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

Whew – busy day here. Did you have a busy one, too?

Dream in Color Classy and Special Blend Cashmere Worsted – lots of pretty re-stocks. I just started a fun scarf pattern on Friday night out of the Cashmere Worsted (shown here). It’s the Palindrome pattern, free on Rav. It knits up with reversible cables. SO quick and easy, because it’s basically 5 rows of rib (K2, P2) and then one cable row. I am loving it in the Cashmere Worsted (takes 2 skeins). Here you can see it in progress, showing the back and the front. (I cast on 52 stitches and then did 4 cables instead of 3.) And yes I AM also working on a sweater out of this same yarn base. Right now I pretty much want to make everything out of this yarn. Is there anything wrong with that??

Done Roving Yarns – Frolicking Feet (their 100% Superwash base, shown here in Dancing Leprechaun) in stunning colors. And I just got Alice’s Socktopus book and am so ready to cast on a pair of socks. It has been awhile since I worked on socks, but Alice’s book has me itching to work on some. It’s full of sock patterns that I know I will use. I’ll show you more of that later.

Accessories – two new colors of Pattern Holders (pink and yellow), more Soak Mini Sample Packs, DPN Needle Tubes, Work-in-Progress tubes, and Loopy 4-piece stitchmarker sets from Knit Girl in Idaho.

Namaste – Circular Cases and Monroe bags re-stocked, plus their new Boardwalk Backpack Bags. (More on order. We sold out of the Espresso color between the pre-orders and Loopy Elves buying Espresso for themselves! Let us know if you want us to save you one from the next batch. We do have the Eggplant, Red, and Black in stock and just up tonight, though.)

Nutty Creations - lots of fun new patterns from Debbie O’Neill. Many of you know Debbie from the Anniversary Patterns she creates for us every year. We love her work and there are lots of different projects to choose from.

It’s time to vote on the Fourth Quarter Challenge Projects that you all turned in. Last quarter the challenge was to make anything using at least one skein of Madelinetosh yarn, and you all rose to the occasion. Take a wander through the Fourth Quarter Photo Gallery and then email us your vote for your favorite: support@theloopyewe.com  We’ll announce the winner in a week or so!

Sheri headinghomenowtoworkonmyscarfsomemore

Good News:

Good News: I started my sweater. This is the Tea Leaves Cardigan out of Dream in Color Cashmere Blend Worsted in the September ’11 colorway.
Bad News: We’re currently out of that colorway, but we have others available. This yarn is so fun to knit. I can only imagine how nice it will feel to wear.

Good News: I did a Cable Cast On for the neck edge and really like how it looks.
Bad News: It has nothing to do with cables, so the name is a bit misleading and makes it sound like it might be difficult. It’s so NOT difficult.

Good News: It snowed about 8″ last night! Everything looks beautiful outside and my backyard looks like this again.
Bad News: It might be done snowing here. Denver is getting 18 – 24″ and that sounds more fun. I like snow.

Good News: In addition to Mocha-the-backyard-cat (and I did finally get to pet him last week!), we also have a very friendly, sweet cat named Simon who likes to visit and drink water out of our bird bath. He loves attention. I’ve gone out on the deck to pet him several times in the last few weeks.
Bad News: Last weekend in the midst of purring and being petted, he turned around and sunk his teeth into my hand. Then he immediately went back to purring and being happy that I was petting him. (??) Now I refer to him as that Sweet Devil Cat.

Good News: I went to the doc and got on antibiotics the next day, so don’t email and tell me how awful cat bites can be. I know. He’s up to date on his rabies shots, I’m up to date on my tetanus shot, and my hand is all well now.
Bad News: He still visits our deck and I’ll probably still pet him from time to time. (At least this is bad news to my hubby, who thinks I ought to be more cautious of animals I don’t know. I’ll try, but no guarantees.)

Got any good news/bad news to share today?

Sheri twomugsofcoldcoffeeonmydesk
Thinkit’stimetogetafreshcup.

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.

Are you ready for some post weekend shopping?

