Sheri's Top Tens Archives - The Loopy Ewe Blog

Top Ten Loopy Gifts For Knitters and Quilters

by Sheri BergerDecember 17, 2014July 9, 20153 Comments

We’re shipping out Christmas gifts and Loopy Gift Certificates daily. I certainly hope you are getting one or the other from Loopy this year! If your friends and family still need some suggestions, here are a few ideas. We will continue shipping through December 23rd, so there is still time to order for Christmas. (If you live outside of the U.S., we’ll be delivering those orders in person.) (Just kidding.) (I wish we could.)

1. Loopy’s Christmas and Winter Kits – Each kit comes with a skein of Dream in Color’s Smooshy with Cashmere in Christmas Tartan or Peppermint Ice, and a matching project bag.

2. George’s beautiful yarn swifts and yarn caddies – Many of you have the large and small sizes of caddies from George, but did you know he makes swifts, too? (I have one. Love it.)

3. Knerdshop Totes – The totes that bring smiles. Really. Doesn’t everyone need a project bag with attitude?

4. Loopy Short Stacks – A fun way to start (or grow) your fabric stash, these stacks include 8 Fat Quarters that coordinate and would work well for quilts, table toppers, and bags. Not sure what your quilter would like? Buy the colors of the rainbow from the Short Stack Essentials collections.

5. Mary Hadley Pottery Yarn Bowls – Featuring your favorite sock-wearing sheep. (Ok, I typed that as sheep-wearing sock. Which it is not.) Of course we also have them in tumblers and coffee mugs.(Must work on photo sizing. The yarn bowl is bigger than the tumbler in real life …..)

6. Knitcellaneous Keychain Blockers – You can pick from the mitten ones or the sock ones. Or get both and make a matching set. Fun to use as keychains, hooked to your project bag, or as package tie-ons.

7. Marti Michell Templates and Pattern Books – The quick and easy way to make your lines, corners and curves match up perfectly. A must-have for every quilter.

8. The Loopy Ewe Sock Blockers – Do you need to block your socks? Not really. Not if you’re just going to put them on your feet and wear them when they’re dry. But I always block socks that I give as gifts (they look nicer), and I also always use them when I photo my finished socks. We have them in red plastic and oak, in sizes Small, Medium, Large and XLarge.

9. Bungalow 360 Bags – We love these bags, too! Cute animal prints, pretty lining, and an easy way to organize projects (and other parts of your life.) We have Messengers, Travel Bags, and Pocket Bags.

10. Yarn and Fabric – thousands of skeins of yarn and thousands of bolts of fabric, in every color you can imagine. Which ones would you like to find under your tree? We’ll help!

Sheri and The Loopy Elves

Gift Knits: 10 Quick Projects for Holiday Knitting

by Sheri BergerOctober 16, 2013July 8, 201511 Comments

It’s that time of year again! Time to start thinking about the holiday gift knitting. Unless you’ve been in our Spring and Fall Giftables Club, in which case, you have already completed several quick projects and have them tucked away, ready for the holidays! I came across this Knitter’s Gift Timeline on Pinterest and thought it was a perfect description for how I go about getting gift knitting done. For those of us still thinking about what to make for the different people in our lives, here are 10 different project ideas (with a few options for each one) for quick knitting for Christmas gifts. (71 days. Did you need to know that? I didn’t.)

1. Hats – great for males and females, young and old! Here are a few of my favorite hat patterns: Wurm, Windschief, Koolhaas, Crosscheck, Who?, and Felicity.

2. Scarves – also great for all ages and stages. A few ideas: A Little Jazz, Black Cherry Lambic, Cerus Scarf, Palindrome, Favorite Scarf Ever, and Strangling Vine Lace Scarf.

3. Fingerless Mitts – great for kids and adults alike. Check these out: Fetching, Treads, Cafe au Lait, October Leaves, Part Deux Mitts, and Felicity Mitts.

4. Mittens – for those who prefer their fingers covered! Try these: Bella’s Mittens, Horatio and Oren, Grove, Wood Hollow Mittens, Basic Children’s Mittens, and Waiting for Winter Mittens. Add a tub of Lavishea to keep their fingers soft!

5. Gloves – these take a little more time, but there are some beautiful patterns out there. A few ideas: Knotty Gloves, Froot Loop Gloves, Spice Route (ok, not quick, but beautiful, right?), Finlay, Absinthe Gloves, and Char.

6. Small Shawls/Wraps – typically knit up with one or two skeins of yarn, and used around the shoulders or around the neck. Check out: Jadyn Shire, Granlibakken, Amaranth Shawl, Boiseau Wrap, Andromeda Shawl, and Allis.

7. Dishcloths or Facial Cloths – it’s always nice to pair these with handmade soap (like TwentySeven Soap). Some pattern ideas: Leafy Washcloth, Double Bump Washcloth, Shaker Dishcloths, Pinwheel Flower, Lacy Mock Cable, and Ballband Dishcloth.

8. Cowls – quicker than a scarf, but just as warm around the neck. Here are some of my favorites: Song of the Sea, Zuzu’s Petals, Willow Cowl, Calm Cowl, Pretty Thing, and Lila Blue.

9. Vests – usually a bigger investment of time, but leaving off the sleeves makes it quicker than a sweater! Try these: Vine Lace Vest, Angostura, Memory Vest, Cloud Chaser, Mondo Cable Shell/Vest, and Dr. G’s Memory Vest.

10. Socks – the heavier the yarn, the quicker they knit up. Ideal for all ages. Here are some sport/dk/worsted options, to they knit up quickly: Simple Skyp Socks, Blueberry Waffle Socks, House Targaryen Socks, Diagonal Rib Socks, Tern, and Mudslide Socks.

