Clearly I need to take a week off to knit more often. (Well, and a 14 hr. car ride each way to Colorado and back didn’t hurt, either.) I took all of my knitting in another one of my new favorite bags - one from Offhand Designs. I ordered one to try it out …. and I just ordered more to share with all of you because I liked it so much. I’ll let you in on those when they come in - hopefully soon. (I have a bag problem. You needn’t point out how I keep adding bags to my collection. I already know about it. And besides, it doesn’t help to comment on it, as WH knows full well. It tends to make it worse….) The other two bags that I took with me? A small GoKnit pouch (those will be up at The Loopy Ewe this week) and a Lawre’s Laine bag (beautiful and the perfect size. The inside of mine is lined in the most beautiful purple color. More of those are on order, too.) Yes, I like bags a bit.

First off, I finished a second sock. I know - that’s completely against my character. However, I owe this pair of socks to my very good friend Janice and let’s just say she ought to have had them awhile back. I picked a bad pattern for these socks and that’s what kept tripping me up. The pattern itself is not bad - I really like how it turned out. But this pattern plus loosely twisted yarn plus fuzzy alpaca equals a sock that you never want to work on. It’s something I found in some stitch dictionary and you knit the third stitch on the left needle, then knit the second stitch, then knit the first stitch, then pull the whole load of them off the left needle at the same time. Why didn’t I just frog it when I was doing the first one? Because I had tried two other patterns with this sock and frogged both of those. (I do realize that shouldn’t matter. Next time, I will frog the third time, too.) These socks are very warm and wonderful, and that’s important to Janice who lives in Iowa and doesn’t like the winter very much. These will keep her toes toasty. Just in time for spring.

The other two socks I knit (back to my old self - both are singles) are yarns that will go up at The Loopy Ewe next week. The first is Creatively Dyed in her Luxury Sock yarn base. It is made up of 80% merino, 10% nylon, and 10% cashmere. Not only is this yarn wonderful to work with, but the resulting sock feels great on, and you can see that the dyework is gorgeous. I knit this with Cookie A’s monkey pattern (available free on Knitty) but I knit them toe up and did short row heels. I like this pattern toe up. It’s the first time that I have done it this way, and I think I’ll give the cuff-down-Monkeys the heave-ho and always do it toe-up from now on. (Speaking of Cookie A, she has 3 new sock patterns that we will have for you by the end of next week. Her patterns are so fun!) We have several wonderful colorways in this line that are being photo-ed here this week. I know you’ll like them!

The second single sock is from Spindle City Yarns, and I really liked working with this one, too. I am making these as a birthday gift and this is not my size sock, so that will force me to make the matching one and get them done. Although now that it’s done, I kinda wish I had made it for myself. The intensity of color (and the combination of the colors in this one) makes for a very pretty sock. I used the Cross-Hatch pattern from the More Sensational Knitted Socks book. Another easy pattern to do, and I like the results. I also like that this yarn base is 75% Superwash Wool and 25% Nylon. I have had to mend a few socks lately and I’m beginning to like the nylon addition more and more. I will be knitting more from this line, as there are a lot of “must have” colors in this first batch that they sent to us.

I also started my Dream in Color Knit Along sweater while on vacation. I have not knit a sweater since Junior High. (It was ugly, too. So I really shouldn’t count it.) I was a bit apprehensive about the whole sweater thing, but I really wanted a sweater out of DC Classy, so I started the KAL. I knew if I had accountability from a few others an amazing number of you who decided to knit with me, then I’d get it done. I have discovered that I really love sweater knitting, and now I’m on the lookout for other patterns that I want to do. I’m not sure if I’ll be convinced to use other yarns for sweaters besides the DC Classy, though. It’s such wonderful yarn to work with and there are several other colorways that I want to have for sweaters. (Yes, we will have more Classy in again this month.) Some of you KALers are already done with your sweaters. I have had fun seeing the photos come in to the gallery! Keep sending them in. Our official ending date is June 1st, so there is still plenty of time. I’ll show you a progress photo of my sweater next week.

