We woke up to another 14+ inches of snow this morning (and it’s still going!). I have to say, it generally only stays around for a day or two, and then everything melts in the hot sunshine. I like it that way. I never get overly tired of being surrounded by snow and white and gloom all winter, because we just don’t have that here. I am, however, ready for spring. Last year, I posted this photo of our blooming lilacs on April 13th on my Facebook page. I’m ready to see those again.

Here are some snow shots from today. Maybe this will be it for this winter, and we’ll move into spring next!

And a few photos that WH took downtown today. Someone – or four someones – left their bike(s) out ….

Sheri wonderingwhatkindofweatheryouareexperiencingonthisMayDay?

It has been a beautiful day here in Colorado. The sun is shining and it’s 78 degrees. However, the forecast calls for snow on Wednesday, so we’re not putting away the wooly socks just yet. And I have to say, I’m over the snow. Done. Finished. Don’t need to see any more. Don’t kill the lilac buds. Ready for spring. But that doesn’t mean I’m done with wool and socks and all things knitterly. Good thing, because we added in some fun yarn in tonight’s Monday Update (and needles and project bags, too).

Schoppel Wolle – Zauberball. This yarn has pretty color changes as you knit with it, making it great for socks and shawls and scarves without too much lace detail. So fun to knit and watch the colors emerge. (Shown above in Sock 1564, Tropical Fish.)

Trekking – XXL and Tweed. We’ve re-stocked colors and added in some new ones in both Trekking XXL and Trekking Tweed. If you’re knitting socks for people who are going to toss them in the washer and dryer, this is the perfect work-horse yarn. (Shown here in Sky Blue Tweed – look at those fun tweedy bits in there!)

Universal – Cotton Supreme and Splash. We’ve re-stocked the Cotton Supreme and added in Supreme Splash (which gives a tie-dyed sort of look – very pretty.) These cotton yarns are perfect for summer sweaters, kids clothes, toys, and scarves or hats for people who want to avoid wool. They are all machine wash and dry, making them easy-care as well.

Loopy Cakes – The Colors of Loopy.  Our newest cake set contains all of the colors that make up our shop (which just happen to be our very favorite colors at the moment!).

Knitter’s Pride – Karbonz Needles. We’ve had so many requests from all of you that we added in this line of needles. I actually tried them and liked them last year, but we didn’t have room on the needle wall to add another line at that time. We have them in DPN’s, 10″ single points, and circulars. These needles are made from high-tech carbon fiber, which gives the needles a high tensile strength, while still keeping them lightweight with a lot of flexibility. The tips are covered in a nickel-plated brass with nicely tapered points.

Three Bags Full – Project Bags. Michele has whipped up some more of her pretty  bags for us, in multiple fabrics. We usually get different fabrics each time, so if you see one you love, don’t dally on the purchase! (Shown here in Le Chat.)

While you’re perusing the new things tonight, take a few extra minutes to check out our newly re-done website. New homepage, bigger photos, and several other features that you’ve asked for. It has been a long time in the making, and we hope you like it!

Sheri sothankfultohaveWebGuyaspartoftheLoopyTeam

Remember last year when I shared photos of an owl’s nest that is on my route to and from work? Last year, the momma owl looked so tired and had 3 big puffy babies to take care of.  Guess what? She has three more this year – still big, puffy and white. And guess what else? She still looks exhausted. (Notice – snow on the nest and no leaves this year. Last year at this time the leaves were out and hiding the babies a bit more carefully.) I wonder if it’s the same momma owl this year? Or are owl nests a “first come, first served” kind of thing? I found another nest at a different intersection this year, too. That one looks to have a momma and one or two babies. I’ll share more pictures if we get more later.

It’s fun to see the nests and babies from year to year. I used to hear owls frequently when we lived in St. Louis, but I never saw any nests, much less baby owls. Here we hear them, we see them, and we watch their babies and nests. Very cool.

What will you be knitting on this weekend? I am still working on my Nuvem. It’s a long knit, but I will love it when it’s done.

Sheri ormaybeitistimetostartsomethingnew?

Our first Colorado Spring Fling is over, and we’re left with lots of fun memories (and another full list of things I “must” knit. Sigh.) We had a surprising 22″ of snow the week of the Fling, which caused some interesting delays in travel. But I’m happy to report that the snow didn’t keep anyone from getting here safely. We began the retreat with our annual Dessert Reception on Thursday night. There were lots of wonderful things to choose from. (Click on photos to make them bigger. Or not. It might make you hungry.)

Friday and Saturday were spent in classes, shopping at Loopy Central, and knitting knitting knitting. This year, we decided to transport everyone to The Loopy Ewe in style, with two stretch limos. Each limo could hold 25+ people and I’m pretty sure we totally confused people here at the shopping center when both limos pulled up. (“Who takes a stretch limo to shop??”)

The aisles were full during the shopping times, and after checking out, the knitters enjoyed hanging out on the red couches and knitting, waiting for their limo back to the hotel. (Or – in many instances – checking out what each person bought and then hopping up to get something else and check out a second or third time …)

Cindy from Iowa found the perfect roving to match her phone case.

We had four awesome teachers at the Fling. We were delighted to have (L-R) Ann Budd, JC Briar, Susan B. Anderson, and Wendy Johnson join us for the weekend.

