2. You can make them out of the finest cobweb lace or the heaviest bulky yarn.

3. Once you add one to your wardrobe, you see a need for many more in multiple colors and styles to go with everything else.

4. People always comment on them when you wear them. (This does not always happen when you wear handknit sweaters or socks.)

5. You can try a lot of different techniques with shawl knitting.

6. There are easy-peasy patterns to start with, so you can ease into it slowly. And there are amazingly complicated patterns, for those of you who need a good challenge.

7. Mini shawls often take 1-2 skeins, so there is a not a big investment in yarn.

8. Mini shawls also quicker to knit up. I might be a little addicted to them. Mini shawls like Multnomah (I made 2 of them), Traveling Woman (I made 1, so far), Mara (just finished one of these – love it), Damson (still need to try this one), etc.

9. They’re a great way to use up sock yarn in your stash. They’re also a great project for trying out new lines of yarn (whether it’s laceweight, fingering weight, worsted weight, or something in between.)

10. Knitting a shawl is our Fourth Quarter Challenge, so come participate with us!

Details on the shawl shown here:
Pattern: Traveling Woman
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Pearl (I had to order more Pearl for the shop last Friday, when I finished this shawl. It’s so warm and luscious and lovely to knit.) The pattern calls for fingering weight, although I used the heavier Pearl. I think it would also be pretty done up in Dye Dreams semi-solids, or The YoYo String and Fluff semi-solids.
Modifications: None

Details on today’s Monday Update: It’s Re-stock Week! We have re-stocked our Knitspot patterns (ok, and added a few new ones), Heartstrings patterns, more Lorna’s Laces, and some fun Monkeypal colorways. (Note – both Knitspot and Heartstrings have wonderful shawl patterns, if you’re feeling the desire to make one. Just sayin’.)

Sheri knitaMaraovertheweekend.NowpickingoutmoreMadtoshWorsted
tomakeanother.Ilovethatpleatedruffle.

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

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

]]> http://www.theloopyewe.com/sheri/2009/10/multnomah-2-and-scarf-thoughts/feed 23 http://www.theloopyewe.com/sheri/2009/10/finished-projects-and-world-travel http://www.theloopyewe.com/sheri/2009/10/finished-projects-and-world-travel#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:27:35 +0000 sheri http://www.theloopyewe.com/sheri/?p=3526 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?

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.

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?

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

Wow – I’ve so enjoyed reading your comments on Wednesday’s post.

Since I think these comments are so priceless and I think they share so much, I had an idea. I’m going to print off some of the comments (without names attached) to make a big collage for one of the walls here at Loopy. To go along with that, I’d love to have you email me a photo of you and your friends, knitting. I’ll sprinkle photos in among the quotes of “why do you knit?”. I know I won’t be able to use all of the quotes and all of the photos, but I think it will make for a very fun wall here.  Of course I’ll show you a picture when I’m done. I always get a little sad for people who have pre-conceived notions about knitters, don’t you? They think of the toilet paper roll covers that their grandmothers made (not that there’s anything wrong with that…) or the scratchy (ugly) sweaters and goofy slippers that their aunts gave them for their birthdays years and years ago, and they wonder why anyone would want to knit? Or how it could possibly be challenging in any way?  They’re sure missing out, aren’t they? This wall just needs to be done. And then I’ll need to find a way to get non-knitters in here to see it and convince them to give knitting a try.

No recipes today, but how about some low calorie treats for you? Marlon from Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, mentioned knitting up wonderful pastries with yarn from The Loopy Ewe, so I asked for photos!  The patterns came from this book, and of course the varieties are endless. I’m afraid that if I had that chocolate cake sitting out on the counter, I’d be hankering for a real piece of one by the end of the day. Too tempting!  But what a fun way to use up your leftover yarn and to make people smile. Thanks, Marlon, for sharing photos and giving me permission to use them on the blog today. You did a beautiful job on all of these.

WH and I are heading up to Indiana to visit College Guy and College Girl tomorrow – yay! I can’t wait to see them. (Still trying to figure out why kids think they need to grow up and move out of the house, but I know that it’s supposed to be a “good thing”. sigh.)

Sheri whocan’twaittostartinontheLoopyCentralKnittingCollage
nowthatIputthatideaintomyhead

Here it is January 2nd and my first project of the year is already done – woohoo!

Today’s recipe was one that I made for brunch on Christmas Morning.  It passed all taste testers, so I thought I’d pass it on to you. (I think it’s the Feta Cheese that makes it so good.)

