Not that those two things have anything to do with one another. Or … actually … they might, if you were making a beautiful cowl and needed a new project bag! The new bag from Namaste this season is a backpack in their wonderful looks-and-feels-like-leather-but-it-isn’t material. We have these on order and expect them at the end of January or early February. You can pre-order one, or you can wait for us to put them up on the website. Cost is $85, payment on pre-orders is not due until we are ready to ship them to you, and the color choices are: Espresso, Black, Eggplant and Red. Email if you’d like us to set one aside for you: support@theloopyewe.com.
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
I don’t lose scarves, I lose mittens and hats. I still remember my first “expensive” yarn purchase, which was two skeins of Manos del Uraguay. I made them both into hats. One hat vanished at an event, and though I checked my seat and retraced my steps, I never found it. The other just vanished mysteriously. One day I looked for it in the closet and it wasn’t there, and it has never surfaced. My children lose every pair of fingerless gloves I make for them.
I’m so tempted with the backpack – do you have specs?
I love the cowl I made at the end of 2011 which was just a simple stockinette tube of KSH. It is ridiculously warm and perfect for running, because it is both less bulk for wearing and folds down super tiny if I need to take it off.
The only knitting I “lost” was years ago when pregnant with my daughter and we lived in an apartment. Had to go to the laundromat and in the very short time it took me to unload the washer and put all in a dryer – someone else’s “dear child” (UNSUPERVISED) came to my chair and unripped what I had been knitting (a baby sweater I had started). I’ve never gone off in a public place – blame it on the hormones (not) :_P If you can count that as “lost” – help yourself. But, no, I have never left misplaced or lost my knitting when out 😀
Oh, that bag is gorgeous, as is your honey cowl! I’ve knit that pattern in Handmaiden Sea Silk and it turned out so lovely. I agree, though, it can get a little tedious!
I thought I lost a pair of fingerless mitts last winter but then this fall I found them in the pockets of a coat I rarely wear. Then in December I wore my Rock Island shawl to an event at my daughter’s school. I took it off to put on my coat and when I got home I realized I’d left it. Luckily, it was draped nicely over the lost and found bin the next morning. So I’ve lost knitted items but I’m very lucky to have gotten them back.
I lost a baby afghan I had made for my son (of course it was one of the more ambitious ones I’ve made…). It was draped over his infant car seat and somewhere during the in-and-out of lots of different errands one day it was gone. Steps were retraced and every store we’d been in was called (multiple times) to see if it had been found. No luck. So sad, but I continue to hope that it ended up with someone who really needed it.
YES! I lost my first really nice knit, and it was one of the first times I had worn it! It was a wool and cashmere scarf, which was a million miles long and had a really cool argyle texture knitted into it. I went on a date and on the way to the restaurant I got warm and took it off. When I got out of the car I had forgotten that it was on my lap and it is either still lingering in his trunk somewhere or it is long gone on the parking lot ground (though I strongly feel it is still in his trunk). (That was one of the last times I saw this particular beau…maybe I sensed he would try to steal my hand knits?)
have you made any of Car Bordhi’s Mobii(?plural of mobius?) There are any number of permutations you can do…
Last year for his birthday my husband requested convertible mittens with leather sewn onto the palms and thumb. Within a few weeks of gifting him the mittens, he lost one. Now he’s whining that he wants another set . . . 🙂
I have only lost a pair of hand knit socks – left behind in a hotel room on vacation. Granted, they were not my favorite & getting old.
The worst I’ve heard was someone on Rav who recently lost her just-finished Vodka Gimlet cardigan at an office Christmas party… THAT was tragic.
My mom knitted me a pair of double-thick mittens to match my coat when I was in elementary school. They (and my store-bought hat) disappeared out of the locker room in my sixth-grade class one day, and I never found them. My mom was furious and hasn’t knitted me anything since.
I have a pair of fall leaf stranded colorwork mittens that I love. I took them off in the post office last December to mail some packages, and was sure I put them in my pocket, but no matter how many times I checked my pocket, they never turned up. I was so sad, until several weeks later they turned up on top of the couch under the afghan and cat.
I wear my Summer Wind Cowl constantly! I need to make more because they are so handy to have. I’ve never lost a knitted item but so far my fiance has lost 2 hats and my aunt has felted a few things. They still remain knitworthy, though, I love them too much.
Sheri: That is a really pretty cowl. The pattern is now in my queue.
I have lost a few things, but the one even my DH regrets aloud now and then was a toddler pullover, cabled all over, that we somehow lost in the four blocks walking over to friends’ house. It was tied around our youngest’s (of 6) shoulders and we didn’t realize till time to go (and bundle up) that it was no-where to be found. The walk back home turned up nothing, and tho everyone kept an eye out in the next couple weeks, it never was found so still one “heirloom” down. . .
