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
Hmmm. The biggest influence on my knitting is probably my family. I began knitting so I could make a sweater for my oldest niece when she was a baby (she’s now almost 5 years old).
My biggest influence was an ongoing class I took from Rosie Barnes. She knew everything about knitting, fit, style and color.
I’d have to say my Nana. Im sure she instilled in me my love of wool as well as teaching me the basics of knitting when I was young.
I don’t think any one person influences me, I really like to create things from scratch and so I would I have to answer myself. I am swayed by color and texture. I don’t have of the same patterns that my friends have and vice versa. I think the only 2 patterns I did because of a friend was the noro striped scarf, and the Leyburn socks. I have to talk myself into patterns and won’t knit one just because it is the cool thing to do.
Elizabeth Zimmermann – Reading her books and newsletters changed my whole knitting life and outlook.
I just love my on-line knitting groups. Their beautiful prjects are all I need to order, buy, download a new pattern. Thank you Groupies!
My biggest influence on my knitting right now is probably Ravelry- mostly because it’s inspiring to see so many different projects. But my biggest influence, who got me started and encourages me nearly every day, is absolutely my mother in law. Knitting is something we bonded over and it’s been fun to challenge each other and try new things together.
I would have to say that my Mother is my inspiration for my life. She had knitted the most beautiful cardigan and skirt, I loved to pretend I knew how to knit. Years after her death I finally picked up a set of her kneedles and knitted a scarf. I completed the scarf about a month ago and am now knitting another scarf. I am so wanting to knit some socks for my family and friends…my next project….
Hmmm…well no one in my family knits so I would say A Good Yarn in Baltimore has had the greatest influence for me. That’s where I learned to knit, and I have spent many a Saturday afternoon chatting with the ladies and trying to finish my sweater 🙂
My dear mamaw was my inspiration! My then boyfriend, now hubby had just gone off to college. And as your daughter can tell you it gets down right cold here in Indiana in the winter, and I wanted to make him a scarf. I asked her my mamaw if she would teach me to crochet, which is what she loved to do. Well that was a joke and a half. It didn’t matter what I did, I could not get crocheting down. So she taught me to knit instead. And that went much better. When my babies were born, mamaw knit them all a blanket. Then when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, I took over her projects she wasn’t able to finish. I have been given her crochet hooks and knitting needles and they extrememly precious to me. Including the ivory crochet hook that was her mothers. Its the best thing for picking up dropped stitches!
I’m still in a wonderful mood from the TLE package I got yesterday (WM + loopy groupie goodies).
As for influences… well, my friend Janelle is the one who taught me to knit, but my sock-yarn-buying problem is what forced me to learn to make socks, which is a lot of what I’ve been knitting lately.
Ravelry.com has been my most influential “person.” I love that place, what with all the nice people and great ideas. Don’t think I’d be as excited about knitting without it.
Ravelry has been the biggest influence on my knitting. I first learned to knit 25 years ago. It was a disaster. Then 18 years ago, when I graduated college, I picked up the needles with a fervor and committed myself to learn to knit…which I did but had one horrible teacher who kept poo-pooing every pattern I wanted to try. A good friend taught me cables and seaming, but when I moved away, my needles got put mostly away for awhile. Then two years ago, my good friend Carolyn convinced me to pick them up again and got me on to Ravelry. The boom of the internet has made all of the difference in the world!! I can peruse what others are doing, see new techniques, watch tutorials (which are linked on Ravelry) and check out what patterns are being used with the yarns I have. Plus Ravelry has directed me to great retailers like The Loopy Ewe! I love Ravelry. ~k
I’m influenced by projects I see on Ravelry and knitting magazines. Of course, my knitting groups are good at enabling as well.
Definitely Ravelry. That site really got me going again and trying patterns and yarns I’d never tried before.
well….this past summer Sherri at TLE is my biggest influence !
because I have spent much of this season with the Girasole and for all my struggles , it really is beautiful ….and I cant belive Im knitting lace !
but I must also thank my friend Constance , Miss Wendy-sock goddess.and everyone who makes Ravelry a fantastic source of information….and entertainment !
A friend of my mother’s worked at a knitting shop (sadly long closed) and I signed up to take knitting from her. WIlma didn’t waste any time – our first project was a sampler scarf that included basketweave, cables, and a variety of other patterns. From that, I launched into sweaters. It’s been an on and off addiction for the last 20 years, and now I’m teaching both my 7-year-old daughter and 70 year-old mother to knit!
I think it’s a combo of myself and other people online. I like to try new techniques and patterns that challenge me. I get inspired by seeing other people’s projects on ravelry.
