When the Madelinetosh Vintage came in a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed to (immediately – that’s what you would have done, too, right?) cast on for a worsted weight shawl. I’ve really been wanting to do Ashby, but I didn’t want to have to pay that much attention to charts right now. So I chose to make the Amery. It was a leap of faith. There is only one photo of the pattern on Ravelry and it doesn’t show it all spread out. But I liked the ribbing and the I-cord bind-off edge, so I jumped right in.

I love the color (Baltic). The shawl is very heavy, done up in the worsted weight it calls for. And it’s very very long. 76″, without blocking. I can’t figure out if I should wear it like a shawl (with long, long ends) or a scarf (that happens to be deeper in the middle.) I couldn’t even fit the whole thing in a photo.

There’s plenty to wrap up in.

And it’s very warm. If I made it again, I’d probably use a DK or Sport weight. (Like Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport, or String Theory Hand Dyed Merino DK).

A couple of things to note – it calls for a 32″ circular needle, but you’ll need at least a 40″ length. I probably should’ve even gone up to a 47″ length. I spent a lot of time squinching the yarn around and around the needles. (Spellcheck does not like the word squinching. But you know what I mean.) It also calls for 750-840 yards and I used 4 2/3 skeins of Vintage, which is about 940 yards. Don’t run out!

Here’s the thing that really annoys me. Knitting almost 5 full skeins of worsted weight yarn is about a sweater’s worth. If I can make this shawl/scarf in a couple of weeks, then why in the world can’t I whip out a sweater? I must have a real mental block about sweaters. FPS.*

Sheri nowIthinkI’llgopickoutsomeVintageforanAshby

*For Pete’s Sake

Happy Monday to you! I’ve been playing with beads all day. (Ok, not playing. Working. It’s all work ….) We have some beautiful new colors of beads that went up tonight, in both the 6/0 and 8/0 sizes. Adding beads to projects just seems a little magical to me. Not much work to it, but it adds so much to the project. I’ll talk more about beads in a future post. For now, I know you popped over here to see What’s New in the Monday Update.

Miyuki Beads from Caravan – Miyuki Japanese Seed Beads are renowned for being some of the best on the market. They are extremely uniform and consistent in both size and color, and they also have slightly larger holes than Czech beads, making them easier to use. We re-stocked the colors we were low on and added in 8 more colors of the 8/0 beads (typically used on laceweight yarn) and 20 more colors of the 6/0 beads (typically used on fingering weight yarn).

Into the Whirled – We have our first batch of Roving from Into the Whirled, and it’s just as gorgeous as the yarn colors were! (But this time you get to spin it the way you’d like the colors to work together.) This Polwarth Combed Top takes the dye beautifully and the slight coarseness of the fiber makes it easy to spin. (Shown here in Walla Walla.)

Buttons – Lots more buttons and re-stocks from JHB and Buttons, Etc. You’ll find silver, gold, wooden, pewter, and coconut in all colors and sizes.

Fibernymph Dye Works – Hand-dyed by Lisa in her Bounce yarn base, which is 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon (perfect for socks, although these colors are also beautiful as shawls and scarves, too.) Shown here in Primordial Sea.

The Loopy Ewe Totes – more of our clear plastic totes in the Accessories size (for your scissors, stitchmarkers, point protectors, tape measures and darning needles), the Project Keeper size (big enough for yarn plus pattern – a great way to store future projects so you can remember what pattern you had in mind when you bought that yarn), and Red Project Totes (great for one-skein projects like socks, mitts, hats and small shawls).

Have fun checking out the new things, and we’ll be on the webcam tomorrow, packing your orders up!

Sheri countrymusicplayingonthein-storespeakers.
NotsurehowIfeelaboutthat.

It has been a crazy busy week around here. Do you know who deserves some extra kudos at The Loopy Ewe? Those awesome Loopy Elves. I’m always so impressed with how much they put into their work around here. On weeks like this when we’re scrambling each day to get all of the orders out before the mailman comes, they stay late without even blinking. And on days when we have more orders to get out than the scheduled Elves for that day can handle, other Elves come in on their days off to help. They’re really the best and I’m so glad to have them here.

I know you’re glad to have them here, too! When you add Testimonials to our website and send us sweet emails, we print those out and pin them on the bulletin board in our kitchen break room, so that everyone can share in the warm fuzzies. (I took a photo of the batch from this past week.) You all sure know how to make our day. Come to think of it, you deserve some extra kudos, too!

Sheri ofcoursethemailmangetsgrumpyonweekslikethis
butwewon’ttalkabouthim.Blesshisheart.