Speaking of the photo galleries, you have until the end of this week to submit your Q1-08 photo for our First Quarter Challenge! We’ll do voting next week. I will show you what I made next month, as it’s a gift for someone in April and I can’t show it yet. We’ll also be announcing the Q2-08 next week, so stay tuned for that.

Sheri thosetwoduckswerewalkingaroundtheStarbucksparkinglotthismorning
Obviouslytheyarecompletelycaffeinatedandjustabitconfused.

Really, this would be a rather boring display if I had pairs of socks all lined up, don’t you think? (Well, it’d still be a little cool. But waaay cooler to have all of those different colors, I think.) This is a “Single Sock Display” that WH made for me here at Loopy Central. All of those beautiful socks, so why not display them? I love it. Although I must say, seeing them all hanging there every single day really makes me wish that some of them were done. I really like some of those socks. On the other hand, CLEARLY I need to knit a few more to finish filling it up. It holds 24 and I only have 19. That’s a case for knitting more single socks if ever there was one. (And because someone asked me to identify all of them: Misty Mountain Farm, Woolly Boully, Farmhouse, Araucania, bellamoden, Perchance to Knit, sKNITches, Chewy Spaghetti, Louet Fingering, Louet Sport, Yarn Love, Cherry Tree Hill, Urban Gypz, The Alpaca Yarn Co, Claudia Hand Painted, Yarn Pirate, Dream in Color, Socks that Rock, Sheepaints, Yarn Pirate.  That’s left to right and it helps if you click on the photo to make it larger!)

Wendy has been talking about Daylight Savings Time, and I think I have come up with the best solution possible. She wondered why we had to “lose” an hour on a weekend, but someone pointed out that if we changed days and lost it during the week, we’d also have to gain an hour during the week in the fall. Ugh. No one wants to work an extra hour in their work week in the fall. So my solution is this. In the Spring, we move the clocks forward on a Monday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Imagine this - you’re at work, you’re watching the clock, it’s dragging all afternoon, it’s 2:00, it’s 2:30, it’s 3:40, it’s 3:59, and then BAM - it’s 5:00. Time to go home. And of course you get paid for that extra hour, because after all, you were there until 5 pm. Now in the Fall, we move the clocks back on a Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm. Why a Sunday afternoon? Because I never work on Sundays and that’s my favorite knitting time of the week. So you’re sitting there enjoying your afternoon, knitting away, it’s 1:00, it’s 1:30, it’s 1:59, and then BAM - it’s 1:00 again and you get to start your Sunday afternoon all over again. How sweet is that? I think this could work.

Sheri stillgoingtobedlateandwakingupfeelingreallytired.
Ireallydon’tlikemovingtheclocksforward.

Well you all made it such a fun birthday for me. I wanted to show you pictures of some of the things that came in the mail over this past week! I showed you some of the mini socks in last week’s post, so now I’ll show you some of the other knitted things which arrived. (And some of you send non-knitted things which were equally fun - woohoo!) I am a lucky lucky gal to have such wonderful Loopy friends.

First the “not socks but still knitted” items. My friend Janice sent me this gorgeous charcoal felted bag (and check out the cute Loopy pin on the front that she had made for me!) I have also included the other wonderful felted bag she made for me last fall, because I don’t think that I ever showed that on the blog. I love them both and she is a very talented knitter/felter, isn’t she?

Next is this fun “Sparkle the Peacock” sporting six mini-socks from Dawn! Sparkle comes from Debbie (who also makes the Sock Blocker Keychains that we sell) and I’ve been talking to Debbie about having Sparkle here for awhile. I think it’s finally going to happen soon, so start making your mini socks! (Same pattern as the keychains.) Dawn did overtime by making up all 6 “feathers” on Sparkle and he looks darned cute sitting on my desk here at Loopy Central.

Look at the pretty roving that Katie from Yarn Love sent to me! This is a new colorway that she made up for my birthday called “Sweet Sheri” and I have left it at work to keep from tempting me to spin it up. I think it might be on my schedule for the weekend because I can’t leave it alone any more.

In addition to the roving, she also dyed up the colorway on sock yarn and knit me up a pair of socks! I know that you will love this colorway, so she is dyeing some up for us to have here at The Loopy Ewe. She read my Ravelry profile and saw that some of my favorite colors are cranberry, chocolate, sage and navy. She’s a good sleuth!