Susan came in a day early to teach her Fair Isle Hat Design class at the shop on Wednesday night:

and then do a book signing here on Thursday morning. Her new Topsy Turvy book is full of awesomeness. And each of her toys are adorable. I feel a toy-knitting binge coming soon.

We had fun goodie bags for each of the weekend participants. Included – a cute canvas bag, a skein+ mini from our Loopy Ewe Seasoning Series, a skein of yarn from Cascade, a pattern from Shibui, a Loopy Spring Fling mug, and a Soak Heel and Wash sample pack.

We had lots of great door prizes, donated by some of our wonderful yarn and accessory companies. A huge thank you to Cascade (who provided yarn for each attendee, as well as lots of cool door prizes and kits), Malabrigo, Notions Marketing, Dream in Color, Wollmeise, Soak, and Shibui Knits.

Saturday night, there was much knitting going on. (All that new yarn from their shopping trips to Loopy, I’m sure.)

(Look – there’s Web Guy checking out the knitters! He’s always here for Fling weekends, helping check people out at the shop and helping with door prizes on Saturday night.)

(Look – it’s Loopy Office Manager Lynn on the left! And Loopy Honorary Elf Sheryl, who helped out at the hotel the entire weekend. That pretty green shawl is one of several she wore during the weekend, all equally inspiring! Edit: Sheryl’s Shawl is the Kate Shawl pattern. And Loopy Elf Roberta, peeking out behind Sheryl with the purple shawl on. If you’ve called in to Loopy, you’ve no doubt talked to Roberta.)

We always make an oversized sock blocker so that we can get all of the Fling participants to sign it each year. We hang these big socks up at Loopy so that we can remember the fun people we had here! We now have five of these big socks hanging on the walls, from 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013. (Regular sized sock blocker included in the photo to give you an idea of how big this blocker really is.)

What a wonderful group of Loopy knitters. We were delighted to have everyone here, and so look forward to having you all back again the next time. We did decide to move the Fling to Fall, in order to avoid future snowstorms. (Not that we’re guaranteed not to have them in September, but it’s less likely than April.) So our next one will be the Fall Fling of 2014. I’ll let you know dates as soon as we have the weekend confirmed.

Would you like to win one of our Spring Fling Goodie Bags? I made four extra bags for this blog contest, and we’ll draw names for winners next week. Leave a comment below if you’d like to be entered into the contest!

Sheri whoenjoyedsharingthemountainsandLoopy’snewhomewitheveryone

Guess what it’s doing again here? SNOWING! What a blustery day. I am kind of hoping that this is the last one. (Me. The snow-loving-person. Now done with it this season. Bring on the sunshine and warmer days.) Despite the snow and cold, we have plenty of fun things to warm you up in tonight’s Monday Update! Just up:

- Desert Vista Dyeworks - we have a new indie dyer for you! Susan does amazing work and we are so happy to share it with you. You’ll find it in 12 multi-colors and 16 different self-striping colors. Shown here in the Dia de los Muertos colorway in a sock that Loopy Office Manager Lynn knit up.

- Cascade - we’ve re-stocked 220, 220 Superwash, Heritage Sock, Heritage Silk, Eco Alpaca, Ultra Pima, Ultra Pima Fine, and Fixation (just in time to start in on some summer socks). The bins and shelves are overflowing with colors!

- Shalimar Breathless DK – you’re heard me say (often, I know) that Shalimar Breathless is one of my very favorite fingering weight yarns. Now I’m happy to tell you that we can offer it to you in a DK weight as well! Same gorgeous colors, same wonderful feel, same beautiful fabric knit up – just a bit heavier. Perfect for warmer shawls and of course you should make a sweater out of it, too. Shown here in Asilomar.

- Christmas at Downton - we’re re-stocked this very popular colorway from Lorna’s Laces again. We have it for you in Shepherd Sport, Shepherd Worsted, Shepherd Sock, Solemate, and Sportmate. (Do we really have to wait until next January for the next season of Downton??)

- Knitter’s Pride Needles and Addi needles were re-stocked a few days ago, in case you’ve been waiting for a certain size.

- Wooden Yarn Caddies – George also brought down more small and large yarn caddies, in time for our Spring Fling this past weekend, so those are up on the website as well. We have them in Ash, Cherry, Oak, Walnut and Red Cedar in the large size, and Cherry, Oak, Walnut and Red Cedar in the small size.

Enjoy the new stuff and we’ll get your orders packed up and shipped off asap!

Sheri needingabout12straighthoursofsleep,post-SpringFling

It’s a busy week here, with 130+ people flying in for our annual Spring Fling Retreat. (Well, annual except that we took last year off, since we had just moved to Colorado and were still finding our way around here!) Of course since it’s April and it’s Colorado, we spiced things up a little by getting 20+ inches of snow in the past 48 hours. It’s really beautiful out there, and we definitely need the moisture. Here’s a picture of our yard at 6:30 am yesterday morning. Those poor trees are heavy laden! WH went out there and knocked some snow off after this photo. We swept off the deck once yesterday, and it filled right back up. Fortunately, it’s supposed to warm up tomorrow, and the snow will start melting quickly. But we’re enjoying it while it lasts.

I won’t be able to blog on Friday, but I’ll be back with you next week with a Fling report and photos, as well as a chance for you to win one of our Spring Fling Goodie Bags!

Sheri rememberingpastFlingsinSt.Louiswhereiswassohotandhumid.
Ilikethisweatherbetter!