You all have made it a very very (very very) busy month for us here at The Loopy Ewe. And we SO appreciate it! We’ve had fun packing up your orders. You might notice that we’ve sent out some of the sale orders sans tissue paper. It was either that, or take an extra 2 days to get all of the orders out. We figured you’d just as soon have the yarn quicker. Once these anniversary sales are over, we’ll get back to orders as usual around here. Although if you want to keep up this pace, I can always hire more Elves. We’re up for it!
Wow – 1800+ comments on last week’s contest blog. How fun is that? It was interesting to see where you heard about us. Yes, we DO love and appreciate Wendy an awful lot. And Lime & Violet. And the Yarn Harlot. And … well every single one of you who have ever passed our website on to your friends and knitting groups via podcasts, blogs, emails, Ravelry posts, and word of mouth. Our goal is to always live up to the positive things that you have said about us, and we promise to take good care of your friends, here, too. 🙂 We are sending out 8 prize packages, from randomly selected comments off of last week’s blog. The winner’s are: Janice in VA, Laura in UT, Maria in MN, Natasha in VA, Meredith in MI, Ann in OH, Melissa in UT, and Rachel in VA. (I think that Virginia and Utah were well represented this time.) I’ve sent emails to the 8 of you, so check your email in-box if you think it might be you. We’ll pick the last round of winners from this post, and we’ll announce them next week.
Today’s Anniversary Sale (our last one) includes 20% off all Fiesta Yarns, 20% off all Monica Knits Patterns, and 20% off all Loopy Ewe Accessories. (In stock items only.) We hope you have fun picking out some new things. We’ll be including a free sock pattern if you purchase 2 skeins of Baby Boom (the sock is shown here), and a free scarf pattern if you purchase a skein of Ballet. All free patterns are while supplies last.
In addition to the Sale, we’ve also added in a whole bunch of stuff for the regular weekly update. Just in, you’ll find:
Polar Knits Worsted Weight
Dream in Color Classy re-stocked (including our exclusive Don’t Be Blue colorway)
Dream in Color Smooshy re-stocked
Dream in Color Smooshy Sock Summit Exclusives
Lorna’s Laces Whidbey Island (exclusive Sock Summit Colorway)
Ella Rae Lace Merino
String Theory Caper Sock
Hand Maiden Casbah (so many great colors in stock)
Tempted Luxe Girl (new cashmere line)
Opal Rainforest Five
Addi Lace Turbo 16″ circulars
Addi Click Tips and Connectors
Fiesta Baby Boom in new colors
So hop over to shop! But before you go, answer this question in the comments for your chance to win a prize package in our last anniversary contest. (Of course we’ll be back with our September Blog Contest before you know it.) Question: Who has had the biggest influence on your knitting? It might be a pattern designer, or a blogger, or a friend, or a group on Ravelry, or a podcaster or … even yourself. Maybe you’re good at poking around and inspiring yourself to learn new things and branch out. Food for thought. And then for a blog comment. 🙂
We’re taking pre-orders on the new Namaste bag colors, which we expect in within the next week or two. If you’d like a RED Hermosa, or a BLACK Zuma, or a BLACK Laguna, simply send us an email (support AT theloopyewe DOT com) and we’ll reserve one for you. The Hermosa’s are $75 and the Zuma’s and Laguna’s are $69.
We’re heading up to Indiana to take Knitting Daughter back to college this week, so I won’t be blogging again until next Monday. Maybe I can get some of these half-finished socks done enroute so that I’ll have photos to share by then. Or maybe I’ll be too busy shedding tears. You know how that goes. I’m hopeless.
Sheri thinkingthatfallisintheair
eventhoughLaborDayisstill
twoweeksaway
I would have to say my online friends have really influenced me. Pat of http://www.Patsknittingandquilting.com and Linda from ravelry. Both ladies have really inspired me to learn more and do better in my sock knitting.
My mom has also pushed but mostly we have learned together as she has discovered sock knitting too.
No one in my family knit, so I took lessons at a local knit shop. The wonderful people there have inspired me, encouraged me and awed me with their knowledge and enthusiasm. I owe them so much for all their support.
