I picked Lorna’s Laces Pearl for my First Quarter Challenge yarn, because I love the way it looks in a shawl.

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.

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.

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?

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

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!

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

This is the Skinner Hat by Melissa LaBarre, knit up in a new yarn line that we’ll be adding in to the shop soon. (Still under wraps, but I love the yarn.) It’s a 50/50 merino/silk and knit up beautifully. The hat is long so that it slouches in the back when you wear it. (Or if you have Rapunzel braids, I would imagine you could tuck them all up in there and keep them warm and dry.)

Guess who else likes merino/silk blends? Zoe had a good time checking it out.

“Mine?”

I thought I’d celebrate Thanksgiving week by giving away a few things in the blog this week. It seemed fitting to share some extra prizes with all of you, since YOU are at the top of The Loopy Ewe Gratitude List this year. Today’s giveaway – 5 of you will win a copy of this pattern, just because I liked it so much and want to share it with you. If you’d like to be in the running, leave a comment below. We’ll announce the winners on Wednesday’s blog (where we’ll then have another giveaway to share with you.)

Sheri oughttogobacktothecowlnow,butmightstartsomethingelseinstead

You can wear them long:

You can wear them looped twice around your neck:

Or you can wear them more like a scarf:

I’m making another long cowl in a different pattern, and …. I’m bored. Oh, the cowl will be nice when it’s done and I’m knitting it double-stranded with Wollmeise Lace, but it’s sucking the knitting mojo right out of me. Each night I think I’ll knit and then I don’t want to pick that project up. So guess what? I think I need to start a new project. Don’t you think? Maybe I can talk myself into a set of 4 rows on the boring cowl (because that’s the pattern repeat) and then I can hop over to the more interesting project. That might just get me through it.

I’ve been keeping my cowls, scarves and shawls draped over this mannequin (bought for $10 at a shop going out of business), in my little office by the front door. It’s easy to grab one on my way out, and I like seeing them layered there.

Although, to be honest, it usually looks quite a bit messier. More like this:

Also? I don’t like that front door and I don’t like the terra cotta colored tile in this new (to us) house. But both items are way down on the “gotta change that” list, since they are perfectly fine and serviceable for the time being. Darn it.

Do you have a place to keep your most wearable knits out and easy to pop on as you walk out the door?

Sheri hopingtogetmyknittingmojobackagainsoon

Maybe now that I’ve gotten that out of my head, I’ll be able to write future Monday posts without a song echoing on in my brain. Although now I have that Friday song going round and round in my head ….

• Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted – this is one of the softest superwash worsted yarns that I’ve seen, and you can’t beat their color combinations. (Shown here in Hullabaloo.)

• Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace – 1250 yards per skein and a beautiful 50/50 silk/merino base, makes this a special yarn to use for your favorite shawls. I’d tell you that it would make a wonderful yarn for gift-knitting, but I think you’d finish the project and decide to keep it all for yourself.

• Lorna’s Laces Sock and Solemate – since we have orders in with Lorna’s all the time, we get colors of Sock and Solemate at least a couple of times a month. They’re good about filling in on our orders as they rotate through their colorways.

• GoKnit Bags- I know the Small Fur bags sold out in a blink last week, so we got more quickly, shown below. We also have the Small Ostrich and Small Crocodile in stock. (Note – the Fur, Ostrich and Crocodil only come in the Small size. And you know they’re all “faux”, right?)

• Chic-A – more yarn keepers from some of the back-ordered colors. I really like their yarn keepers. I’m knitting a cowl with double-stranded lace right now, and the Double Yarn Keeper is what is keeping me sane during the process.

• Alisha Goes Around – we have another new yarn base from Alisha. This one is called Tracks of Bison in a fingering weight. It’s 90% superwash merino and 10% bison down. It is so warm! I made this cowl out of a skein of it, and I have been wearing it out and about this fall. (Shown here in Deciduous.)

• Cascade Heritage Silk Handpaints – the Heritage Silk line has been especially popular for socks and shawls. The 85% superwash merino / 15% silk combo gives a little extra strength for socks and a little extra sheen for shawls. Now we have it in subtle handpaint colorways, to add to the solid line that we’ve carried for awhile.

Today I’ve been thinking about sweater knitting. I think it’s the Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted that did it to me. I’ve always wanted a sweater out of it. So here are some sweater links to get you thinking (in several different weights):

Worsted – in Lorna’s Shepherd Worsted, Cascade 220, Dream in Color Classy, Cascade Eco Alpaca, Spud and Chloe Sweater, and Blue Sky’s Worsted Hand Dyes.
In Threes Baby Cardigan (maybe it’s because I know too many people having babies right now, but I am itching to knit this! Just bought it and printed it out.)
Dark and Stormy (I am addicted to Thea’s sweaters. I also love her Irish Coffee, and her Vodka Gimlet. And in “addicted” I mean I want to knit them all. I haven’t yet.)
Ranger or Brownstone (great guy sweaters and I’m picturing them in Cascade 220.)
White Pine (what a pretty cardi, with plenty of interesting stitch work to keep you entertained.)