The next pair of socks came from Sabrina and were knit up in the Cherry Tree Hill Cherry Blossom colorway. I told her that this was so perfect because sometimes I wear pink and wish I had socks that had pink in them! (Not that I think your socks have to match your outfit. Because they so don’t.) But still, I was lacking “pink” in my sock wardrobe.

Then there was this collaborative effort from Susan and Katie, which means that I get to “wear” two friends at once - ha! (Do you sometimes feel like you’re taking your friends along with you for the day when you wear socks that someone has made you? You don’t? Oh. Me neither, then…..) This is from Fiesta Baby Boom in the Taos colorway, and honest-to-goodness this is one colorway that has been on my “must knit” list since Fiesta started coming in. I love this combo, and I love the socks even more.

The last pair of socks are my first ever socks knit from handspun. My friend Allen (from Numma Numma) handspun the yarn and then knit these socks out of it. Aren’t they beautiful? And I wish you could feel how soft they are. They may be responsible for making me feel like I need to handspin my sock yarn from now on. (Well, ok. You all know that I am not that caliber of a spinner yet, but I have high hopes. Someday.)

I also received a pair of amazing socks from Claudia in Germany (the Wollmeise herself!). I wish I could show them to you because they took my breath away when I opened them. However, it’s done up in the pattern and yarn that she did for our Sock Club shipment, so it’s all a secret at this point! I’ll show them when that club kit has gone out, later in the year.

So there you have it - the new knitted lovelies that arrived to help me celebrate my birthday. I love them to pieces and I know that I am completely and hopelessly spoiled. I admit it.

What are you knitting this weekend? I’m going to finish up a sock, work on my lace project, and spin. I haven’t started my DC KAL sweater yet, but I have plenty of time to finish before June 1st. I do have the swatch done and the first two skeins wound, so it will get started soon!

Sheri didn’tIJUSTgetmyhaircut?BecauseIneedanotheronealreadyand
I’dreallyratherspendthattimeknitting.Andno,Idon’tknitwhileIgetmyhaircut.
Thatisjustweird.Unlessyoudoit.ThenIwon’tcallitweird.Butitiskinda.

Aaaahhh. Y’all make me feel so much better. If I’m loopy, then I’m certainly in good company. (And for those of you who read the last post and wondered about all of us? You really need to get your “loopy” on. Just sayin’.)

It’s another icy day here in St. Louis. Schools are closed for the second day in a row (which means Knitting Daughter will be in again to help pack orders - after she sleeps in and enjoys her morning.) My friend Janice in Iowa has cried “Uncle!” this winter season. She has had enough snow to last her for a long long time. So I’m wondering, if “uncle” means “enough”, does “aunt” meant “keep it coming!”? I love this weather. Not necessarily driving in it, but I love sitting inside and watching it come down. Is there anything cozier than sitting by the fire with your family, latte and knitting in hand? Maybe a good movie on the tv, or maybe with the tv off completely? I think not. (Well - maybe a fire, a latte and a good book if the family isn’t around.)

Here’s a photo of my Farmhouse Fannie’s Fingering sock that I finished up over the weekend. This is soft and squishy sock yarn. Fun to see how the colors knit up. (I used the Stansfield 16 pattern on it, which is one that I like for yarns with a lot of colors, where a more detailed pattern would get lost. It’s from one of Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Socks books.) We have sold out of most of the Farmhouse yarn already, but will have more again soon. One of my favorite colors is still in stock - Autumn. It’s beautiful! And now that I’m done with this sock, I started that gorgeous green sock yarn that I’ve been dying to cast on for a bit now. That is from The Sanguine Gryphon, and we will have that up in the next Sneak Up. It’s knitting up beautifully. I’m so glad to have this line coming to The Loopy Ewe!

A few quick answers to the questions I have been getting:

- We will have a full re-stock of Dream in Color Classy around mid-March. I will let you know via the blog when it’s back in, and we will offer the DC-KAL discount on it for those participating in the KAL, one more time for a week or so. I’ve lost count of how many of you are KALing with us, but it’s a ton of people and it will be a lot of fun! (We can’t take pre-orders on the colors, so just keep an eye on the blog if you’re waiting on it.)

