We journeyed north last week, introducing you to the best Scandinavia has to offer at Loop. Today we’re staying north, but a little closer to home – Scotland! Loop is full of beautiful yarn, patterns and gifts from this textile history-rich land and we’re so pleased to be sharing them with you in their best autumn colours.
Last night at Loop we had the pleasure of welcoming Eline Oftedal, talented author of Knit Nordic, for a little show and tell. Accompanying her was a cameraman from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation! We sure gave him a lot to take in as it was one of our busiest knit nights in a long time! We were so inspired by Eline, and the wonders of Scandinavian knitting in general, that we decided to devote today’s blog post to the quite large library of Scandinavian knitting resources at Loop, and some of our favourite Scandi yarns!
We are coming to you live from the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London! We’ve set up our stand, and are two days in to this amazing show. It’s been lovely to see Loop customers – both our regulars (you know who you are!) and those of you who have travelled from afar (including California!) for the show. We’re also so excited to be introducing the newest addition to the Loop family, Shalimar Yarns Breathless!
Yesterday was quite the dreary autumn day here in London, but happily the postman dropped off an unassuming box, which, when opened, revealed an amazing riot of colour that immediately brightened the shop. Freia yarns from Knitwhits are completely unique in that they have hand-painted colour transitions, creating a beautiful ombre effect. The possibilities are endless with this yarn – stripe it, fairisle it, make a Pop Spots or Spectra with it, or let the yarn do the talking and give it some good old stocking stitch. We think it’s pretty hard to go wrong with these amazing colourways.
We may have mentioned Kristen Kapur of Through the Loops one or two (or three!) times on this blog. And you may have heard us go on a little bit about the gorgeousness of The Uncommon Thread yarns. (Here, here, here and here.) So we like them both a little bit. Okay, maybe a lot! And when Sophie knit up a sample for the shop of a Kristen Kapur pattern, using The Uncommon Thread Tough Sock, a little magic happened. This is the Rivington Cowl. Knit up in Tough Sock, in Peat and Confetti*, it’s subtle, springy and just right for …
A Match Made in Yarn Heaven: The Rivington Cowl & Uncommon Thread Tough Sock Read more →
Gift knitting time is upon us (for those of us organised enough to be thinking ahead!), and there may be a man or two in your life who’s been hinting that he’d like a hand-knitted scarf or sweater. Or, hey, you may even be a man who knits! We know it can sometimes seem like there are more great new women’s patterns everyday, while men only get thrown a measly few patterns a year. This week we’re here to tell you there are some fabulous knitting patterns out there for men if you know where to look, as well as …
This week at Loop, our lovely resident window dresser Sophie transformed Loop’s window with beautiful shades of cream, grey, white, brown and black with the help of an installation of textile artist Al Munro’s work. Al Munro is an Australian textile artist whose work revolves around the meanings and connections of textiles to broader concerns such as space, place and time. Her display in our window, Homage to the Everyday, “pays tribute to the beauty and significance of the everyday,” referencing “the time of the handmade, the repetition of daily routine echoed in the rows of stitches, and the soft contours giving …
Today we’re very excited to bring you both the chance to win a ticket to the upcoming Knitting & Stitching Show in London (details below) and a new free pattern using our beloved Misti Alpaca Chunky! It’s not hard to fall in love with Misti Chunky. Often times when customers first come to Loop, ready to squish some yarn, they get to the Misti and go, “Ooohhhhhh.” Yep, it’s usually considered the softest yarn in the shop so it’s very hard to give it a squish and then walk away from it empty-handed! Misti comes in some pretty glorious colours too …
We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to babies these days at Loop – there are so many adorable patterns and other bits and bobs perfect for the wee ones in our lives! From sweet cardis to dapper pullovers, precious toys to darling buttons, there’s so much to indulge both new parents and little people alike. Take for instance our very own Mignon pattern, pictured above. Knit in less than 100 g of DK weight yarn it’s the perfect pattern for a special hand-dyed (and machine washable!) skein like The Uncommon Thread BFL Sport/DK or a lovely Cashmere Merino Silk …
We had some cooler weather this week in London and felt the first tingles of autumn creeping in. Or was it just wishful thinking? The warmer yarns are starting to arrive at the shop and it got us thinking about some of the great patterns, some new, some not so new, we’d love to knit this autumn. Of course we couldn’t do a roundup like this without first mentioning the king of “sweater weather”, Brooklyn Tweed. Above is the Stranger Cardigan, made in Shelter. Doesn’t it look cosy? It’s lovely in grey – so versatile – but we can’t get …