I would have to say that Ravelry and “my friends” on Ravelry have had the biggest influence on my knitting! If it weren’t for Ravelry, I would not have been introduced to The Loopy Ewe or the many, many encouraging knitters in the whole Ravelry community. 🙂
Rowan magazines. Their pictures and patterns are so beautiful that I always want to make them.
About 10 years ago our ministers wife gave a children’ sermon about a prayer shawl she had knit. That got me started on knitting again. I love Ravelry and also get inspiration from magazines.
I guess I am the biggest influence on my knitting. I taught myself how to knit despite being discouraged to learn by my mom and grandmother. They told me it would be too hard because it “used two needles”. They were both crocheters and so taught me how to crochet as a child.
I like to challenge myself to try new patterns and new techniques, scouring the latest (and sometimes old) books and mags for ideas. And how I do love Ravelry. It’s loaded with inspiration.
I also love that you suggest projects. So I have no lack of inspiration and really my only dilemma is what to try knitting next.
My biggest knitting influences have been Kaffe Fassett and Luci Neatby. I love color and they have both inspired my to follow my instincts!
My biggest knitting influence is the Ravelry Pattern/Yarn search functions. When I joined Ravelry I was a very new knitter and bored with scarves and dishcloths. Ravelry opened up an entire world of patterns and ideas of what I could do with yarn. I love being able to buy whatever yarn strikes my fancy, with the knowlegde that I can go to Ravelry to find many beautiful patterns to choose from, using the same yarn.
I taught myself to knit and continued knitting in isolation for several years but then… I found a freindly LYS that practically begged people to have a seat and knit for a while. Since then, I think I’ve been influence by lots of people. I’ve been exposed to new yarns and designers I wouldn’t have noticed previously. I’ve seen different ways of doing things. In helping others figure out their problems I’ve learned new tricks and techniques. So… Who has influenced me the most? Every knitter I meet!
Ravelry has also been my biggest influence, especially the awesome knitters and crocheters in the Yarn Snobs group.
My mother was probably my biggest influence. She was willing to try any pattern I found…no matter how hard she privately thought it might be. Now my influence is my knitting friends. They are the ones that convinced me to try lace knitting and socks, which I now love!
My biggest influence I would have to say is Ravelry! I started knitting again after many years of just crocheting and went to the internet for information. I began reading blogs and was inspired but nothing like the motivation and inspiration I’ve received from just “poking” around Ravelry. There are so many kind and loving people to ask for help and especially when I live in an area that the nearest LYS is 35 miles away. I’ve never ran into a ‘snooty’ or ‘clique’ on Ravelry and have always been treated with respect and courtesy. OK, I’m off my soapbox now.
Marilyn in NM
Question: Who has had the biggest influence on your knitting?
I think, besides Gretchen, my fabulous friend who taught me to knit 30+ years ago, Ravelry has had the most influence on my knitting recently.
I am my on self- motivator. The first thing I ever knitted was a Christmas stocking with a Santa Clause Face, if you don’t count a pincushion in seventh grade.
My biggest influence has been the Internet itself. When I got back into knitting about 7 years ago ago, I started discovering online yarn shops, then blogs, and then Knitty. Seeing all the differnt yarns available and what other people were knitting was very inspiring. I also found podcasts, and through them found even more souces of inspiration. And then along came Ravelry!
I had been knitting on and off for a few years but it wasn’t until having to go through a pretty nasty seperation that I realized how much of a comfort it could be. It was probably at the lowest point of my seperation that I happened upon a local knitting group meetup and made an instant connection with some of the best friends a girl could ask for. Meeting them came at a vital time in my life and I feel blessed to now consider them my “family”. Eventhough it’s only been a little over a year since we all met, there isn’t a day that goes by that we dont chat or offer advice, support etc. etc. to each other. So my friends influence me in my knitting, I put love into every piece now… because of them….
My biggest influence on knitting was a friend in Billings, Mt who introduced me to the finer yarns which have made knitting so much more enjoyable. Great yarn leads to a desire to be a better knitter. Thank you Janet.
My friend Amy taught me how to knit and has been encouraging and a huge help all along the way! She started me reading knitting blogs, too. I started with the Yarn Harlot, and her blog and “Knitting Rules” really are a great inspiration—I can do this! Wendy Knits blog and her books are great. And I always read Sheri’s blog, too, and Loopy Ewe was where I first ordered yarn from, so they are a big influence, too! I am grateful!
My Monday night knitting gang has influenced me the most. I have seen so many different techniques and talked about different yarns because of them. It is great having fiber show-and-tell after any of us visits a fiber festival. They encouraged me when I made my first cable and they are still there ooing and ahing whenever I make something–they are a great bunch.
Definitely the biggest influence on me (and not just for knitting) was my Girl Scout leader, Mrs. Mary Rose. She could do *anything* and look good doing it!
