1. They are interesting to knit up.

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.

I was just getting ready to head home and realized …. it’s Friday. I didn’t blog!  And would you like to know why the blog was an afterthought today?

1. I was too busy enjoying the spring flowers. (Ok, this isn’t true. I haven’t been outside all day. But I wanted an excuse to put one or two of WH’s flower photos on here.)

2. We haven’t had a second to sit and breath all day, because we were working on getting all of your orders and Sock Club Consolation Kits out the door. (This IS true. Whew! Our mailman is also glad that this week is done.)

3.  I’ve been engrossed in Wendy’s new book and couldn’t put it down for blogging time. (True and false. The new book is wonderful! I’m can’t remember the last time I bought a book where there were SO many patterns that I could see myself making. I anticipate knitting up several of these designs, which makes the book a steal. And the photos are great. But of course I wasn’t reading it today. I finished it last night.)

4.  We were too stuffed from the Spinach Quiche lunch that 3 AM Keri dropped by for us today. (Well, true. Except it was more likely the M&M’s for dessert that caused the ultimate “stuffing”….)

5.  My mind was overly full of the last minute things that need to be done before the Spring Flingers arrive next Thursday. (And Claudia and her husband and two friends arrive from Germany on Tuesday – whee!)

6.  We spent the last two hours of the afternoon (after the mailman had left) re-arranging yarn and making spaces for the new stuff. (Time to expand the space again??)

7.  I was having too much fun reading about all of your wonderful dreams from this month’s blog contest. (Not true. Although it WILL be fun, and your dreams ARE wonderful, I haven’t been reading them today. I have been saving them to read this weekend, with a big cup of coffee by my side!)

8.  We had too much fun watching the daycare kids across the parking lot, playing “throw the stones at the cars”. (And we were thankful that we hadn’t parked on that side of the parking lot today. Fortunately, the daycare teachers put an end to that game pretty quickly. But it was fun while it lasted.)

9.  I was trying to figure out how James could purchase an intricate  shawl pattern and yarn 3 weeks ago and then show up with it over halfway done today. (Of course he reminded us that we had made bets that it wouldn’t be done until Christmas of this year. Maybe that’s why he made so much progress on it.)

10. We had lots of in-store shoppers today and were having a good time chatting with all of them. (Although one of these busy days, we’re going to nab them and make them wrap some orders before we let them out the door again. Think we could get away with that?)

Sheri didyougeteverythingdoneonyourtodolisttoday?

It must be the season. Everything just keeps getting Loopier around here, in terms of busy-ness!  Perhaps it’s very fitting, then, that our Little Loopy has grown up.   When I called in another order for Little Loopies, our imprinting company told me that the Little Loopies were sold out (which was really no surprise to me, because I know how many of them are now living at all of your houses!), but they had a slightly larger size that they could do for us if we’d like. Sure – we’d like that.  When they arrived last week, we all oohed and aahed over them.  They are just as fun as the little guys, only in a bigger way.  (I took a photo with the big and the little, just for size comparison for you.) We will be able to get the little ones back in again in a few months if we’d like, but in the meantime, you have the chance to get the Big Guys. We like it when we have a full order of Loopies at Loopy Central, because they’re perched all over the place, waiting to be sent off to a good home!

We put up more great things for you today, too. Under What’s New you’ll find more of our exclusive Don’t Be Blue in Dream in Color Classy, 3 new colors of Team Spirit (burgundy and gold, orange and black, and yellow and black), The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, new Knitspot patterns, more Zecca (look at all of the fun colors in these Snip Tipz – this is one of my favorite Zecca items), Namaste Buddy cases, Fleece Artist 2/6, Black Funny Fibers, Scarlet Fleece, Pattern Tamers, Sock Sacks and Fiesta Boomerang (which has me itching to start a few new color combos of Chevron Scarves.) We also re-stocked several popular items last week – did you catch them? We have more Bee Bars in stock, as well as Marie Mayhew patterns, HiyaHiya needles, Designs by Romi pins, and GoKnit pouches. Sometime in the next week or so, we’ll be putting up the new Lorna’s Laces  Commentary Colorway (named after Annie Modesitt), a new Alpaca yarn blend from Yarn Pirate, more Hand Maiden Casbah, the new semi-solid colors in Dream in Color Classy, and a few other things that will be in this week.