My biggest knitting influence is my best friend, Jen. She’s always encouraging me to try new things and she’s the one who introduced me to the wonderful world of knitting SOCKS!! 🙂
I have been most influenced by Ravelry and the people I have met there! My sock knitting has soared to whole new levels! Darlene
My knitting influences are:
learning to knit – my Polish Grandmother who did not speak much English, but imparted the love of the needle arts to me.
My Mom who always had something going in her hands
Theresa Gaffey – who re-instilled the love
and Sharon at Three Irish Girls for her beautiful yarns, colors and spirit
I think the single biggest influence on my knitting (among other things) has been the Yarn Harlot. I started reading knitting blogs because of her, and I come back to the tips she’s given time and time again. Since a lot of her material comes from Elizabeth Zimmerman, that’s sort of an indirect influence.
After them, the people I knit with — in real life and in the virtual world. I joined a knitalong early on that ended up testing my skills over the course of a year, and it did wonders for getting me out of my “comfort zone” and improving my craft.
I’ve been knitting what feels like forever and I’m self-taught. However, the wonderful indie dyers who make the most beautiful sock yarns have definitely been an influence. The gorgeous sock yarns challenged me to learn to knit socks. And then I found Wendy – who taught me to knit toe up (which I adore), who taught me to knit with two circular needles (which I adore), and who has challenged me to learn to knit lace by way of her fantastic patterns.
i gather inspiration from everywhere. i love looking at magazines, browsing patterns on ravelry, i listen to podcasts and check out patterns mentioned, look at books, etc. inspriation is everywhere!
Two major inspirations in my knitting life. My best friend (the one who turned me on to Ravelry and TLE) has always been my knitting guide- she taught me how to knit socks when I was a freshman in college, and I’ve been unstoppable ever since! We’re even doing the same pattern for the SKA with the same yarn (that she dyed).
My second inspiration is Cookie A. Man, I wish I could design like her. Instead, I just have to knit everything she designs 🙂
My supportive knit group gives me bits and pieces of yarn that I MUST do something with, and my family supports my multi-yarn messes that cover the kitchen table.
The wonderful groups Socks That Rock and Knitspot on Ravelry both inspire me to try new projects with many different yarn bases and colors. I love going to their project pages and stash pages so I can see what is new in patterns, fibers and colors. They are also very helpful with understanding knitting techniques and matching colors. Basically, I just love them all.
Who was the biggest influence on my knitting? Can I nominate a website? If so, then ravelry. Otherwise, I’d have to say my friends in Loopy’s F5 Lounge who keep showing off such fantastic projects and give me the courage to try new things myself.
My daughter Bethany and her sister Paget. They are both expert knitters and keep me inspired.
Catt Bordhi and you, Sheri. Cat for teaching me a way to knit socks that has turned me into a sock maniac. And you for providing a sock yarn paradise! I know that you will have the best of the best and the newest of the new. All at the touch of my keyboard night or day. I tell all my best friends about the Loopy Ewe. Not only is your store fantastic, but I feel that I’ve come to know you a bit as a personal friend through your blog. You’re a wonderful person with a lovely family, and you deserve all the success that comes your way. Long live the Loopy Ewe!
i was taught to knit by my granmother many years ago, and i have alway knit, but i met my friend Deb, she is a great knitter , has some patterns published and does some teaching so she inspired to knit fancy things i know knit easy lace
ruby in montreal
I took a class at first – but I am mostly self taught. I fin I understand things better if I have to struggle through it by myself – maybe with some internet help. My two absolute knitting heroes are Cat Bordi and EZ. THay have a big influence of creativity. It is just knitting – it can be re-done if it is wrong…but oh there is so many things that you can do with knitting. 🙂
One of my best friends, Katie, has probably had the biggest influence on me in terms of my knitting. She was the one who reeled me back into knitting after a few years of separation. She then painstakingly stuck by me to continuously show me new techniques over and over again. Finally, she was a great support that always believed in me and pushed me to go on and try and succeed at new and interesting things. She unfortunately has just recently left to go teach in China for a year so she will be missed dearly, but I wish her the best of luck, joy, and happiness.
