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

I could’ve sworn Baby Hazel’s mom said she made this hat out of 220. So when I went off to get some yarn to make one, I was thinking worsted weight. It ended up being …. um …. too big for a baby. On the plus side, if you want it to fit an adult (and many made comments asking how to do that on this pattern), then just knit it out of worsted. Or if you want it to look cute on your pet sheep – worsted will do as well. For babies? Stick with the fingering weight.

This is the Stella Pixie Hat, free here. It’s an adorable shape and Baby Hazel really looked precious in it when she was in the shop with her mom. I made it with Spud and Chloe Sweater, a yarn that I just love knitting with. I also did an i-cord tie (threaded through the folded over neckband) instead of the button closure loop. This might be my new go-to baby gift to knit. It was quick and easy to knit up and I think it looks adorable. (But in fingering weight next time.)

We have the February Dream Club color up on the website, and it’s a beauty. This semi-solid red/pink was dyed up just for the club and is dyed on the Classy base, so it comes with 250 yards in the skein. The pattern that goes with it is by Beth Kling, and is called Hearts on a String. A great way to keep your neck warm (and stylin’). We will email you the pattern within 48 hours of your Dream Club order shipping, so that you can jump right in and get started on it. I can also see this cowl done up in a navy blue or a charcoal grey to keep the whole thing a little more subtle. And I can picture this happy red February colorway in a scarf like ScWINoNa or Christmas Lace,  or fingerless mitts like the Cozy Thermal Mitts or Ragtop . Lots of ways to use both this yarn and pattern. Remember, we will have more skeins available in the middle of the week next week, too. We always put more up when the people who have pre-ordered make their final decisions.

We have winners!  Congratulations to our two in-store Grand Opening  winners – Catherine from Arvada and Debbie from Boulder.  And Congratulations to our two blog Grand Opening winners – Arlin from Indonesia and Windy from Texas. We will get these prizes in the mail to you all today. Thank you again to everyone who stopped in on our Grand Opening day and who left comments on our January Blog Contest post. I will be referring to those comments full of pattern ideas for a long time.

Sheri can’tdecidewhattostartnext.Shawlorsweater?Maybeboth.

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

The long-awaited Cascade 220 re-stock is here! I know (from your emails) that many of you have been waiting for us to get it all back in. We’ve been letting our supply dwindle since last summer, in preparation for our cross-country move. Now that we’re in our final spot again, we have re-stocked the shelves. (Shown here in 2410 Purple). This is a great sweater yarn, as well as for afghans, scarves, mittens, hats, and felting projects. It’s so nice to see that wall full again in the shop.

Along with that re-stock, we’ve also re-stocked our Fixation, Eco Alpaca, and Eco Duo from Cascade. You know me and Eco Duo. It is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve used it for my Girasole, for my Never-ending Scarf, and for multiple pairs of fingerless mitts. I am slightly addicted to the stuff.

We added a new yarn base from Georgia at Fiberphile – her Super Squish DK. (Shown here in Bayou). Wonderful colors, wonderful to knit with, and great for sweaters, vests, hats and scarves. Try it for The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief, a Chinook Scarf, or an Everglade Hat.

We added in the new DK line that Stonehedge Fiber Mill has just come out with in their popular Shepherd’s Wool line. I know you all have been loving the Worsted weight that we added in a few weeks ago, so I’m sure you’ll love this as well. The DK weight comes in 120 yard skeins, making it a great choice for colorwork. I’m always drawn to colorwork mittens – such little works of art. Try Bird and Vine Mittens, Rigmore’s Selbum Mittens, or Flower Stars and Net Caps and Mittens. Or hats – how about the Flora Hat, the Norwegian Snowflake Hat, or the Fair Isle Ski Hat? Colorwork. I need to tackle it and get good at it. There are just too many fun patterns out there.

It’s snowing here tonight – maybe that’s why I have mittens and hats on my mind. The more colorful, the better!

Sheri whoenjoyedtoday’sNoMailMonday,
butisreadyforBusyTomorrow

Tonight’s Monday Update includes an old favorite and a new soon-to-be favorite! We’ve added in 30 colors of HazelKnits, which I know many of you have been waiting for. The tight twist and beautiful colors makes this yarn a popular one for socks, but it’s also great for shawls and scarves. (Shown here in Cherry Fizz.) The semi-solids are great for patterns with beautiful lacework, but I also love knitting with multi-colors, and Wendee comes up with some fun colorways. For the multi’s, try Hitchhiker, Mizzle, and Herbivore .  And aren’t these fun, movement-oriented patterns? Color Affection and Bold and Blended Stripe Wrap.

How about  a new indie dyer? We have our first batch of Skein up for you tonight, in the merino/cashmere fingering weight. (Shown here in Bittersweet. Click on it so that you can see the softness in there.) Oh, this is lovely stuff. So lovely that I popped three skeins right into my own stash. Soft. Gorgeous colors. Fun to work with. Comes straight to us from Australia. The 80% merino/ 20% cashmere skeins come with 427 yards, making them perfect for one-skein shawls and scarves like Favorite Scarf Ever, In the Land of Oz, Crocus Shawlette, and Cinnamon Grace. We have more fun bases and colors planned for Skein in the coming months. Keep watch!

It occurs to me that there are so many wonderful patterns and so much beautiful yarn out there, that we all just need to stop working and enjoy knitting full time. Don’t you think?  Can we find someone to fund that for all of us?

Sheri offtowandertheyarnshelvesandmakesomeplans