It is hot, hot, hot here in London, but like knitters do, we are thinking ahead to cooler weather, tucked up with our yarn and needles! This week we announced our Autumn class lineup, and there is so much for every level of knitter or crocheter to try, from beginners to those of you who have been stitching for decades. In addition to our beginner knitting and crochet classes (perfect for those who have never held needles or a hook, or did so long ago they wouldn’t know what to do with them now!), there are also classes for those …

New Autumn Class Schedule! Read more →

Today we’re excited to show you two new but very different products now in stock at Loop – the gorgeous new shawls from French designer Sophie Digard and an amazing knitwear ‘de-piller’ called the Lilly Brush! First up we’re showing off these stunning crocheted and embroidered shawls. Perfect for throwing over your shoulders on a cool summer evening, the needlework is extraordinary – even mind-boggling. Above Emma’s modelling a crocheted stole in merino with velvety buds appearing in each flower motif. All the shawls are handmade using tiny threads in different colours blended together to make completely unique, wearable works …

French Fancies & Saving Our Knits! Read more →

  Summer is finally in full swing here in London, and the heady smell of flowers and trees is in the air. No better time then, to introduce you to our newest pattern: Honeyblossom! Adorned with honeycomb-like cables at the yoke and beautiful pleated gathers at the back, it’s just the right thing to throw over a summer dress or jeans. We were lucky enough to have the lovely Japanese designer Yoko Hatta design Honeyblossom exclusively for Loop! Yoko has written over 20 knitting and crochet books and also regularly designs for Brooklyn Tweed, Vogue Knitting and Keitodeama – a …

Honeyblossom Cardigan Read more →

Here at Loop, we are always looking for the newest and best knitting and crochet products for our customers. We attend many trade fairs in England, Europe and America to seek out those special items. We have just come back from our annual trip to the NeedleArts Trade Show in Columbus, Ohio. We attend this show every year to find new yarns and products for the shop. As far as we know, we are the only UK retailer at the show. We ran into a shop owner all the way from Queensland, Australia, but no one from the UK. This …

Yarn Buying in Ohio Read more →

We have recently added  another great British yarn to our shop collection. Beautiful, super-soft and light Orkney Angora – St Magnus. This is a delicious DK blend of 50% lambswool and 50% grade 1 Angora. Stunning! It has the lovely soft halo of Angora but is easier to work with, and has less shedding in this blend.

This is a tutorial specifically for making Bertie, from Juju’s Loops, in-the-round instead of knitting him flat. You need the book for the full instructions but this tutorial will help anyone who wants more information about making a toy. All Bertie’s are knit in Jamiesons Spindrift using the magic loop technique. Here’s how to adapt Bertie’s instructions for in-the-round:

Finally we are getting a bit of nice, light, summer knitting weather! Yeah! Later in this post, we have a tutorial for the figure of eight cast-on, mentioned in other tutorials (and here) and a new way of striping those toe-up afterthought heel socks. But first we wanted to show you the new knitting bags we got in at Loop. Above you can see Sophie knitting with one of the Yarn Pop Gadgety bags. These are great because they have grommets that allow yarn to be threaded through. The ball of yarn stays safely inside the bag pocket, instead of rolling out …

Figure of Eight Cast On Read more →

When the weather warms up, we love turning to smaller projects we can take on the go, like our Afterthought Heel Socks from last week. Cowls are a great accessory to work on in summer too – they usually only take one or two skeins of yarn and you can build up a collection to give away as Christmas presents come winter! This week, we’ve decided to bring you our edit of cowl patterns to keep your needles happy all summer. First up is a cowl from one of our favourite designers, Alana Dakos. Her gorgeous new book Botanical Knits …

Loop’s Favourite Cowls! Read more →

We’ve got socks-on-the-brain at Loop, this week. No, not a new illness, we’re planning our summer knitting: small, portable projects that can build our winter gift giving stash… or end up on our own feet, come autumn. I like to use my “fancy” sock yarns to knit the bodies of my socks and then slip in contrasting, afterthought heels in hardwearing Lang Jawoll Superwash sock. Not only is this great for self-striping and hand-dyed yarns, as the afterthought yarn won’t break up the colour pattern, but it extends your “fancy” sock yarn so you can get more out of it. …

Lots of Socks Read more →

Read on to find out how you can win some gorgeous BSA Metalico! (This contest has now closed, but keep an eye out for more giveaways in the future! Congrats to Lee, our winner!) The beautifully luxurious yarns from Blue Sky Alpacas have long graced the shelves of Loop and we’re still in love! They are our absolute go-to yarn for gorgeous alpaca softness and to-die-for colours. We were lucky enough to get a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at BSA – with the wildlife of rural Minnesota in the US included – and are excited to share their stunning …

Blue Sky Alpacas at Loop! Read more →