Well, I did it. I made my first scarf on the Cricket 15″ loom, and boy was it fun! I used a Claudia Hand Painted Worsted weight yarn (in our Peppermint Mocha colorway) that I’ve had on hand for 3 or 4 years. It was fun to weave and took two afternoons (about 5 hours, total, I think). My hands turned red as I was weaving it, so I knew that the red dye would run when I washed it. Despite a Shout Color Catcher in the water, the red still colored the white. Now, instead of a Peppermint Mocha scarf, I have a Cinnamon Red Hots kind of a scarf. But it’s ok – I still like it and I learned a lot on my first attempt. I’m excited to go through my stash and whip up some more! The whole reason I wanted to learn to weave is because I’ve heard it’s a good stash buster. I have some really pretty yarn in my stash that I still like, but don’t know that I want to knit with it. Weaving will be perfect.

Do you want to give weaving a try? We’ll offer another day-long weaving class at the shop in the spring. Our day-long class includes the cost of a new Cricket Loom, as well as the full day of instruction. However, if you’re not local or want to jump in sooner, I have to say that the instruction book that comes with it is very thorough. We shipped a loom off to a gal who wanted to learn to do this with her granddaughter, and they have used the booklet and are going to town on it. So if you’d like us to special order a loom for you, let us know! ($169, and it takes 4-6 weeks to get special orders.)

All of the gals who took the weaving class last month are now on their 3rd and 4th scarves, just because it’s so fun and a wee bit addictive. I finished that first one and started another one the next day. I’m doing this one in Wollmeise in the True Love color. I think multi-colors are especially pretty when woven.

Sheri stillhookedonknittingtoo,buthavingfunweavingrightnow

P.S. No post on Friday, as I’m out of town with some of my very favorite friends for our not-always-annual-but-should-be Girls Weekend. More next week, including Camp Loopy Project Three winners. Have a great rest of the week!

We have had so many wonderful photos shared in our photo galleries throughout the past two summers of Camp Loopy, that I thought I’d highlight some of the patterns that have been a popular choice. I love seeing the same pattern done up in different colors and different yarn. Today, I want to highlight the Sothia Shawl. This is one that came up several times in last summer’s camp photos, and I thought it was so beautiful that I knit it up myself last fall. I did mine in String Theory Caper Cobalt and Hand Maiden Casbah in Smoke. What I love about this pattern – the shape (it makes it easy to keep it around your shoulders) and the cool ruffle. Yardage – this striped version takes about 750 yards of the main yarn (the blue, in my shawl), and 250 yards of the other color (the gray, in my shawl). Here are some of your shawls, that inspired me!

Eevi’s version out of Madelinetosh Merino Light Nutmeg and Cascade Heritage Sock (with a smaller ruffle):

Amanda’s version out of Madelinetosh Merino Light in Fawn and Rose:

Karen’s version out of Spud and Chloe Fine in Popcorn and Lipstick:

Judy’s version out of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series in Dove and Iron:

Margaret’s version out of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series in Kiwi and Eggplant:

Amy’s version out of Cascade Sock in Steel, Anis and Como Blue:

Sue’s version out of Three Irish Girls Cashmerino Fingering in Saoirse and Zephyr:

Julie’s version out of Dream in Color Everlasting Sock in Passion and Plenty:

Brian’s version out of Dream in Color Smooshy in Dusky Aurora (nice to see a one-color version!):

Leslie’s version out of Madelinetosh Sock in Molly Ringwald and Wash:

Raven’s version out of Madelinetosh Merino Light in Malachite and Moorland:

Sharon’s version out of Shalimar Zoe Sock in Buttermilk and Thistle:

Marilee’s version out of Dragonfly Djinni in Titania and Madelinetosh Sock in Celadon:

This is a large-sized shawl that is wonderful to wrap up in. Have you tried it yet?

Sheri ruffletookforever,buttotallyworthit!

Lots going on around here today! My yarn is ready for my Fourth Quarter Challenge project. (I’ve knit 6 rows so far. Woohoo!) This is Wollmeise Lace (color: Spice Market, which we don’t get in very often) that I picked up in Claudia’s shop in Germany and have been saving to knit into a sweater. It’s incredibly handy to have both skeins on the large sized Yarn Caddy so that they unwind without tangling as I knit. I did put a circle of cardboard between the two, just so they keep to themselves during the process.

Our Loopy Ewe Solid Series yarn is featured in a new crochet sock pattern in Interweave’s Fall 2012 Crochet Magazine, on sale now. The pattern is called Zig Zag Socks by Patsy Harbor  and uses 1 skein each of Malachite and Pumpkin. (Photo by Harper Point Photography, used with permission.)

I finished my Charlize Shawl. I was intrigued by the open body and solid ruffle. It was quick to knit. I made the small size and used one skein of Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Slippery Trail. I love this yarn base.

And finally, for those who routinely ask about Mocha, the outdoor cat that doesn’t belong to us but thinks he does – here’s an updated photo. His beautiful fur is growing back, he likes being brushed (I’m trying to help him avoid another shaving due to mats), and he continues to like hanging out on our back deck. I’m still trying to figure out a plot to adopt him forever. I just don’t think his owners would appreciate it …

Do you have any random Wacky Wednesday news to share about your day?

