains (here’s a photo I took while we were there) and got a lot of knitting and movie watching done. OK, and a little bit of shopping. But mostly we wanted to just hang out and knit.

One of the projects I worked on last weekend was a pair of mittens. (It’s a free pattern: Super Bulky Mittens).You might remember that I made a pair of these before Christmas, too. I gave those to my sweet mother-in-law. But I knew at that time that I’d have to make myself a pair. They are just so thick and warm. I used Malabrigo Rasta, but I think these would be equally gorgeous in Fibre Company Tundra, Shalimar Missy, or Spud and Chloe Outer. If I had anyone else to make mittens for, I’d make another pair. They knit up so quickly and are fun to make. Like before, I changed the pattern slightly by adding  10 rows of ribbing on the cuffs and added a total of 4 stitches to each mitten to make it a little larger. The pattern calls for 66 yards, so I used a bit more than that with my additions. Given the snow yesterday, it’s a good thing I made them last weekend, just in time to keep my hands warm!

This weekend I’m finishing my Loopy Cakes Cowl – I’m on my last stripe, finishing another (shhh – secret) project, and then perhaps starting a new shawl with the yarn and beads I played with last week. Are you knitting this weekend? What are you going to work on?

Sheri snowalsogivesoneanexcusetosayinsideandknitbythefire.
Notthatoneneedsanexcusetodothat….

P.S. Spring Fling Blog Contest winner will be drawn and announced on Monday’s Blog. Be sure to enter if you’d like a chance to win!

Mondays are always a lot of fun around here. Our Inventory Manager Rebecca gets to unpack boxes of colors and wonderful things in the stock room during the week, and on Mondays we get to see everything that is going up in the night’s Update. Woohoo – so much cool stuff! Besides getting your weekend orders out, we also spend Mondays working on stocking the new things on the shelves, so that it’s all ready to pull and pack up to ship to YOU during the rest of the week. (That part is fun, too. We like seeing what you pick out.) Last night’s Monday Update included:

Madelinetosh Merino Light – this beautiful single ply fingering weight is awesome for shawls, cowls, sweaters, gloves – all kinds of wonderful things. We have it available in over 100 colors. Here is a picture of the Faberge shawl that one of our Thursday Knit Nighters – Cricket – knit up and let us borrow for display at Loopy. She made this with Merino Light in Glazed Pecan and Earl Grey. It’s a fun knit, and you get to incorporate beads into the border, too.

Madelinetosh Sock – a handful of pretty colors from a back order. 11 in all, added to what we already have in stock.

Manos del Uruguay Serena – a wonderful Sportweight yarn that we’ve just added in. Serena is kettle-dyed on a base that is 60% Baby Alpaca and 40% Pima Cotton. It is so soft! Each skein is signed by the artisan who dyed your yarn and the village she resides in. We have it in solids and multi-colors. Try this yarn for cowls, shawls, mitts, scarves and sweaters. (Shown here in Hummingbird.)

The Loopy Ewe Sock Blockers – re-stocked in all sizes of the red plastic blockers.

Conductive Thread Bobbins – hold this thread together with your regular yarn as you knit the thumb and index fingers of gloves. You’ll then be able to use your touchscreen devices (phone, iPad, etc) while keeping your fingers warm. You’ll find this in the Knitting Gadgets section on the website.

Wooden Yarn Caddies – George has been down from Wyoming to bring us more of his beautiful yarn caddies! We’ve re-stocked both the small and large sizes. (Shown here in Red Cedar.)

Knitter’s Pride – we’ve re-stocked all needles and sets.

ChiaoGoo – we’ve re-stocked all needles.

Kollage – sizes O, 1 and 2 are now being made and we have them in stock. Some people find that these square needles are easier on the hands when knitting.

Knitting Notions – we’ve re-stocked a variety of notions, including the magnetic Chart Holders in small and large sizes.

Have fun checking out the new things, and pop in on the Webcam. You might see us packaging up your Box of Fun! (And you did notice Valentine Loopy on the Webcam, right? Elf Roberta continues to keep him outfitted in the best costumes.)

Sheri goingovertogazeuponallofthatlovelyMerinoLightonemoretime

We’ve carried Heichi for quite awhile, but I hadn’t made anything out of it yet. That will change. We received several garments from Shibui for an in-store trunk show, and it’s just beautiful knit up. Heichi is a worsted weight yarn that is 100% silk and comes 105 yards to the skein. All of these patterns are in the book Heichi, by Shibui.

Trace (the tank) using 6-8 skeins of the color Fountain, and Ripple (the dark blue blanket) using 8 skeins of the color Canal.

Echo (the long sleeve cardi) using 4-6 skeins of the color Steel and 4-6 skeins of the color Tar, and Reflection (the short sleeved sweater) using 6-9 skeins of the color Column.

Element (the tank dress/tunic) using 6-9 skeins of the color Lichen.

Shadow (the vest) using 10-15 skeins of the color Tar.

Dusk (the long sleeved sweater) using 9-14 skeins in the color Steel.

Dusk is the one I have my eye on, although I also like Reflection a lot, too. But you know my history with sweater knitting. I seem to be unable to finish many. At all. I need to change that. Maybe a new pattern (Dusk) and yarn (need to decide which color) would help? If I’m going to have to walk in the door at Loopy every morning and see those beautiful knits for a few weeks, I’m going to have to jump in and knit one. Which is your favorite?

Sheri likingthemoreneutralcolors,Ithink