Or how about a kit that contains yarn/pattern/fun extra, all ready to knit up? We have a few August Giftables Kits (with an exclusively dyed skein of Biscotte & Cie Self-Striping yarn and a pattern for fingerless mitts and ear warmers) and a few September Giftables Kits (with an exclusively dyed skein of Dream in Color’s Wool/Alpaca worsted weight yarn and a pattern for The Path Less Traveled hat) still available. We’ve also put the patterns from last spring’s Giftables up on the website: Lila Blue infinity cowl, Crosscheck hat, and Allis shawl/scarf, which are all great patterns for quick gift knits, which is the whole premise behind our Giftables Club! (The October Giftables Kit will be out at the end of the week, for those of you who have signed up for it.)

So how are you fixed for gift knitting? Done? Haven’t started? Halfway there? Pick a pattern and pop over for some yarn. We’ll get you fixed right up and on your way!

Sheri stillneedingtomakealist.That’sagoodplacetostart.

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Loopy Central

by Sheri BergerMarch 3, 201044 Comments

Remember my post about walking to work? (Yes, I’m still walking. People keep asking. I guess that’s good for accountability.) Someone in the comments that day said that it’s too bad we don’t have a shower at Loopy Central, for the days when it’s hot and humid when walking to work. That made me realize that there are probably a few ten things you don’t know about Loopy. Like:

1. We do indeed have a shower here. The shower stall now looks like this. It’s filled with shelves that WH built, as a place to keep a few extra shipping boxes. (This space used to be some kind of doctor’s office and I guess they needed a shower.) So we have one – but it’s not usable.

2. This wall is paper thin. I was standing there contemplating Cascade 220 colors one day, and could clearly hear one side of a phone conversation from the office next door. Too bad it’s not a stock company, or I might be able to provide some interesting stock tips. It’s a real estate company.

3. The extra chocolate kisses are kept in the bottom of this cabinet.

4. We have one live plant here at Loopy, and we named it “Fern”. It’s not a fern, but we call it Fern.

5. This is the most useless area in the whole shop. This part of Loopy Central used to be a real estate office, and this was the lobby. It doesn’t really work to keep inventory here, so we just made it look interesting.

6. We have a little elf who guards the shop 24/7. We don’t fully trust the sleepwalkers in the sleep clinic across the hall. Strange things have been known to happen at 3 am.

7. Our favorite circular rack was a cast-off from Linen’s & Things when they went out of business. Susan found it for sale one night and WH drove up there to buy it and bring it back to Loopy, 10 minutes later. Then he made the cool plastic dividers for it.

8. We have a back (indoor) entrance. We never use it. But if we ever want to close up and leave early, we can stack the outgoing boxes here. If we don’t answer the doorbell, our mailperson knows to come around to this alcove to collect the day’s batch of boxes.

9. We have a visiting shop dog. Although Loopy is clearly a cat person (he loves Zoe and Gracie, who come to visit on occasion), he’s also partial to Buddy. Buddy comes to work with one of the guys down the hall. If Buddy is in the hall when our door happens to be open, he dashes in here to say hi. I think it’s because we give him so much attention while he’s here. Smart boy. (And the photo is a little blurry because Buddy never stands still while he’s in here. Never.)

10. When things get crazy, sometimes we just jump into the coffee cups, head first. It seems to help.

Sheri I’msurethere’smore.I’llfillyouinaswethinkofmorethatyouneedtoknow.

Top Ten Reasons to Love a Shawl

by Sheri BergerNovember 16, 2009November 16, 200918 Comments

1. They are interesting to knit up.

2. You can make them out of the finest cobweb lace or the heaviest bulky yarn.

3. Once you add one to your wardrobe, you see a need for many more in multiple colors and styles to go with everything else.

4. People always comment on them when you wear them. (This does not always happen when you wear handknit sweaters or socks.)

5. You can try a lot of different techniques with shawl knitting.

6. There are easy-peasy patterns to start with, so you can ease into it slowly. And there are amazingly complicated patterns, for those of you who need a good challenge.

7. Mini shawls often take 1-2 skeins, so there is a not a big investment in yarn.

8. Mini shawls also quicker to knit up. I might be a little addicted to them. Mini shawls like Multnomah (I made 2 of them), Traveling Woman (I made 1, so far), Mara (just finished one of these – love it), Damson (still need to try this one), etc.

9. They’re a great way to use up sock yarn in your stash. They’re also a great project for trying out new lines of yarn (whether it’s laceweight, fingering weight, worsted weight, or something in between.)

10. Knitting a shawl is our Fourth Quarter Challenge, so come participate with us!

Details on the shawl shown here:
Pattern: Traveling Woman
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Pearl (I had to order more Pearl for the shop last Friday, when I finished this shawl. It’s so warm and luscious and lovely to knit.) The pattern calls for fingering weight, although I used the heavier Pearl. I think it would also be pretty done up in Dye Dreams semi-solids, or The YoYo String and Fluff semi-solids.
Modifications: None

Details on today’s Monday Update: It’s Re-stock Week! We have re-stocked our Knitspot patterns (ok, and added a few new ones), Heartstrings patterns, more Lorna’s Laces, and some fun Monkeypal colorways. (Note – both Knitspot and Heartstrings have wonderful shawl patterns, if you’re feeling the desire to make one. Just sayin’.)

Sheri knitaMaraovertheweekend.NowpickingoutmoreMadtoshWorsted
tomakeanother.Ilovethatpleatedruffle.