The Happy Ending.

I feel like the Prince must have felt when he finally slipped the glass slipper onto Cinderella's foot.

After posting on the blog and in various Ravelry groups (including the Fayetteville, North Carolina group - you never know!), our friends in the Arkansas Ravelry Peeps group recognized the heroine of our Cinderella story. Her name is Taylor and her Ravelry photo even shows her wearing the magical hat:


It seems she is living a fairytale life in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with her own outdoorsy Prince Charming and her own little Princess, Stella:




What a cutie, right?!

But last weekend was decidedly not a happy one for Taylor. After she drove all the way to Tulsa and found that Loops was closed for inventory day, her day went from bad to worse. She emailed us the details:

"I have told so many people about you guys, but have never actually made it in to the store. My sister and I decided to drive to Tulsa and visit this very fashionable yarn shop. I planned to start a project for my little girl, Stella, and wanted to get yarn and a new pattern. Needless to say, I was so devastated when you were closed for inventory... I got in my car and cried!! So silly, I know. So we decided to go to the mall (yuck!) for some shopping therapy. On the way to the mall, my car started making a crazy sound. We pulled off the highway and realized, to my DISMAY, that I had ran over a bolt with a giant washer attached. ACk! So, my tire was ruined, and we didn't get any yarn. After the tire was fixed, we headed home. The GPS got us lost and we finally made it back to fayetteville at 10 pm (we had to drive about 50 mph on the donut) It was a crazy day, and I was pretty sure I would never go to Tulsa again!"

But wait...the story does have a happy ending. Taylor added:

"When I saw your blog post, it made me so happy, and touched that you remembered me. Thank you so much for being so nice about it when we were there! I just started a local Stitch & Bitch group and some of the girls have started projects from your store. Thank you for being a yarn shop with stylish and fabulous yarns and patterns. I will definitely have to try again sometime! I will double check to see if you are open first :)"

We are sending Taylor a Loops gift card and a Quiktrip gas card, so that she and her sister can come visit us again very soon! Thank you so much to SarahJoKnits on Ravelry for helping us find her. And, in case you would like to make our own "Cinderella Hat," here is the link to the free pattern. Taylor made it in Manos (just one skein of Malabrigo Worsted would do it) or to make it look like the pattern photo, try 2 skeins of Louisa Harding Grace Hand-Dyed.

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com

A Cinderella story.

Once upon a time there was a yarn store in Tulsa called Loops. One day every year, Loops had to close to do annual inventory. Unfortunately, on this very day, two very beautiful and sweet young maidens drove all the way from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to visit the store for the very first time! They were heartbroken to discover that the store was closed for the day.

Loops did not catch their names before they departed. But one of the girls (let’s call her Cinderella) was wearing a very cute hand-knit hat. We are searching far and wide for this Cinderella because we have a surprise for her. If you know her, or if you are her, please email shelley@loopsknitting.com. If possible, we ask that Cinderella include a photo of herself wearing the glass slipper - er, I mean, hand-knit hat.

Hopefully not The End :)

P.S. The kingdom of Loops never looks so amazing as it does the day after inventory! All 17 Loops Troops worked hard to move everything around and organize it perfectly. Come and visit our kingdom soon - you are sure to discover many new yarns and potential project adventures. Here is a sneak preview:




- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com

Colorful class.

If you know our Ellen, you know she is undoubtedly one of our most colorful "Loops Troops." So I knew it was a perfect fit when she offered to teach a class on this tri-color Baby Jacket.


This little jacket such a great way to show off the new Multi Cotton we recently received from the geniuses at Blue Sky Alpacas. Ellen had lots of fun choosing color combinations for this. She couldn't stop combining colors! "How about this one, Shelley?" "Ooh, but this yellow is great..." "Oh, we have to use this one..."

Ellen's class was inspired by f. pea's Super Natural Stripes Baby Jacket. It's a great way to jump into top-down sweaters for the first time. Baby sweaters are terrific first sweater projects - minimal shaping, since babies don't require busts, waists and hips (ok, maybe a little diaper room!). Plus the yarn investment is minimal, so you don't have to worry so much about messing up. The class will be Saturday, Feb. 13 and 27 (two sessions), from 2:30-4:00. Ellen will even help you mix-and-match your own color combo.

To sign up, call 742-9276, email shelley@loopsknitting.com or just drop by. To access the complete February class list, click here.

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com

Rawr.

You probably saw in our last Loops Scoop that we're now carrying Lexie Barnes bags and accessories. Today, we received some "Lady B" bags to go with our matching circular cases in a very hip leopard print. So I asked the very hip Miss Terrie to model. She was such a good sport; she even gave me a little leopard-esque growl-and-paw:


The Lady B features 15 glorious interior pockets with an exterior pocket, too. It's their #1 selling bag. But I'm especially in love with the circular case. These little babies pack 20 clear interior pockets for your circ's, plus tool pockets and a great accessory pocket.



