I’ve had some reports of a virus threat warning for the Old Rose Wrap pattern. Most people don’t seem to have any problem with it but for those who do, we’re investigating the problem. We’ll get back to you as soon as we know what has caused it.

~Juju at Loop

Ahhhh!… Well, we have finally recovered from the fabulous KnitNation- what can we say but that it was the most perfect fair we have done!  The size was just right, the teachers and classes on offer were amazing (I even got the wonderful Nancy Bush to inscribe Knitting Lace of Estonian for Miss Juju!) and we met the most wonderful people.

Follow the thread…

Since we started displaying my crocheted malabrigo sock Old Rose Wrap in the shop we’ve had lots of pattern requests, especially when I give my little hoohaa of all the different ways you can wear it. Check this out…

Follow the thread…

We are delighted to announce that Susan Crawford has written another great book updating vintage knitting patterns. Her new book is called Vintage Gifts to Knit and includes a variety of super cute patterns for smaller items and the whole family.

Susan will be signing copies of her new book at our KnitNation stand on Friday the 30th and Saturday, July 31 at 3pm. The book isn’t available yet  but we’ve had a peak and we love it! Susan (Loop owner) is knitting a very cute hooded sweater from it, in Madelinetosh Sock‘s new colour, Isadora.

Such vintage dreaminess!

I  know many of you turn to the outdoors for the warmer months, but don’t forget your knitting while enjoying  the garden. Now is the perfect time to sit in a hammock and tackle a little lace knitting.

Probably our most popular yarn, at the moment, is Malabrigo Lace. We have over 35  luscious colours (with more to come) and the stock has recently been replenished.  It’s almost as soft as cashmere! I’ve knit two shawls in it recently. Above is the Triangular Summer Shawl from Nancy Bush’s  Knitted Lace of Estonian.

This is one of my favourite books ~ I could knit everything in it! This shawl is made in the beautiful Malabrigo Lace colour, Hollyhock. I knit it for Susan, owner of Loop, to wear this summer to a wedding in New York . It will be hot and she wanted something light to cover her shoulders.

I also knit the Lilac Leaf Shawl from the same book. I borrowed a border from another shawl in the book because I wanted more nupp action. (Nupps are the little bobbles in traditional Estonian lace knitting.) I made this one in Tortuga. It’s a grey colour with a hint of grape and taupe.

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If you are new to lace shawl knitting, I highly recommend Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark. It is the best described, illustrated and most versatile lace shawl knitting book.

We have a shop sample shawl from this book, made with just one skein of the  Tilli Thomas Symphony Kid Lace. This luxurious yarn is made with silk, kid mohair, glass beads and glitter. It makes a big impact with little work. It would be perfect for a summer wedding!

We have many more samples in the shop, which we are happy for you to come in and try on.

~ Juju at Loop

Loop will be at Knit Nation. Will you?

If you popped into Loop during our first three weeks of opening, you might have seen my Babette blanket in progress. I’ve been crocheting squares in spare moments, for the last six weeks. Well, it’s finally finished…

Ta Da!

That’s it, snuggled up in my favourite shop chair with  crochet Bambi. It was so much fun to make! Almost every square was a different combination and sequence of colours, so it never got boring.

Kathy Merrick designed the Babette blanket for Interweave Crochet, in Koigu kpm, but any yarns of  similar weight can be combined to good effect. The Loop version of the blanket uses sock yarns, that are machine washable, for baby-friendliness. We brought Toshsock, Jitterbug, Nature’s palette, Koigu kpm and kpppm to our playground and had great fun choosing the palette in Loop favourite colours.

1. Toshsock grasshopper
2. Jitterbug Wasabi Squeeze 162
3. Koigu kpm1233
4. Koigu kpppm 328
5. Nature’s palette coral bells
6. Toshsock Cherry
7. Koigu kpppm 332
8. Koigu kpm 1163
9. Koigu kpppm 214
10. Koigu kpm 1161
11. Nature’s palette light teal
12. Koigu kpppm 529
13. Jitterbug Elephant’s Daydream
14. Koigu kpppm 539
15. Koigu kpppm 454

I changed the plain outer edge to a little scalloped crochet edging (in blue) as follows:

1st row: Single crochet all the way around blanket.

2nd row: *Chain 4, skip 2 single crochet, slip stitch into next single crochet* repeat all the way around blanket edge.

3rd row: *Half double crochet in chain space 7 times, slip stitch in next chain space, chain 3, slip stitch in same chain space, slip stitch in next chain space* Repeat all the way around blanket edge and then bind off.

Crochet squares make great portable summer projects. We’ll have some more suggestions for these over the next few weeks.

~Juju at Loop

Lucky us! Not only do we get a spacious, light and delightful new shop but we get to open it with an exhibition of Julie Arkell’s papier-mache dolls. Julie’s creatures are perking up our windows for the next month!

Julie is a friend of Loop. Not in the virtual Facebook sense, but in the Pops-in-to-say “Hi” way. Julie gives workshops at Loop and you can buy any of her exhibition pieces.

If you can’t get down to see the exhibition, I’ve put together a little slide show of her work. Click on the first thumbnail to see it enlarged and then you can flip through the whole show.

We also carry her book, while stocks last. The publisher has said they aren’t going to print any more, so these may be the last.

Just to let all our lovely Loop customers know that we have settled into our new home and all our mail-orders are back on track. This means that we try to pack and post your orders on the same day that we receive them.

Royal Mail willing, all orders will be with you in a day or two!

Our mascot doll is settled into her new shop window home.

Phew! We are still reeling from the opening of our new shop! We’ve never had a day like it!  There were over 130 people waiting in the queue when our shop opened to applause and cheers. (It was very heart warming ~ tears were shed backstage!) Thank you to everyone who came and made the day such a joyous celebration for us!

Many bloggers have written about the event and posted pictures of the mayhem. (Lookie here,  here, here, here and here for just a taster.) I’d love to hear from others who have pictures and blog links!

The queue before the new shop opened

I wasn’t carrying my camera on the day since I was so busy backstage but some Loop friends have kindly allowed me to post their picture in the gallery (Thank you Alicia Anderson and David Silverberg).

Next post I’ll have some lovely detail shots of our shop to share with you!

~ Juju at Loop