I made that Honey cowl but I interspersed sections of stockinette w/eyelet rows with that bee stitch pattern and it really turned out great, and kept the “same stitch boredom” at bay. I have enjoyed knitting several cowls in the past month, including Infinitude Scarf, a pattern in ravelry.
I have never lost any of my knitted items, but I give away a lot. I enjoy making shawls, but I’m really not a shawl wearer, so when complete they are passed on.
Ha….I’m reading your blog thinking you should wear mittens on a string!!! Crazy lady!! I have not ever lost anything but have had friends “borrow” things. Things that never return. Some of my friends are crazy! I noticed that you put the remark about Namaste “their wonderful looks-and-feels-like-leather-but-it-isn’t material”. That is one of the reasons I like the bags. Case in point – yesterday morning I got caught in a huge downpour and had my Monroe bag been leather it would have been toast!! My latest bag has gotten so many compliments. The peacock color matches my coat and is just filled with so many pockets. I’m already saving up for the hot pink color for summer!!
Had a One Row Noro Scarf that I made, loved and lost—wouldn’t you know, my most expensive scarf! Made another, love it, too!
Looking forward to coming to see you tomorrow! I’ve been reading your blog from probably right near the start……it’s funny but I feel like I know you! 🙂 (Guess that can happen with blogs.) I know a little about you, anyway—looking forward to meeting you in person, meeting Loopy and spending lots of time looking over everything in your new store! I feel like it’s necessary, in honor of all those who can’t come in person tomorrow or soon~ I’ll do my best to enjoy it for everyone!! 🙂
Oh, forgot to say……love the new Namaste backpack and the beautiful cowl!
I lost a mitten (of my first ever pair) in a parking lot of a Harris Teeter store (I think). Nowhere else I had been that day had found it. 🙁
Omg, yes. I knit Andrea Reversible in Lorna’s Laces Helen so it is very light. One day I was walking to my car (in windy Norman, OK) and I was very glad I had my scarf around the back of my neck. I got in my car and realized I felt funny but chalked it up to finally being out of the wind. Drove almost home (about 2.5 miles) when I realized I didn’t FEEL my scarf. Check and no scarf. Look in the seat beside me no scarf. Pulled over and got out to see if I had sat on my scarf, no scarf. Turned around and drove like a crazy person back to where I had parked at work and there was my Andrea Reversible laying on the asphalt right where it fell off!!! I was soo glad it was still there…..shocked that no one walking by picked it up and double shocked that the wind had not picked it up a blown it down the block. So yes, it has happened to me too. I remedied this by tying it around my neck and it hasn’t blown off, so far. 🙂
I left a sock I was knitting on the bus. No one ever turned it in. I lost the sock, the silk Lantern Moon bag it was in and of course my favorite needles. It was the second sock and I was almost finished with it. I still have the other one and think about what might have been. Ever since then I have been afraid to take expensive yarn, bags or needles for commuter knitting.
Sheri, exactly why I don’t wear scarves! I made my mom a cowl for Christmas of a nice alpaca and silk, fingering weight. She loves it – as she said – this is great, it’ll be hard to lose! You are right about lots of knitting with a limited pattern. I’ll be checking out the patterns you mentioned since I’d like another cowl for myself.
I love the Namaste bags too. I have one very old bag and two newer ones. I’ve tried a Jordanna’s Paige bag which is also not-leather and a great bag!
Carol Lee
Your Honey Cowl is very pretty. I’m planning to make one with Pashmina. I’ve never lost a scarf, but I did lose a pair of fingerless gloves. I still need to make a replacement for them. I hope someone found them and enjoyed them.
Oh, I love that new cowl! Such a great color too! I’m so glad you love your summer wind…I’ve knit three 🙂 and almost ready to cast on for a fourth. I do think the new design I have on my needles you’ll like….infinity + lots of colors + fingering weight yarn!
the cowl is just beautiful and absolutely a super color. I just pre-ordered my very first namaste bag. YAY…..Now I will find out why all the Loopy Groopies love these bags. Of course, I have a milliom WIP’s to put in it. Maybe my new inspiration to get some of these done since several are at least 3/4 finished.
we were snowshoeing a couple of years ago at Tahoe when I noticed I had lost my
favorite gray scarf..My HERO HUSBAND went back & found it..whoo hoo
I was soooo grateful!!
I’m pretty sure I’ve never lost anything I knit-I did once lose a really nice large square silk scarf that I had hand sewn rolled hems on. Not as much work as anything knit, but a beautiful piece of expensive fabric I was sorry to lose. My son left a pair of his hand-knit socks at friends’ house a few years back, but he got them back safely – he loves and appreciates his socks, and was more upset than I was.