Sausage and Egg Strata

4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 lbs. sausage, browned and drained
8 slices of bread, cubed
2 1/4 cups milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 lb feta cheese, crumbled

In a 9 x 13 casserole, layer ingredients as follows: bread cubes, cheese, beaten eggs with milk, sausage, and soup. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day before needed – just cover and refrigerate, then bake as directed). Serves 8.

College Guy and Girl will be heading back up to Indiana this weekend. It has been a lovely 3 weeks, having them home and I’ve gotten spoiled by it.    (I’m pretty sure they’re plenty ready to head back to their independent lives up there. Go figure.) I’ll have to spend some serious time knitting in solace. Perhaps a French Vanilla Latte or two would also help.

Sheri theLimelightwillbebackinplaceonMondaywithWoolpetsfeatured!

I took some photos of recently finished projects for you, now that the gifts have been opened. You’ll see that my scarf-addiction was well reflected in the gifts I knit up this year.  I did start fingerless mitts yesterday, but I will admit to taking 2 colors of Fiesta Boomerang home this week to start a new Chevron Scarf, too. (Pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts.)  I asked Knitting Daughter if I should start the Chevron or the fingerless mitts and she said the mitts because “you need to finish that other Chevron scarf you were doing before you start another one.”  I must work on Knitting ADD with that girl.  (Wait – or maybe she needs to work on KADD with me.)

Feather and Fan Scarf (pattern from Wendy’s website) out of Wollmeise Poison Nr. 5 Sock Yarn. (Did you know that Poison Nr. 5 is the most wish-listed item out of everything that we carry at The Loopy Ewe? That’s your trivia for the day.) This scarf went to College Girl because her favorite color is purple.

Noro Striping Scarf out of Noro Silk Garden Worsted. I was tempted to do one after Stephanie found herself doing multiples of them. (And you know me – always up for a new scarf addiction.) I used 2 skeins of 2 different colors.  You knit one row down and back with one color, and then the next down/back row with the next color, carrying them all up the side, slick as a whistle.  Easy 1 x 1 knit/purl rib the whole way. I did 39 stitches on size 9 needles. I’m ready to do another one of these. (Does that surprise anyone?)

Cashmere scarf that was frogged 5 times because I was trying to find “the right” pattern. I ended up doing the simple 1 x 1 rib in hopes that it was plain enough to entice a certain Web/College Guy to wear it.  The 1 x 1 rib makes for a very thick, warm scarf. I know it looks like an eggplant color (and actually, that would be a nice scarf color) but it’s very chocolate brown (called Brawny Brown). Not a hint of purple in it at all.

Collar Wrap from handspun (in a pattern that I bought from someone at Midwest Fiber.  She doesn’t have a website or I’d steer you there.  It’s basically a chevron pattern with 4 rows of plain garter stitch thrown in after every set of chevrons.) This is my mother-in-law, who came down to spend the holidays with us.  I also made a Chevron Scarf out of Noro Silk Garden Worsted for my mom, but forgot to get a picture of her in it! Here’s a picture of it, though. It was one of the earlier gifts I finished.

Spiralucious Cowl in an amended pattern (because someone didn’t read the directions and interpreted “move 1 stitch left/right” in a slightly different manner.  But I still love it.) Knit double-stranded out of Dream in Color’s Starry Black Parade.  I wish you could see the silver sparkles better – it’s so fun! (More Starry scheduled to arrive in January.)

This week’s Sneak Up just Snuck Up!  Today you’ll find: Yarn Pirate’s Alpaca/Merino, Lorna’s Laces Roadside Gerry (that’s the Annie Modesitt special colorway – we have it in Sport, Sock and Roving), Dream in Color Classy in their new semi-solid/solid colorways, Hand Maiden Casbah, Spirit Trail Fiberworks, Gypsy Knits DK (I’m thinking this would also make a gorgeous Chevron – it’s so soft and beautiful), Noro Silk Garden Worsted, and Tuscan Grove – a new indie dyer. (Well – sort of new.  Remember Cider Moon? Of course you do.  We all loved Cider Moon!  The Cider Moon Girls are now doing their own thing. You can find Jacki selling her beautiful batts on her etsy site here, and Gail has joined with her sister-in-law Laura to form Tuscan Grove.  We’re thrilled to have those beautiful color combos and their special yarn back here at The Loopy Ewe.)

That’s it for today. We have a full day-off schedule of knitting and digging in to the many DVD’s that found their way under our tree.  Then it’s over to my parents house to celebrate my dad’s birthday tonight. (Happy Birthday, Dad!)

Sheri ifthegiftknittingisdone,whyismy”tobeknit”liststillsolong?