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We offered a weaving class here at The Loopy Ewe last weekend, and it was a lot of fun! Each class participant got their own 15″ Cricket Loom and went to work, making themselves a scarf. Here they all are, learning how to warp their looms. The warping takes almost as long as the actual weaving part. You have to stretch the yarn a long way to get it the right length for a scarf.

Once the looms are warped and the excess yarn is rolled up, you can get to work with the weaving part, which seems like the most fun. Lynn, our instructor, brought her floor loom, just to keep us focused on which loom we might want to get next.

I can’t believe you can be done with a gorgeous scarf in a day! Two of the four had theirs done by the end of the day, and the other two were almost done by the time they left. Amazing. Here’s a photo of the pattern most were using – a houndstooth variation.

If you’re in our area, let us know if you’d like to take a weaving class. We’ll collect names for the next go-round. We’ll also have more 15″ Cricket Looms back in stock again soon.

So – do you weave? I can’t wait to jump in and make a scarf!

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I had fun knitting up a Derecho for my Project Three for Camp Loopy. (So much so, that I’m making another for myself. This one will stay at the shop.) I used our Loopy Ewe Solid Series in Ivory, Iron and Barn Red, and I made the small size. I liked the construction, moving back and forth from one side to the other for the stripes. What I didn’t like was having another set of needles dangling there, while I was working on the opposite side. I eventually ended up taking the second needle out and putting those stitches on waste yarn until I needed them again. That worked out great. It took much less time to do that than to untangle needles from the two different balls of yarn that I was using, for each row.

I wasn’t sure that I’d like the one dark stripe there (which is how it works out for the small size), but once I put it on the mannequin and brought it around to the front, I thought it worked out just fine. I’m going to try the larger size, this second time around. In the larger size, you end up with two of each stripe combination, all going separate directions. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out.

Thank you for all of your exercise tips in last week’s blog contest! Lots of good ideas and motivation in there. The one that I liked the most was “Don’t overthink it.” You have no idea how many thoughts (excuses) I go through each morning, trying to talk myself out of getting out of bed to exercise. Don’t overthink it – that’s my new motto.  I did draw two names to win the final two skeins of Wollmeise Lace that we had for our anniversary month contest. Congratulations to Sheryl in San Jose, CA and Laura in Edmond, OK!

So did you make anything during Camp Loopy (or see anything that someone else was making) that you want to knit this Fall? My list is full, once again.

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Lots to share with you tonight! I set aside my Project Three last week to knit up a pair of socks to show you. (Actually, 2 separate socks. Not two matching socks.) We have our first 6 exclusive colorways from Biscotte and Cie, and I wanted you to see how a few of them knit up! So I knit two and Knitting Daughter knit one, and we have three more to go. But here are the first three so far.

I’m loving the colors. We also have Loopy’s Herman, Loopy Knit Night, and Loopy Kisses, in addition to the three above. And of course we re-stocked all of their regular self-striping colors, as well as a few new colors in their line. I find that these socks knit up so quickly. I do a really simple pattern, so the stripes can remain the focus. (Knitted foot, K2P2 ribbing on the cuff, short row toes and heels.) I’m eventually going to work my way through all of their colorways. Here’s the Grincheux colorway, my first pair of socks knit up in Biscotte & Cie. That’s pretty much when I decided that I needed to make more of these fun stripey socks.

We also added in a few other things tonight. Just up:

Swan’s Island Lace – spun in a historic mill in Maine, this yarn is hand-dyed using all natural dyes. 50% Merino Wool and 50% Tussah Silk, with 550 yards to the skein. Perfect for shawls, scarves, cowls and lightweight sweaters. (Shown here in Iris.)

Swan’s Island Worsted – spun in a historic mill in Maine and hand-dyed using natural dyes, this organic merino wool comes 250 yards to the skein and is great for sweaters, scarves, heavy socks, hats, mittens and gloves.

Dream in Color Everlasting Sock- an 8-ply fingering weight in 100% Superwash Merino, with 420 yards to the skein. You’ll like this for socks, as well as scarves, cowls, mitts, sweaters and shawls. Here’s the baby sweater and hat that I made out of it awhile back. (Pattern = Felix’s Cardigan and Shibui Knits Bebe Hat, color = morning glory, 1 skein.) I like the fact that there is no pooling or obvious striping.

Fleece Artist Saldanha Two Lace- Beautiful colors and great yardage. This 100% Merino is approx. 870 and is machine washable. Perfect for shawls, whisper-soft scarves, cowls and mitts. (Shown here in Beet. I love this color.)

Don’t forget to get your Sixth Anniversary Kit, if you haven’t already ordered it. We’ve shipped a lot of them out! We ordered extras so that we wouldn’t miss those of you who go on vacation in August and might not catch it the first week. Thanks for all of your emails about the pretty red color. Red is a hard color to capture perfectly in online photos, but I’m glad you’re happy with it when it arrives! Lorna’s Laces did a great job nailing just the shade that we had in mind for this.

Have fun checking out the new stuff and we’ll get your orders packed up and shipped right out. We know you want them quickly!

Sheri reallywantingtojustknitstripedsocksforawhile