March is the snowiest month here in Fort Collins, and we have had some beautiful snowfalls already this month. I am a big snow person and love waking up and finding everything covered in pretty white! Of course the sun is so warm at this altitude that even if things are snow-covered, it usually only lasts on the ground for a day or two before melting away in all of the spots except for the shady areas. Last weekend they predicted a blizzard with heavy snowfall, and we ended up with about 4″. Oh well. Paul (WH) went out photographing after one of our recent snows and caught some pretty deer photos. I thought you might enjoy them.

Hello cuties!

There seems to be an enticing bit of food somewhere up there.

No doubt hoping that the photographer leaves soon so that they can get back to eating with no interruptions….

Have a great Wednesday!

Sheri Loveseeingthem,butgladtheydon’tliveinouryard,
eatingourplantsandtrees

Busy day today, with lots of shelves re-stocked and orders sent out. We have yarnyarnyarn up on the website tonight! Just up, we added in:

Madelinetosh Vintage – over 85 colors of this beautiful Worsted Weight yarn, including new colors. I am using it to make the Amery shawl/scarf, that I found on Ravelry last week. I have 4 skeins set aside and it’s knitting up so wonderfully. Also, this pattern has an i-cord bind off, which I always think looks cool. If you do this pattern, note that it calls for a 32″ circular needle, but my 40″ cord is stuffed. I can’t imagine doing it on a 32″ cord. Another worsted weight shawl I have long had on my “to make” list is the Ashby. And someday I’ll do the Guernsey Wrap. Also? Vintage is great for sweaters. Someone brought in a Dark and Stormy in progress the other day, and that went on my must make list. Although we all know that I don’t have a good track record with sweaters. And I just found this Infinitude Scarf pattern – might need that one, too. So many fun choices. I did have a hard time picking a color, and I bet you will, too. (Shown here in Jasper.)

Malabrigo – we added in more Sock (a fingering weight), Silky Merino (a DK weight), Rasta (a bulky weight), Rastita (a single ply DK weight) and Finito (that super-soft fingering weight that is only available once a year). One of the things I really appreciate about Malabrigo are the colors. You really can’t go wrong with any of them. (Shown here in Rastita Piedras. Isn’t this a great yarn base? How about using it for Of the Moon, or the Piccoloa Dolce Hat, or 22 Little Clouds, because I always love Martina Behm’s patterns.)

Shibui – we added in more Staccato (merino/silk fingering weight), Silk Cloud (lace weight Kid Mohair/silk), and Cima (lace weight baby alpaca/merino). Staccato is great for socks, shawls, fine sweaters, cowls, mitts, gloves and cowls. The extra bit of silk in there adds a little shine. Both the Silk Cloud and Cima can be knit on their own into wonderful, whispy creations. (Like the Mohair Bias Loop or the En Pointe Pullover). However, they are also both great carry-along yarns to knit in with something else, adding warmth and texture. I’m using the Silk Cloud with Shibui’s Baby Alpaca DK on a wrap that will be done soon. (In the meantime, here’s Silk Cloud in the Raspberry colorway. Isn’t it beautiful?)

To round out tonight’s Monday Update, we’ve also re-stocked the ChiaoGoo needles, Darning Eggs, Stork Scissors, Chibi’s, and Offhand Bags in the Marcella and Scottie designs. (Because of course you need a new bag and some notions to go along with your new yarn, right?)

Have fun shopping and do share pattern ideas in the comments below, if you have some that you must make. I’m always looking for new ideas!

Sheri tryinghardnottorantaboutdaylightsavingstime
andhowdarkitisformorningwalksagain.

Sometimes knitting seems pretty simple. After all, there are just two stitches (with many variations) and it’s all about making loops with string and sticks. But it amazes me how many different looks you can come up with using those ingredients. Endless possibilities. One of the in-store classes we had this semester was Double Knitting, taught by Cricket (whose awesome felted bag pattern was published in Interweave Knits last fall.) Here are some of the scarves in-progress from the class participants. Aren’t they beautiful? Sometime I’m going to need to try double knitting. The scarves have the pattern on both sides and are thick and warm.

When is the last time you tried something new with your knitting? I have a lot still to learn. Right now, I’m working on my first true beaded shawl. It is easier than I thought it would be, but it does slow down my knitting a bit. This is Storm Warning, done in Hand Maiden Casbah with Miyuki Beads. The skein of Casbah has a little less yardage than the pattern calls for, but there are directions on weighing your yarn and knitting to the middle with the first half. I like patterns like that that let you make good use of all yardage. These kinds of patterns are also great for handspun, where you’re not sure exactly how many yards you have, but you sure want to use every inch of it. Speaking of beading, have you seen the Celestarium pattern? The beads are positioned to replicate the view of the night sky from the North Pole. Amazing.

So – are you wanting to learn anything new or try new techniques? What’s on your list?

Sheri hopingyouhaveagreatweekend!