Many years ago, I knit a sweater for my Mom, and never noticed that it sort of disappeared. Many years later (but still long ago, at this point) my daughter came home from a day at Granny’s wearing the sweater, which it turned out Mom had accidentally felted down to the size of a 3-year old, and then held on to for decades, because she is a knitter herself and loved that I had made it for her. The now antique sweater is up in my attic, waiting for another generation to come along small enough to fit into it.
oh, and once a Doberman we were fostering ate a big chunk out of a sock I was making for Mom. My daughter immediately declared that I “had to forgive him, because he’s a dog.” It was a second sock and the yarn had been in stash for several years so there was no matching dyelots, but I took a chance on a new skein, Shepherd Sock, and the colors were exact although the changes were slightly different lengths. I still have the chewed-up sock, because the finished pair ended up being a perfect fit to I use it as a template for all Mom’s socks.
I am currently still morning the loss of my Camp Loopy project 1. I can’t find it anywhere! And it was made from Bugga which I’ll Never get again. And it was the most gorgeous Catkin I got compliments on it All the time. See, still in morning.
Also I left all my sweaters at a laundromat once , which included a handknit for my daughter. It wasn’t very big and she wouldnt be able to wear it now but I would’ve liked to have kept it.
These memories make me kinda sad so I’m going to stop now. 🙁
This just happened yesterday. My boss in my new job asked me If I would make a twin baby afghan for a shower she is going to in about a month. She asked if I had a sample of a pattern I was doing. I brought in my afghan in progress being made with the oodles of cascade 220 that I have. I put it in a large shopping bag as it has long overrun my knitting bag. Before we left for the day I brought it by the door. When we left, I noticed that it was gone. The maintenace person thought it part of the trash and did not even notice it was an afghan. I chased him down, but it was too late. It was gone, I did not know whether to laugh or cry but my eyes did fill up. He kept apologizing and it was a little more than half way done. So, I have learned a lesson that I should not have taken my eyes off of it. Guess, when I am up to it, I will be starting it all over again…………………………………………………sad…………………….
I did tragically lose a piece of knitwear. I used to commute on the subway to work, often I would take off my hat or on this particular day the calorimetry I was wearing. I happened to find a seat and set it in my lap. I must have been absorbed in my book because when I got to my stop I dashed out of the train. It was only as I was walking up the stairs and the train was pulling away that I realized my calorimetry was still on the train, having fallen out of my lap. I made a half-hearted attempt to get it back by calling lost and found, but I figured I wouldn’t want to wear it again after it had been on the floor of the subway for an unknown amount of time. I made another one, but it really wasn’t as good. The next winter I made a hat with ties so I wouldn’t repeat my loss.
I have to tell you that I absolutely love The Loopy Ewe and all of your posts. The downside is they become donwright dangerous to me. I have 20 projects in my Ravelry queue. And I want all of the yarn you post up. Now I am going to work on my Wandering Mor. And maybe check out the website for the new yarn. 😉
Hi Sheri,
I just finished my first cowl, Ann Norling’s pattern Easy Cowl in Any Gauge. It looks great and its not too boring. Plus, you can make it any length you want. I plan to make a few more of these as gifts for family and friends.
I never lost anything, but I did manage as an impatient 20-something to machine wash all of my hand-knits and felt them all. My two Irish knits with all of the patterns and cables didn’t shrink too badly, but aren’t worthy of wear except for around the house shoveling snow.
I have one Namaste bag. My mom gave me a needle and notions bag, that you add to by purchasing additional “pages” for needles. It’s beautiful, but can’t really be used for projects.
I love the backpack, but while it is beautiful, as with most Namaste products, it is out of my price range for a project bag. Sigh…
Squeals of delight from here. I have been wishing for a Namaste backpack ever since I started back to work and had to take the train home a couple of days a week. Not that is is hard to carry the regular bags – I just somehow felt that a Namaste backpack would make me look so much more chic. LOL
I love using the Namaste bags as my everything bag. I carry all my purse stuff in there and add small project bags for socks or whatever. The backpack looks like it will be the perfect size to pop in the ipad and one sock project bag and my purse “stuff” for work.
And no you are not even close to the only one to lose things you have knitted. My mom was nearly in tears once about losing a hat I had knit her the first week she had it. I knit her another one and naturally as soon as I finished it, the first one turned up in the back of her closet. It had come off her head with the hood of her coat and had ridden in the coat until she got home and hung it up. And my daughter routinely loses things. So does my hubby. Luckily they mostly turn up again.
I have a question more than a comment. I LOVE the honey 2 cowl and would like to have a pattern to make it. Is there one available? I found a pattern for the honey cowl, but I like the looks of honey 2 more. Please let me know if I can get a pattern for honey 2 and where to find it. Thanks
I love cowls, but the short ones suit me better. The long ones look great on some people though.
I love cowls, but the short ones suit me better so I’ve made a few of them. The long ones look great on some people though. And I did lose a cowl for almost a year – my favorite one, quiviut lace, so light and airy that it went somewhere all by itself and refused to come out. What a great surprise when it did show up!