We also have Lexie bags in a black-and-white print and a red print. All are super-stylish and made from water-resistant waxed canvas, so you'll be carrying around your projects in these for many years to come.

All together now: Rawwwwrrrr!

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com

Ferocity.

For the past many months, we've been calling Noro's Furoside "fuhr-i-sode" (rhymes with episode). So imagine my embarrassment to discover that the name of this wonderful, chunky yarn from Noro is actually pronounced like "ferocity" with a "d" in place of the "t."



Ah well...no matter...it doesn't change how awesome the yarn is! The silk/cotton blend has just a touch of wool for resiliency, making it a great alternative to Iro, Noro's other chunky-but-extra-wooly self-striping yarn. There are great patterns for Furisode in Jenny Watson's "Noro Flowers" book, like this:


Or you could use any number of great Noro patterns for Iro jackets and sweaters, like this Shawl Collar Jacket by Knitomatic on ravelry, from this downloadable pattern at vogueknitting.com:


Furisode knits up so deliciously, it makes you want to sink your ferocious teeth into it:


No, wait! Those aren't teeth...they're macadamia nuts. This is the kind of thing that happens when you combine a creative child with too many snow days. I really should get her knitting more.

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com

Baby Back Ribs Skirt.

That Terrie, she's done it again. She walked in wearing this rockin' skirt, completely color-coordinated with her tights, jacket and boots (who else has chartreuse tights in her wardrobe?) and I just had to have that skirt. As luck would have it, I can have it - because it is Terrie's own design!



The unique rib pattern so perfectly slimmed and shaped her, you know, back. So I decided the perfect name would be...Baby Back Ribs Skirt.


I was so excited! And my excitement practically turned to palpitations when I realized the yarn she had used was one of my very faves - Alchemy Temple. This merino superwash is hand-painted the way no one but Alchemy can. We have a full rainbow of colors. And it's one of Alchemy's most affordable yarns. I immediately ran to the cubbies to pick out my own yarn. I was tempted by the turquoises and oranges but when I found Two Rock, I knew it was the one.


It seems rather "safe" but it has really cool veins of light green and golden brown running through the rich chocolatly color. The piece de resistence: It goes with my new boots that Hubs got me for Christmas:


The pattern is available at Loops and in our new Ravelry pattern store. Now through January 31, if you purchase the Temple for your skirt online and mention the blog, we will include a copy of the pattern with your yarn for free.

I can't wait to cast on. The timing is perfect - just finished my Featherweight Cardigan in Alchemy Juniper and am so thrilled with how it turned out. I've worn it 3 times this week!



This longer version took me just over 5 skeins of Juniper. If you are next one to order 5 skeins of Juniper in Desert Song, I will give you the rest of my 6th skein free!

Meanwhile, when we're not knitting, we've been busy unpacking boxes of new stuff. A big order of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande arrived, as well as Malabrigo, and Blue Sky Bulky in scrumptious new colors:


We also got re-stocked in Blue Sky Brushed Suri, including a lovely new soft grey:


The good people at Offhand Bags sent a new batch of vintage-fabric knitting totes to tempt us. Cassidy and I are both lusting for this one:


We got several colors in two different bag styles, plus circular needle cases:




...hey lookie there, that's the perfect size bag for your Baby Back Ribs Skirt project!

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com

P.S. Betcha thought I forgot! The winner of the Opal Antonia caption contest is....Julie! For this comment: "This woman learned her lesson about buying enough yarn for the entire project." Congrats! You win a skein of Antonia yarn and a $25 gift card! Thanks so much to everyone who entered - every response was hilarious!

Yarn gone wild (a caption contest).

Though I don't knit a lot of socks, I love Opal sock yarn. The colors are amazingly artistic, season after season. They wear like iron. Plus I like the guy that owns Tutto, a yarn store in Sante Fe that is also the distributorship for Opal yarns. So when he told me that the hot line for fall would be Opal's "Antonia" line, named for a cute Tyrolean pop star, I didn't think much about it.

Then the yarn arrived. Beautiful colors, as always. But what really caught our attention was the labeling:


You should see the firestorm that erupted over this on the Ravely yarn store owners' group! Some were "deeply offended." Others found it refreshing and empowering to women (she may be scantily clad on the labels, but with her warm socks at least she's toastier than Britney Spears). Either way, it's, um...definitely a unique approach to yarn marketing.

Meanwhile, we have the yarn available in store and online, here. And the following photo of Antonia prompted me to kick off the New Year with one of Loops' Famous Caption Contests:



Aah, so many opportunities for captions here. Just post a comment with your suggested caption by January 9th. Remember that some kids read this blog, so keep your captions PG-13 or better, please. The winner will receive a free skein of Opal Antonia yarn plus a $25 Loops gift card. Happy captioning and Happy New Year to all!

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com