- Smooshy gets fully re-stocked every month - it’s a standing order (just like Classy and Baby). We will have more of that in March, too.

- Rio de la Plata will be here again in about 2 weeks. Aruacania and Noro have both been on re-order since before our first orders even arrived, and I have no idea when those orders will be in. No one seems to know. FPS. (I’m wearing my Noro socks again today. Love them.)

- All Things Heather is coming back! The order just shipped. We’re so glad that Heather is set up again for dyeing, now that they’re settled in in CA.

- Thanks for your wonderful response to our new Loopy Legends line. (To see all of the colorways we had, click on the “0″. My very favorite colorway out of all 12 of them was the one that is still in stock - Janice’s Sunshine in Winter. I took a skein of that out as soon as I opened the boxes up! Although I must say, I really did love all of them and have plans to continue adding to my stash with each order that we get in. I just didn’t want to hog take any more than one the first time.) Yes, all of the colorways have been re-ordered. We have a couple of other orders in with Zen String first, but then we’ll get more of those Legends colorways. Plus, we’ll probably introduce another 12 Legends sometime this summer.

- More Wollmeise will be up sometime in the first couple of weeks in March. I’ll announce it the week before on the blog. (We can’t take pre-orders on Wollmeise - sorry!)

- Yes, I will order more of the Loopy’s Red Canvas Tote bags again. Today. Also, more travel mugs will arrive in a couple of weeks.

We’re going to be packing this week’s Sneak Up orders until the cows come home, so thank you very much for your patience with our “little longer than normal” turn-around time. We’re working as fast as we can! We so appreciate your orders this week.

Sheri contrarytowhatyoumightbelieve,IhavenotgivenupStarbucksforPeets.
ButIdoreallyreallylikePeets.

Some knitting and spinning has taken place around here! First of all, here is my first sock (and I AM going to do the second one, because this knit up so fast) out of The Alpaca Yarn Co. Paca Peds. This is wonderful yarn to knit with. Soft, warm and beautiful. The alpaca in here is not as fuzzy as other alpaca yarns, and I like that. You still get the warmth, but not all of the fuzzy. (That also makes your pattern show up better.) I used the Celebratory Chevrons pattern that Debbie O’Neill designed for us for our first anniversary last August. If you bought a skein of our Limited Edition J.Knits Anniversary Yarn, you received a free copy of the pattern with it! If not, you can find it as a download on our Free Patterns page here on the blog. This is one of my favorite sock patterns. It knits up easily and I love how it looks. The Paca Peds yarn has arrived, and will be up in our next Sneak Up. We have both the regular colorways, and their colorways with a mini-solid skein for heels and toes.

I also knit up a scarf out of Hand Maiden’s wonderful Swiss Mountain Cashmere. What a pleasure to knit with! I used one skein for this scarf, along with a pattern that Natalie shared on the Ravelry Loopy Groupie board and gave me permission to share with you here. (I call it “Natalie’s Simple Scarf Pattern” - pretty creative, huh?) If you’re not up to knitting a whole shawl out of some of the luxury yarns that we have, then a scarf is just the ticket. (Or try a smoke ring - we have several smoke ring patterns from Heartstrings here. Can you imagine how soft this would be around your neck as a smoke ring?) This scarf that I knit up is over 5 ft. long and perfect for wrapping and looping. The fact that it’s cashmere and silk makes it one of the softest scarves you’ll wear. (As an aside, are you on Ravelry? Have you joined The Loopy Groupie board? We have a lot of fun chatting over there. Come join us! Of course you don’t have to be an official “Loopy Groupie” to join up with us. Just a Loopy friend.)

