With just four more sleeps until Christmas, you might think your gift-knitting ship has sailed. But with the help of the newly arrived Malabrigo Mecha, we did a little experiment and discovered that this Chunky Seeded Cowl can save the day! Knit in just three evenings, you can have a super-cosy cowl and great gift by Christmas morning.
We pride ourselves on the wonderful yarns, sourced from around the world, that grace the shelves of Loop. But of course we hold a special place in our knitty hearts for British wool. So when we got the chance to stock the very classic and very British Toft yarns, we jumped at it! Their alpaca fur pom poms might have also had something to do with it…
It is now properly cold here in London but, as knitters, we’re embracing it. This winter, one of our biggest joys will be knitting with the newly arrived Eden Cottage Yarns. Hand dyed in Yorkshire, dyer Victoria Magnus’ colours all carry a silvery tone and romantic atmosphere of the northern English landscape. At Loop we now carry two of Victoria’s yarns: the merino and silk blended Titus 4-ply – utterly gorgeous for lace shawls and other special accessories – and Bowland DK – a Blue Faced Leicester wool that we can’t wait to make piles of jumpers in. Here’s a …
Look what’s landed at Loop this week, just in time for the cold weather. It’s the beautiful, rustic and warm Heirloom from Fancy Tiger Crafts. Raised, milled and dyed in the US, it’s a 100% Romney wool yarn. Romney sheep are the descendants of English medieval longwool breeds, and produce a lustrous, hardworking wool with a long staple length, which is perfect for warm, sturdy items that will hold up to wear for years to come. We love that the name they chose for this yarn, Heirloom, reflects that. And it’s not just the fibre that we love so much …
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 →
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 …