There are a few designers that I tend to follow now and then, including Veronik Avery, Sarah Hatton, Sarah Dallas and Kim Hargreaves. They seem to produce such classic and stylish patterns again and again. However I like to think the thing that has influenced my knitting most lately has been Ravelry. I’ll see a project or a yarn and then click on the yarn and see another project…it’s just endless the possibilities! Some days you can just get lost in Ravelry. Most days, that is.
I would say that I am most influenced by Cat Bordhi and her unique approach to knitting. I love to play with patterns and try new thing out. Socks are currently my favorite thing to knit and I am designing my own now.
Before Ravelry I read alot of knitting blogs, and that really inspired me! Lolly and BrooklynTweed, The Yarn Harlot and WendyKnits…I read all of the “biggies”!
Now I’m inspired every day by all the wonderful friends I’ve made through Ravelry:)
My mom was my early influence-teaching me to knit at age 5- she is still a fabulous knitter but my current influences are my friends at Knit Knite- we meet every Thursday and they inspire me with their creativity and enthusiasm.
I would have to say first my SNB Group. They are the best friends a knitter could ask for. So much inspiration from projects shared. We go to LYS together and wool gatherings. Also made a few field trips to farms. Then Ravelry, everyone on there is so nie and so very helpful. I have met people from all over the world. And Thirdly and this will sound staged but it’s not LOOPY for all the beautiful yarn I am compelled to buy. You display it and I buy it . well then I gotta make something wonderful with it. And last but not leist my husband for all his praise.
I would say Ravelry is my biggest influence. I check patterns and what my friends have favorited or queued daily. That definitely affects what is next on my queue.
MY mother taught me how to knit eons ago but currently it’s just me trying to do better each time. Not sure I’m achieving that but it’s the trying that counts isn’t it??
It hasn’t been so much a “who” as a “what”…and the “what” would be the Internet. First I discovered knitting blogs, especially WendyKnits and YarnHarlot. Then I discovered that I could order all these fabulous yarns on the Internet! Hello Loopy Ewe! I was no longer limited by what I already knew how to do. I could knit socks? Cool! I could knit socks on two circular needles? Way Cool! A shawl? Use size 0 needles? Amazing! The wealth of information, patterns, techniques and yarns and truly amazing people that I’ve never met but feel a debt of gratitude to have truly changed who I am as a knitter.
My grandmother taught me to knit when I was small – then refreshed my memory when I got older – and is now expanding her knitting horizens because of my knitting. I’m so glad we have something to ‘connect’ over – I’m always so proud of her new knitting endeavors – and I’m sure she loves to see the girl who made hideous scarves making so much more now!
The wonderful folks at the Atlanta Knitting Guild have the greatest influence on my knitting. They constantly push me to try new things and inspire me with the glorious knits they produce. Special thanks to Pat and Debra and Donna – enablers extraordinaire.
I was blessed with a maternal grandmother, who was able to do many domestic arts. She taught me to knit, crochet, cook, and sew probably before I could read. I have continued to study and learn more about these crafts throughout my life. I think that my early learning of the basics has given me the confidence to try new skills.
In unoriginal fashion…
Ravelry and the Yarn Harlot are the biggest current influences on my knitting. My grandma and my sister’s husband’s grandma gave me their needles and I think about each of them when I use them.
Happy Anniversary!
3 people influenced my return to knitting after 20 years. Two collegues at school encouraged me to join them in a socing kn itting class offered as a non credit course at a local community college. The other person is the instructor of the class. She gently encouraged her students, even those who jumped into a sock knitting class with no knitting knowledge.
The staff and teachers at my LYS, Woolwinders. They got me started down the knitting path, and I have not stopped since!
🙂
I’m not really sure why I learned/love to knit, although I did discover after I started knitting that my mom was an incredibly talented knitter — but not until I was about 25 years old. She had never knit before in my presence and then presented me with this amazing afghan. To this day, I can’t figure out how she hid the ends so perfectly…I can’t find a single one and the blanket is huge and unbelievably complex. Ironically, that end tucking thing is the part of knitting that I still can’t do to my satisfaction!
my biggest influence? the yarn…the myriad of colors. the feel of the slightly scratchy wool, crisp cotton, oh-so-soft cashmere. even the sheepy smell of raw wool….and mostly, the potential each skein or ball of yarn has to become something wonderful for someone. it’s like a child – it may not become what *you* originally wanted, but it becomes something useful, beautiful to someone, and hopefully not a menace to society!