————-

Natalie’s Simple Scarf Pattern

Natalie did a garter border (two rows at the bottom/top). The stitch pattern is a four row repeat…

Row 1: k2 * K1, P1, Slip Purl wise and repeat from * to two stiches before end and k2
Rows 2 & 4: k2, P to two stiches before end and k2
Row 3: k2 * P1, Slip Purlwise, K1 and repeat from * to two stiches before end and k2

————–

The Sakina Needles roving was just too enticing to pass up, so I also spun up some of that over the weekend. It’s apparent that I still need a lot of work on my spinning, but I’m enjoying it. I think I’m spinning sport/dk weight at the moment, with my goal being sock yarn. I picked these colors out and did this for someone else. I’m not really good enough yet to be spinning for someone else yet, but I did it anyway. This is the Superwash Periwinkle colorway. Next on my spinning list: Tempted Bordello (it looks Valentine-y, don’t you think?) and Alpaca With a Twist Combed Top Roving. However, I can’t decide between Grey or Fawn. What do you think? (Honestly, this stuff is so soft that I could just sit there with my hands buried into it as it is and be perfectly happy.) Zoe got so tired of waiting for me to sit down and knit over the weekend (she’s always waiting for a lap to curl up in) that she finally just climbed up on me and sat on one leg while I spun. (And yes, that meant my leg was moving the whole time. She must’ve been really desperate for some attention, FPS.)

I have two shawls to show you on Friday. Sadly, not done by me. But both are gorgeous! I am working on my shawl, slowly but surely. I’m so determined. However, there are other things that I’m working on as well. One is a secret yarn that I’m test knitting for one of the companies that we already carry. I really really like it and will share it with you as soon as I get the go-ahead from them. It might be awhile before they’re ready to go into production with it and unveil it. (Why am I telling you this? Because it’s taking up some of my knitting time and I don’t have anything that I can show you for it. I just didn’t want you to think I was slacking on my knitting!) I’m also in the middle of the Neighborhood Fiber sock, and have so far successfully refrained from casting on the gorgeous green yarn I showed you last week. However, I’m not holding out for much longer.

How many projects do you usually have going at once? For me, right now, I am in the middle of that shawl and then I have five socks mid-progress (that is not including all of my single socks. I don’t consider those mid-progress. Mid-completion, maybe. But once one is done, it’s no longer in progress, in my mind) and six skeins of sock yarn that are in the immediate queue (as in “I need/want to knit these up next”). Is this over-the-top or about average?

Sheri anothercloudygreydayinSt.LouisandIloveit.Imustbeweird.IshouldmovetoSeattle.

As promised, here are a couple of new sock photos. I have another one done, too, but it’s a new indie dyer that we haven’t announced yet. I’ll save that photo for later! I love these Noro socks. (Color S185)I was so anxious to see how they’d wash up, as they are definitely scratchier feeling to knit. (I survived it, just because the whole color thing was so fun to watch progress.) They softened up in the wash. I hand-washed them in Soak (let them soak in the water for about 15 minutes) and let them air dry, like I always do. (I always hand-wash all of my handknit socks. I’ve never felt like it took very long, and after putting all of that knitting time in, I’m all for making sure they last as long as possible! After I wash them, I roll them up in a towel to get rid of excess moisture, and then dry them on this, which is mounted on a wall in our bathroom. I love it. I know, I know - you’re supposed to “dry flat”. But once I have rolled them in a towel, there is not enough moisture and weight left in them to stretch them out of shape when hanging on this rack.) Back to the Noro socks, I was glad that it softened up some after washing. I knit these on size 0 needles and the stitch definition still looks great, post-washing. This sock is still not as soft as others, but honestly, when it’s on my foot, I can’t tell the difference. I’m working on the matching sock now, and will absolutely make more. There are several other colorways I want to try out. (Also great yarn for scarves, mittens, gloves, etc.) It’s one of those yarns that you’ll either like or not, but I love it!