DK/sport – in Lorna’s Shepherd Sport, Alpaca Baby Twist, Amy Butler DK, Madelinetosh Sport, and Cascade Ultra Pima.
Peasy (simple, but with interest up at the top)
Rivel Cardigan (Miriam Felton is another designer whose patterns I always love)
Thornfield Cardigan (loving the ruffles and sweet details)
Talamh (another sweater with great details)

Fingering/Lace – in Alisha Tracks of Bison, Madelinetosh Merino Light, Schaefer Anne, Shibui Sock, Cascade Heritage Silk and Heritage Silk Paints, and Swan’s Island.
Tempest (I like the thick and thin stripes)
Myrtle Cardigan (I bought this forever ago. Still want to make it.)
Elphaba Pullover (such a flattering style and I like the edging detail)
Making Waves Cardigan (rushing – what a great edging addition)

Enjoy the new things and the Elves will work on getting your orders out in the morning. We only have one more Monday Update from St. Louis after tonight (next week). No updates on Thanksgiving week and then we’ll have two Monday’s off from updates as the shop moves cross-country. But no worries – I’ve already had shipments arriving here in Colorado for our first Monday Update from the mountains. We’ll have plenty for you after the temporary Monday dryspell!

Sheri spendingtheeveningknitting-whatareyoudoing?

Last year, I did a few posts with holiday knitting ideas and pattern links. (You can find those posts here, here, and here.)

1. Cowls are something that most people don’t buy for themselves. (I think this is partly because you don’t see too many for sale in the stores.)
2.  Most cowls are relatively quick and easy to knit. You can finish one in a couple of nights.
3.  Many of these patterns take just one skein of yarn, so it’s a project that doesn’t break the bank.
4.  It’s a fun way to try out new stitch patterns and techniques, without committing to a large project.

Here are some ideas, along with some of the cowls I have knit up. (The only repeat link from last year is the Irish Cabled Neckwarmer, because it’s one of my favorites and I wanted to include the photo!) After researching these patterns, I’m ready to make some more.

Fingering Weight Cowls (these tend to be drapier and lighter):

Summer Wind (hot off my needles, shown here in Alisha Goes Around)
Cream and Sugar Cowl
Miss Doolittle
Less is More Cowl (pull it up when the wind gets cold)
Mimzi Cowl

Yarn suggestions for fingering weight cowls: Alisha Goes Around, Claudia Hand Painted, Done Roving, Dragonfly Fibers Djinni, Dream in Color Smooshy, Fiberphile MCN, Hand Maiden Casbah, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Madelinetosh Sock, Shibui Staccato, Spud and Chloe Fine, Studio June Super Cash Sock, Swan’s Island Fingering, The Loopy Ewe Solid Series, Three Irish Girls Adorn, and Trekking XXL.

Sport and DK Weight Cowls (these tend to be a bit warmer):

Gyre
Stacked Eyelet Cowl
Caera Cowl
Polyphylla Cowl
Julia Neckwarmer
Trickledown Neckwarmer & Mitts
Lava Flow Cowl (shown here in Lorna’s Laces Honor)

Yarn Suggestions for sport/dk weight cowls: Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist, Amy Butler Belle Organic DK, Blue Sky Royal, Cascade Epiphany, Fiesta Ballet, Hand Maiden Camel Spin, Madelinetosh Pashmina, Madelinetosh Sport, Malabrigo Silky Merino, and String Theory DK.

Worsted Weight Cowls (these tend to be warmest of all and quickest to knit:
Irish Cabled Neckwarmer (Shown here in Malabrigo Rios)
Herringbone Neck Warmer
Lady Jessica
Fern Neckwarmer
Simply Soft Cowl
Cable Crush Cowl
Lace Twists Neckwarmer
Snow Drift
Eternity Scarf

Yarn suggestions for worsted weight cowls: Amy Butler Belle Organic Aran, Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes, Cascade 220, Cascade Eco Alpaca, Dream in Color Classy, Fiesta Boomerang, Lang Yak, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted, Malabrigo Rios, Spud and Chloe Sweater, Three Irish Girls Glenhaven Cashmerino Worsted, and Universal Cotton Supreme.

I hope you found a few fun patterns in this batch! Have you started on gift-knitting yet? Or are you not knitting for gifts this year? I’m still undecided about making gifts this year, but I’m definitely going to be making some of these cowls, either way.

Sheri who-apparently-getsalittletooattachedtotheknittingonceitisalldone