Getting Ready to Move

If you haven’t heard already, Loop is moving to a big new shop!

All four floors of this Camden Passage building will be ours! Mwaa, haa, haa, haa!!!

We’ll miss Cross Street, but Camden Passage, an old antique district of Islington, has its own charms (including hand-made chocolates, vintage buttons and clothing, and The Elk in the Woods). The main reason for our move is to make more space for all the lovely goodies we carry. We are bursting at the seams of our current shop. If any of you have taken workshops with us, you’ll know that our stock room is chock full!

We’ll close the doors of our beloved Cross Street shop on the 13th of June, work like mad to get everything into our new shop, and then re-open on the 19th of June. You are all invited to our opening celebrations on Saturday the 19th. All day long we will be celebrating with demonstrations, music, food, drink and give-aways. I’ll give you more information over the next few weeks.

While we at Loop, are getting ready for the move, new yarn and goodies keep coming in! We’ve had a fresh delivery of Madelinetosh sock yarn. She has some wonderful new colours that seem so right for our late, but much anticipated spring.

Above are three that I love together, or on their own. At the front we have Wisteria, which is exactly the same shades as the wisteria that have finally bloomed on my home (after ten years). In the middle is Ms. Taylor ~ such a vintage pink! And hiding shyly at the back, is one of the many beautiful neutrals from Madelinetosh; Rosewood.

Besides socks, these lovely wools would make elegant shawls (have another Ishbel or Damson or take a look at Gnarled Oakwoods by Anne Hanson). Or how about a light summer sweater like Featherweight byKnitbot? I know this is usually made with lace-weight but it could easily be made in a sock yarn for a light but more substantial  summer cardi.

But if you will make socks, look what we’ve finally got!  ~ Wire sock blockers.

The sock above is Esther, by Stephanie van der Linden, in Koigu KPPPM colour 535. One down, one to go.

We’ve needed sock blockers in the shop forever, but Susan didn’t want to sell ugly sock blockers, so she’s held out, until we found these from Bryson! They come in three sizes and can be hung on your laundry line. The fact that they are open in the middle, means your socks will dry and block faster. Great for those of us who like to wash and re-wear our socks the next day (ahem).

I was delighted because they reminded me of this little bent wire sock-stretcher I’ve had hanging over my desk for years, in the hope that I would one day make full sized ones like it.

Now I don’t have to. I’ll be stocking up on The Brysons. Happy summer knitting ~ Juju at Loop