The second sock is the Araucania yarn. To be honest, I saw this skein and thought it looked awfully splotchy. A very unique looking yarn, to be sure! However, I only had to knit a couple of inches on my sock to realize how absolutely gorgeous it was all knit up. All of those splotches add up to an amazing mix of colors and I will be knitting more of these socks as well! (Not sure of the colorway on this, but it’s one of the ones that was on backorder in our first order from them, so we’ll have it eventually!) Both of these experiences are a good reminder not to judge a sock yarn until you’re worked with it. Knitting it up tells you a lot about the dye and color. What seems to be “splotches and unevenness” in the skein (or “abrubt color changes” or any other description that comes to mind) will bring about different results in the knitted fabric. You might love it, or you might hate it, but it will be different when you work with it. (Of course you can also check our photo galleries to see how things look when they are knit up. You all have been so generous in sharing your finished sock photos for all of us to see and benefit from.) The same goes for washing the socks, and of course wearing and washing them more over time. What might look great all knit up, might not wear so well. (Or, it might wear very well!) I know that I baby my handknit socks with the handwashing. I also don’t normally scuff around in them without shoes or slippers on, and I most often wear clogs, so I don’t get a lot of wear-out on the heels. (That’s not why I wear clogs - I just like how easy they are to kick on and off.) So, lots to consider when picking out the sock yarns that YOU want to work with and wear. That’s why we try to keep so many different options for you! This was done in the Loopy Laces pattern by Wendy. (It’s Wendy’s birthday today - go tell her Happy Birthday!)

Speaking of options, are you wondering about next week’s Sneak Up? Here’s the list so far, although we reserve the right to add to it if we get more photos done:

- Hand Maiden Casbah Sock
- Schaefer Anne, Lola and Heather
- New Dream in Color Classy colors
- All of the Dream in Color Baby lace colors
- Fiesta Boomerang and Baby Boomerang
- Yarn Nerd
- Mountain Colors Bearfoot
- New Sakina Needles Roving
- New Yarn Ball Earrings from Romi
- New Loopy Ewe totes (in the larger size - same as our Loopy Groupie bags, but black handles and zipper. We’re saving the red handles/zipper for Loopy Groupies. You all have been asking to be able to buy this size, and we have them for you!)
- New Loopy Ewe canvas totes - the perfect size for sock projects (and they’re RED!)
- New Loopy Ewe coffee travel mugs (because, you know, we like coffee around here)

Coming up the week of January 14th: Wollmeise Sock Yarn, Plucky Knitter Lace, Sheepaints, and more.

Spring Flingers! Watch for an email next week, telling you how to go about paying for your deposit for the retreat. We won’t have you sign up for your classes until March, when the balance of the fee is due. We’re excited to have all of you attending, including some of our favorite Canadians, as well as Kellie all the way from New Zealand and Claudia (the Wollmeise herself!) from Germany! We can’t wait to have all of you here.

Our final Random Acts of Kindness winner is: Heather from IL. Congratulations, Heather! Thank you ALL for participating in this fun month-long contest. We’ll be sure to do it again next December! (Although I’m hoping that we’ll all keep RAKs on our minds throughout 2008. We’ll have to have a quarterly check-in and contest, just to keep things moving.)

Fourth Quarter Challenge photos are due in by January 10th! The Challenge for last quarter was to knit something with 2 or more colors/yarns. I’ll remind you after the 10th, to go vote for your favorites and then we’ll announce the winners. You can see the entries so far, here.

It’s a new Quarter, which means a new Loopy Q1-08 Challenge! This quarter, the challenge is to knit something that you have not knit before. I don’t mean “try a new pattern for your socks”. I mean, if you have never knit socks, knit socks. If you have never knit a shawl, try a shawl. Or mittens, or gloves, or fingerless mitts, or a neck warmer, or a Chevron Scarf, or a sweater, or a vest, or ….. well, the list is endless, isn’t it? (And hey - if you haven’t spun before, get some of the beautiful roving we have going up next week and make “spinning” your “Q1-08 Try Something New to You” challenge!) You have until April 10th to submit the photo to the Q1-08 Gallery and there will be two winners. 1, a winner by random drawing from all of the entries, and 2, a “Knitter’s Choice”, awarded to the project that gets the most votes from all of you. So figure out something that would be fun to learn and do, and jump right in. I’m going to attempt a shawl. Again. (I loved working on it - see blog post here - but that’s all I ever did on it. There were just too many socks needing to be done. I’m going to frog this and start over and am bound and determined to do the whole thing this time.) What do you think you’ll work on for the Challenge?

Sheri savingthenewgiftphotosIwantedtoshowyouforFriday’sblog,
alongwithanewrecipeforyou.Thispostisalreadytoolong!