Thank you for posting all of your RAKs last Friday. Once again, I’m just so inspired by all of the creative and wonderful things that you think of to do for others during this time. We’ve all had fun reading through your comments.  The Random Number Generator picked Jennifer from California as the winner from last week.  I’ve sent you an email, Jennifer! If you missed the chance to get in on the RAK contest last week, we’re in the middle of another one.  Do a RAK for someone this week and post your comment on this Friday’s blog post for a chance to win the next drawing.

The other thing I know you’ve been waiting for this week is Spring Fling signups. I’m happy to announce that we’re ready! You can go here to signup.  We’ll close signups on Friday of this week and will then email everyone to confirm their spots after the weekend.  We’ve added in some extra spots this year, but if we do get more signups than spots, we’ll fill by lottery. (This is once again a full weekend package. Unfortunately we aren’t able to offer single day passes or a classes-only option.) We are looking forward to having all of you Loopy friends in for the weekend so that we can share Loopy Central and knitting time with you!

Sheri finishedmyspiraluciouscowlthisweekend,photossoon

You know you’re a little Loopy when:

1. You think that a little stuffed sheep with a tan bellybutton needs to wear a red t-shirt that says “A Little Loopy”.

2. You do a Sneak Up on a week that Susan-the-awesome-assistant is on vacation and not around to help at Loopy Central.

3. You decide that a Dream in Color Knit-A-Long would be fun, and hey, why not offer a discount on the yarn, too?

4. You have no time to knit all of the socks that you want to knit, much less a whole sweater and a lace project that you have committed to doing, but you go ahead with the KAL anyway.

5. You have no idea what’s for dinner any night this week, but you’re convinced that it will all work out just fine.

6. You can’t keep up with the yarn and accessories that keep arriving, but you continue to order more anyway.

7. You always always stay away from the chocolate that is provided here for the enjoyment of anyone who pops into Loopy Central, and you’ve already partaken of it today. Twice.

8. You have people stopping by your house for a visit after dinner tonight and it completely slipped your mind until your on-top-of-it spouse reminded you about it 10 minutes ago.

9. You think that it’s perfectly ok to have a cup of Peet’s Coffee at 9 pm at night because you’ll be up working late anyway. And then you wonder why your spouse is looking at you funny when you start talking a mile a minute, nonstop.

10. You think that your Loopy Friends will totally understand being “a little loopy” and will probably have a few “you know you’re a little loopy when” comments to add to the list.

Sheri whatacrazycrazycrazyloopyweekithasbeensofarandit’sonlyWednesday

1. No one has to get up at 4 am to shop anywhere the day after Thanksgiving, or any other day of the season. There will be more specials and sales during normal business hours in the next month. (FPS*)

2. A big bowl of chocolate by your side throughout the next few weeks will do much for your disposition. You don’t even have to eat any of it. Just having it there will make you feel cheerful. Trust me – this bowl sits out at Loopy Central and we like it here. (Most of these kisses make their way to you, but not all of them. ahem.)

3. You can take off any day or evening for knitting and no one can question you. You’re going to be “working on holiday gifts that need to get done on time” – even if some of those “gifts” are for you. (You get gifts, too.)

4. Calories don’t count on Sundays. Yes, it’s important to watch what you eat during the holidays, so that you don’t gain weight like some people are apt to do. But calories don’t count on Sundays, so make that your day to indulge.

5. Yarn purchases between Thanksgiving and the first week in January all fall under the “holiday budget”. Because you never know when you might need another skein or two of something, or when you might need another knitted gift. So stock up.

6. There’s nothing wrong with “wrapping” gifts in cute gift bags. (aka – “pop them in the bag with some tissue and call it good”). There is knitting to be done and you know darned well that wrapping all of those gifts with paper that needs to be cut and messing with tape and ribbons and such will take away from good knitting time.