Miss Babs has been a huge influence in my knitting. Growing up I working with cheap crappy yarns and didn’t really like the finished product because of the yarns. Then I was introduced to Miss Babs yarns and I fell in love with natural fibers and Alpaca in particular. Ever since then I haven’t been able to get enough and I haven’t stopped knitting, Crocheting or spinning since.
The biggest influence on my knitting is a group of great women who meet up to 3 times a week — and have for the past 5 years or so — to knit, laugh, sharw patterns, and give each other knitting and moral support. They’ve bcome true and appreciated friends. Bless them each and every one.
biggest influence on my knitting? that would have to be a great friend who i have met. kamille, opened up a lys in a shopping area. i went in with my daughter, to purchase a candle from her, and we met. it was one of those kind of things wen we met were we knew we had known each other from some other time. i had knit wen i was 14 and had moved onto different creative outlets since then. she encouraged me to start up again,and my daughter to take lessons for the first time. we did and now im hooked. i have 4 or 5 different projects on needles and i am even an employee for her now! cool huh! so kamille has been the greatest influence on my knitting and has opened the door to all of the possibilities that are out there for us knitters. i loveeeeeeeeeee ravelry they rock!
I’ve loved reading the other knitters’ stories!! Like many, the biggest & first influences were Grandma and Mother–Grandma made the most fantastic filet crochet for priestly vestments and altar clothes in the Catholic church of my youth. She also sewed and saved me the most wonderful fabrics of all colors and textures.
Mother taught me to knit and made many sweaters for me (some I still wear – I’m 61). As she retreated into Alzeheimer I’d help her knit until it became too difficult.
So every time I pick up my knitting I feel connected to Mother and Grandma and ALL the women who’ve knit for their families from centuries ago.
Thanks for the question.
Lately, Ravelry’s most knitted projects have been influencing me lots, but I never would have learned to knit at all without my finace’. We decided to try to learn at the same time by watching videos on slo-mo. Neither of us had ever knitted before, and we didn’t know anyone in our families who were knitters.
So, we watched and watched and he “got it” wayyyy faster than I did. I did a lot of cussing and stomping around and throwing of things, and it SO pi**ed me off that he was catching on and I was not!! Without this competition, I know for a fact that I would have quit, but the need to catch up with a GUY was driving me nuts! So, I persevered. And I don’t know what I would do with myself now without knitting. He gave it up a couple years ago for other crafty endeavors (making lamps out of books and cat beds out of yard sale suitcases and the like), but I’m still going strong. And hoping to win a snazzy prize ;-D
I live out in the country and also work in an office of one full-time so I am not around any other knitters/crocheters. I rely on my books (I’m a bookaholic) to give me inspiration and ideas. I can see lots of items that I like but wouldn’t either want to make, or make like they have it. I also hate to follow patterns, unless it’s a lace shawl, so I can more or less “make up as I go along” when I do my own thing. It’s lots of fun and I have become disciplined to now finish a project before I go on to the next. I must admit though that I have one project for work and one for home.
My sister – she taught me how to knit, and then promptly forgot herself!
My co-worker and friend, Elizabeth, who taught me to knit Continental-style, has had the biggest influence on my knitting. I learned to knit English-style MANY years ago, but never knitted; I only crocheted. It wasn’t until Elizabeth taught me to knit Continental a few years ago that I learned to really enjoy knitting–and now I knit more than I crochet.
Reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s books and many knitting blogs (of Stephanie and others) has stoked the obsession.
I also have to include Sheri–because she challenged us to knit the Girasole–and knitting on that project has given me more confidence in my abilities as a knitter.
Biggest knitting influence…hmmmmm…would have to be the awesome group of ladies that are in my knitting/crochet group. They rock!
Watching my Ravelry friends activity is where I get most of my knitting inspiration. I love seeing what others are working on and what hidden treasures they’ve found trolling through Ravelry.
I think the biggest influence on my knitting is really me… I mean, if I don’t like it, its no fun to knit, right? However, my friends and bloggy buds certainly influence all the wonderful new patterns and yarns to try……..
My local yarn shop, Yummi Yarns in Burnsville NC.
Probably the biggest influence on my knitting is my spinning/knitting/dyeing teacher and friend, Lynne Vogel. I am learning to be a more fearless knitter and to jump into anything!
Also, my sock knitting teacher and friend leah,who taught me if you can knit socks on 1s, you can knit anything!
“Who has had the biggest influence on your knitting?” One person and one “thing”… the Yarn Harlot as the person: reading her lighthearted books gave me more confidence to take charge of my knitting; the Ravelry site as the “thing”: Ravelry exposed me to so many interesting patterns & projects & yarn & people that I found myself immersed in inspiration. 🙂