Madelinetosh Pashmina – this update brings our total to 100 colors in stock. Due to a yarn base shortage, we weren’t able to get the quantities that we originally ordered, but those have been backordered so we will get them all eventually. This 3 ply sport weight is 75% superwash merino, 15% silk and 10% cashmere. So it feels good and it looks good, all at the same time. Think scarves, mitts, hats and shawls – things that you can keep close to you. (Shown here in Dusk, which I think would make a wonderful, neutral, wear-with-anything shawl.)

Malabrigo Arroyo, Sock, Lace, Worsted and Silky – Multiple weights, multiple options for you! As with Madelinetosh, we always have orders in the queue with Malabrigo, so the re-stocks come regularly. If there are ever colors you’re waiting for us to get in, pop us an email and we’ll make sure it’s on the next order in. (Shown here in Arroyo Archangel. Hard to match multiple skeins in some of these multi-colored colorways, but so fun for 1-2 skeins projects.)

Schoppel Wolle Zauberball – Sock weight, lace weight, and sport weight. Have you seen some of the fun things that have been done with Zauberball? I have this pattern set aside with a skein. But I also think it would be fun to do Wendy’s Fire and Ice Shawl in Zauberball, since the body of the shawl is knit sideways (and then wouldn’t it look cool in the ruffle, too?).

Trekking XXL and XXL Tweed – These are great workhorse socks yarns, especially for people who don’t want to baby (ie – hand wash) their handknits. If you’re making socks for a friend or family member who doesn’t get the whole “special care” thing, this might be the yarn for you. (Shown here in color 491. Is that not a great faded blue jeans color??)

Addi Needles – We re-stocked the Addi’s mid-week last week in all circular sizes, as well as the sets and the tips.

I’m still working my way through the comments on last week’s blog post about popular patterns. I can guarantee that you’ll find some great news ones in there if you want to take a few minutes and read through some of them!

Sheri whowillbefinishingupacutehattonight

If you’re in Colorado (or can travel to Colorado!) tomorrow, January 28th, please stop in and say hi during our official Grand Opening!

Our address is:

2720 Council Tree Ave. Ste. 255
Fort Collins, CO  80525

Here’s a link to the shopping area where we are located – Front Range Village. You can click on the directions tab there for a map. We’re on the second floor above Verizon (across the hall), so if you see Verizon on the main street, head there and take the door around the corner from their shop (under the archway). Elevator yourself up to the second floor and we’re the first door on the right!

If you can’t make it in, you can still catch a glimpse of it on the Loopy Webcam tomorrow. We also have two door prizes to share with all of you who can’t come in, and you can enter the drawing by leaving a comment on this past Wednesday’s blog post, which is here. While you’re on that blog post, take a look through some of the comments so far. 1000+ people have weighed in on their favorite patterns (the ones they liked so much that they’ve knit them more than once). There is a treasure trove of great pattern ideas there. It’s going to take me some time to go through them all, but I’m looking forward to it.

Happy Weekend!

Sheri 15minutesofnearblizzard-likeconditionsthismorning.
Sunnyanddryagainthisafternoon.

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?

Monday always brings new things to The Loopy Ewe.

Madelinetosh Vintage – at last! We’ve had this on order for a long time, waiting for enough of the base yarn to be in. We put it up in 77 colors tonight. If you’re using it for sweaters, don’t forget to alternate skeins as you knit. We always do the best we can in matching skeins for you (and we’ll let you know if they are way off, before shipping), but with any hand-dyed yarn, it’s still smart to alternate, due to subtle variances. You might try one of these patterns:  Pichu-Pichu Sweater, Black Cherry Lambic Scarf/Cowl, Mo Shawl, or Cranberry Capelet. (Shown here in Terrarium.)

Studio June Eight Bells – Jill’s popular 8-ply heavy fingering weight superwash is back in re-stocks and new colors. This would be a fun one to use for Froot Loop Socks (and every.single.time I try to type “loop”, I type it as “loopy” and have to go back and delete the “y”, FPS), Hitchhiker Scarf, or the Herbivore. (Shown here in Dancing in the Moonlight.)