7. You can send holiday letters pre-printed from your computer, or you can send cards with just your signature, or you can forgo the cards altogether. And no one is allowed to make you feel guilty about that.

8. At least two nights a week need to be set aside for “Family Movie Night” during the holiday season. (aka – “I need to knit tonight – you know, to get the holiday knitting done – come watch a movie with me.”).

9. Stores and malls are dangerous places (filled with crazy people in the parking lots, and flu germs at this time of year – think about it). You might want to do your shopping online and save the stress and your health. (Etsy is one of the best places to find wonderful gifts for everyone on your list. Or at least the ones you’re not already knitting for.)

10. If you don’t want appliances or kitchen utensils, or another jar of bath gel, or a store-bought sweater that really isn’t your style, then fill out your wishlist at The Loopy Ewe and let people know what would REALLY make you happy this year.

Sheri didIforgetanyimportantrules?Becauseweneedtohavethemallwrittendown.

*FPS (for pete’s sake)

We had a great weekend visiting College Guy for Parents’ Weekend. As usual, I discovered a few things about college days. Or at least I remembered a few things about college days. (Here was my list of things learned last year.) College Guy goes to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. They joke about it being in the middle of a cornfield. I should’ve taken a photo, because it really IS surrounded by cornfields! Thankfully Marion, Muncie, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne aren’t too far away, so they can always go there for fun. It’s a great school and just won a top award for colleges of its size (as seen in the banners that are proudly displayed around campus now.) So – the things I learned this year:

1. College kids can put up with parents hanging out in their dorm room, as long as it’s for a relatively short period of time. Like an afternoon.

2. Guitar Heroes is fun. (I’m expanding my skills. This summer they made me do DDR – and do you know what that is? I didn’t. This weekend I learned how to do Guitar Heroes and I’m thinking we might have to get that. I’m sure it’s good brain exercise, somehow.)

3. It doesn’t matter how good the food is in the Dining Commons during Parents Weekend – all of the college kids still want to go out to eat with you.

4. Roommates can be a good source of information. We all went out for lunch on Saturday (parents + siblings + kids – 12 of us) and roommates like to tease each other. If you’re a parent and if you’re smart, you’ll smile and nod a lot, and this usually keeps them joking and talking, and sharing important info.

5. Most dorm room couches are old and ugly. But very very comfortable. (They’ve been flopped on so many times, that they’re very accepting of any and all body types that want a place to sit.) I have yet to see a nice dorm couch.

6. Cookies are still required upon entrance. Extra credit is given if you happen to also bring PopTarts or something else equally healthy.

7. I miss hearing college chimes. Did you go to a school that had chimes? Walking around campus and hearing them play still takes me right back to my college days.

8. College kids go jogging at midnight and think nothing of it. What’s up with that?

9. Ivanhoes is still the best place for ice cream sundaes and malts. I wish I would’ve taken a picture of what I got. Trojan Two – cookie dough ice cream, chocolate covered graham crackers, and peanut butter sauce. There may have been something else in there, too, but who pays attention after the first delicious spoonful?

10. College visitation weekends are no time to diet.

Today, I’m back in the swing of things here at The Loopy Ewe! In fact, we have exciting things going on around here. More on that later, as things progress. I will tell you that there is a Sneak Up going on right now! Head on over and you’ll find Classic Elite Alpaca Sox, Wendy’s Patterns, Yarntini and Yarn Pirate, a great deal on a few Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids, and more. (Note – of course some of those might be sold out again by the time you read this – but just remember, we ALWAYS have more on order!)

Lastly – the winner of our September Blog contest from last week is Emily. She wins a fall skein of Wollmeise and Yarntini this month! I have loved reading every one of your fall comments. I’m glad I have so many fellow-Fall-fans!

Sheri makingsocksoutofthatnewAlpacaSoxyarnandboyaretheygoingtobetoastyandwarm!