My best friend,Annette! She got me into knitting when I wasn’t doing anything with my handspun yarn.
I learned to knit from my Great-Grandma as a child and my mom is/was never without some kind of sewing/crocheting project. However after several yrs of hit and miss knitting/crocheting/sewing I was told (yes told not inspired by) by my PT/OT to take it back up specifically finer gauge knitting as that would be the best therapy for my hands. Now I do some finer and or worsted/sport gauge knitting most everyday just to maintain and not loose anymore muscle tone in my hands.
My biggest influence has been my Aunt Jackie. She helped fuel the fire for knitting, and we’ve both been knitting fairly consistently for the past ten years.
I guess my biggest influence these days would be my knitting group friends. If I have a problem or need inspiration, I can count on them to help me out.
I learned to knit when I was 24. I started to make socks out of very thick wool and my boss, Ilga Leja by the way, was doing more “advanced” stuff. One Christmas all the librarians got together and bought me Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks.
Without a doubt, it was Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot. I picked up a copy of Knitting Rules at my public library. Laughed, identified, adopted her phrase “It’s only knitting,” and was enticed by her to make my first pair of handknit socks, using my now-beloved DPNs for the very first time.
Happy Anniversary, TLE!
My biggest influence I guess would be my BFF Beth who taught me how to knit 3 1/2 years ago. She’s taught me numerous techniques, but mainly to not be afraid of a pattern. And when in doubt, “read the pattern”…
I think it goes back to the woman who retaught me to knit – Renee. If she hadn’t got me knitting again I wouldn’t do what I do today.
Ravelry has been my biggest influence. I’ve discovered so many yarns and patterns! And of course, all the awesome people.
Agree, it has to be Ravelry!
There are so many sources of influence and inspiration. My knitting group keeps me on my toes, not to mention Ravelry. In the designer category, Anne Hanson’s designs keep me inspired and stiving to do more. Quite honestly, almost every knitter I meet is an influence!
The biggest influence on my knitting would have to a “what” rather than a “who” – Ravelry. I was knitting along after being taught by my LYS owner, Susan Wolcott. I learned to really enjoy knitting socks from the toe up after find Wendy Johnson’s blog. But when Ravelry came along (and I think I must have been one of the first few hundred members) everything changed. Suddenly a whole new world of knitting was opened up to me and I reveled in Ravelry.
My sons have had the most influence on my knitting. It’s always wonderful to have them ask me to make something special, whether it’s camouflage hunting socks or a scarf to celebrate heading off to college. Love is knit into every stitch for them, and that’s why they are my biggest influence!
The influence that motivated me to learn to knit was my mom and a pair of mitten she made me when I was little. They were white little cabled mittens, probably a 4 H pattern but those and the love she made them with has stuck with me for more than 30 years.
Wendy Knits and the Yarn Harlot as well as many other bloggers have kept me knitting. They’ve helped me realize that my knitting isn’t old fashioned or something that needed to be hidden behind closed doors. But that it is something beautiful and that it’s okay to enjoy knitting and yarn (even in public).
My coworker is my biggest influence. She taught me so much. I taught myself to knit, however she made everything much clearer.
Also, Brooklyntweed and all the other great ravelers inspire me with their beautiful handknits.
I think I would have to say me. I’m a sewer at heart but have crocheted, done needlepoint, counted cross stitch, rug hooking, etc. etc. and just figured that my one sad attempt at knitting at about age 10 was so dismal that I would live out my life without learning to knit. But at about age 50, I thought that didn’t have to be the case and took a one hour class and went on to read books, magazines and the internet for hours at end and tried everything I could and I think that 7 years later, I am now doing pretty good! Mittens are my favorite but have made hats, scarves, socks and am ready to launch a sweater!
My biggest knitting influence is indeed a Ravelry group–the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup! I’ve knit several sweaters and innumerable small projects using techniques I never would have encountered or tried out after being pushed to earn points for Hufflepuff House. I’m so grateful to everyone there.