Atenti Bags – Overnighter Bags - These big bags are great for travel. I always pack mine full of projects when I go out of town (because heaven forbid that I should run out of projects in the middle of a trip). It also makes a great carry on bag, or a pretty place to corral all of your smaller project bags at home.

Atenti Bags – Carpet Bags - This is a new style we’ve added in that’s perfect for single projects, whether it’s small (like socks) or large (like sweaters). Wooden handles, lined inside, and done up in the beautiful fabrics and great workmanship that you know to expect from Atenti. (Shown here in Camellia Sky).

Twentyseven Soap – All of your favorites scents have been re-stocked and they are making our shop smell good.  But we’re ready to share the good smells with you now, so order up and we’ll send them on their way. I’m sure it will make your whole order smell awesome, en route!

ChiaoGoo Needles – Re-stocks on all sizes, all lengths that we carry (24″, 32″, and 40″).

Marie Mayhew Designs – Re-stocks and new patterns from one of our very favorite felting designers. Plenty of sweet things to make for Spring, including two that come as optional kits – a lamb and a bird’s nest.

Pattern Holders – So many of you emailed when I did my blog post on basket/project organizing, and asked if we were going to start carrying the pattern holders that I showed in the photos. We have them for you in three colors – blue, black, and fuchsia. The heavyweight vinyl is great for keepting your patterns wrinkle-free as you knit or store them, and the 9 x 12 size means that your multi-page 8 1/2 x 11 patterns or leaflets will slide in there easily.

Lavishea Bars – Back in all scents, ready to pop in a purse or a knitting bag. This is a good way to keep your winter-dry hands moisturized.

Soak - Still backordered on some scents and sizes, but we have a good stock back on several of the options. I use this for washing all of my handknits.

Loopy Ewe Brown T-shirts - We had these in the late spring of last year, and they went quickly. These chocolate brown shirts have one of our favorite knitting quotes on the front: “In the rhythm of the needles there is music for the soul.”

You might notice us adding a few things mid-week, here and there. Now that we’ve increased our in-store shopping hours and days, we sometimes find ourselves needing to re-stock needles or other accessories at odd times of the week. This week we added the Atenti Overnighters, ChiaoGoo Needles, Soak, Lavishea, and T-shirts mid-week. They’ll always show up under What’s New when they go up (even mid-week), but I’ll also make sure to include them in the Monday blog posts as well, so you don’t miss anything. For new items and big yarn re-stocks (like Madelinetosh, Malabrigo, Dream in Color, etc.), we’ll make sure to hold off on those until a regular Monday Update so that everyone has a chance for those at the same time.

Have fun shopping and we’ll be in bright and early in the morning to get packing things up for you.

Sheri hadtostartacutenewhatthatcuteBabyHazelworeintotheshoplastweek.
HopeitgoesquicklysoIcanshareitwithyou!

Christy and Eileen. Christy has been an online orderer for over a year and is a Loopy Groupie. So fun to meet her in person! Eileen asked me where I went to high school. (Which is a question that only the St. Louis people will understand. Eileen lived in St. Louis before here. I haven’t been asked that question for months. It’s a weird-joke-St.Louis thing…) Eileen’s sister-in-law was watching her on the webcam from Wisconsin. (Hi, Eileen’s sister-in-law!)

Pat who traveled up from Highland’s Ranch with her friend (who did not want to be in the photo, as she was here incognito), and became instant BFF’s with Elf Jody, because she told Jody she’d teach her to knit. Never mind that we’ve offered this to Jody before. Apparently she was waiting for Pat to appear and offer.

Some of the knitters who came for our first Loopy Knit Night, which was fun! I frogged something twice before deciding that I had to find a simpler thing to knit when I’m surrounded by other knitters. There were others there who managed to chat and knit something that takes a brain at the same time, but apparently I was not one of them. (Please note Herman-the-mail-cart eavesdropping in the background there.)

We’re looking forward to more fun shoppers today and tomorrow. Stop in if you’re near us in Colorado! (And I only remind you of the state because we still get a few calls a week from people wanting to know our hours …. and they live in St. Louis.)

Sheri thinkingthereisnothingwrongwithcomingtoshop
evenifyouAREinSt.Louis.Hopaplain/train/automobile!

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