Loopy Ewe and Fellow Knitters

If you ever have a chance to be a "loopy ewe" this is the perfect place to start! The Loopy Ewe Shoppe in Fort Collins, Colorado.   Warm and inviting is what greets you as you enter through the shop doors.

And the shop set up is super great!  Just give a look at these socks that line the back wall......

Inspiring quotes are situated around the vast show room.

This is  looking down just one aisle--each aisle is coded for specific types of fiber.

How cool are these sock dryers located in the shop break room--each contains many signatures of knitter friends who have dropped in.

And you want inspiration?  Around the shop are several knitted models with yarn types and pattern information.

Add this one to your Raverly collection--free of charge!  Pick out your lovely yarns at Loopy Ewe.  Mail orders are not a problem, but walk-ins are a must.

The 'buzz' around the knitting world now is this marvelous pattern from the talented hands of Veera from Finland.  Color Affection

Want to take a class?  Well, Loopy Ewe has one that would suit your talents.

We didn't come just to shop but to visit with knitter friend Judy's fellow knitters.  Here Angie's little beauty is modeling the latest skirt--almost finished, just a waistband of elastic and it is finished.  Perfect accomplment are those darling pink cowgirl boots!

Angie's son is learning the art of knitting and his first completed piece is this cell phone pouch.  He said he just measured the phone and finished up this pouch--way to go!

Knitter friend Judy had brought this hand cranked pair of socks for Lisa. 

Vicki, one of the shop employees, joined us on the sofas to knit on her piece--Hogwarts Express from Susan Ashcroft.  You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Angie was knitting on Hitchhiker by Maltina--mindless knitting, she says! 

Patti had her lace knitting to show "panoramic stole" from Knitwear designers Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig in their book "Coastal Knits".  This would be perfect wear for cool summer evenings.

Patti had her own version of "Color Affection" on the needles.  Knitter friend Judy is knitting the same pattern, but didn't bring her creation--we'll all be anxious to see her finished shawl.

And if you shop six times at Loopy Ewe, you can become Loopy Groupie and as a bonus you receive a wonderful 'goodie' bag filled with lovely wonders.  Knitter friend Judy pulled this skein of yarn from her loopy ewe plastic knitting bag--great fun.  So, you are asking, did we do any shopping while in attendance at Loopy Ewe.  Well, not much...............

Yeah, right!  spending $100 or more and you are placing your purchases in this loopy ewe shopping bag!

Okay, we just couldn't resist--we are joining the bandwagon of Color Affection and picked up these skeins of Madelinetosh handdyed yarns.  From left to right--terra, water lily, and turquoise--these are fingering weight, tosh merino light.

This is a great little fold away shopping pouch with the loopy ewe emblem--might just be a door prize for a future conference if you play your cards right.

Just couldn't resist this Loopy Ewe mug to add to our sheep collection of mugs.

Even better that it's M. A. Hadley made and since we have visited their factory--it is more special.  Okay, off to wind off those skeins, download color affection pattern from Ravelry and knit.   They also 'twisted' my arm (not too hard either) to join Camp Loopy--got to decide the color of my canoe!  You too can join and attend camp--just check out the website.  Oh, yes, we learned how to work with Goodreads app for ipad!  Thanks to the wonderful knitters.  Thanks gals for a super great day and Thanks to knitter friend Judy who brings me along to enjoy all the fun and adventure.

Warmth for Warriors

Warmth for Warriors is the website to get information on how you can help our military as they serve our country.  There is also a group on Ravelry.

Soldiers have been requesting washcloths as well as helmet liners.  Here is the beginning of several washcloths that are ready to be shipped to the head volunteer.

100% cotton is the fiber content requirement.  This project will run through September.  So, if you have a few skeins of cotton yarn in your stash, how about creating a washcloth for this project?  You can find the hat pattern on the website and there are several free washcloth patterns featured on Ravelry as well as on the web. 

WIP

We've been a little slow to get into gear since we have returned to our summer residence.  Here is May mystery block from Carol Doak's Yahoo group.  You too can join through yahoo groups.   It is paper pieced.  Brown headed daughter remarked at one time that she would like to have a blue and yellow quilt for the guest room.  Well, here is the beginning--a year long project in the works!

Zig Zag is the last in the alphabet series from the studio of Pacific Patchwork.  We chose this pattern for its simplicity as another one of the charity quilts for Binky Patrol.

With the leftover strips, we also have extra pieces left for another quilt top that is hatching in the back of our mind.

Not quite finished, but in the works.  This is June small hanging from Patch Abilities.  Still need to do the outline stitching.    There are a few other blocks in the works too.

Road Trip to Brady, Texas--Celebration of Armed Forces Day

Why not add a little food to our palate as we take a journey to Brady, Texas.  This was Culinariasa Food and Wine Festival at Becker Vineyards.  The first course was this delicious compressed watermeleon with seafoam, crab and H2O bubble!  What a delight to eat!!

Soup course was  tomato bisque infused with lavendar, served with rosemary sprig.

The entree was short rib served over a bed of lentils, cucumbers, peaches--yummy!

And last but not least was this interesting take on bread pudding--cornbread pudding seated on blackberry peach sauce and topped with whiskey ice cream!  All these courses were served with a variety of wines--total of 9!

As we checked into our Brady, Texas hotel for the evening we spotted this poster on the main event wall.  In celebration of Armed Forces Day--a real fly-in!  It was a must for the following morning before we continue on our road trip.

Curtis Field in Brady was opened in August 1941 to accommodate a civilian contract pilot school as CAAF or Civilian Auxiliary Field.  Pilots or cadets were given Primary Flight Training in PT-19's and later Basic Air Training in BT-13's for the USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center.  In all, over 10,000 cadets were trained at Curtis Field during World War II.   On the field as we arrived was The Fairchild PT-19.

In 1940, the Fairchild PT-19 went into production as the US Army Air Corps' primary trainer for its cadet pilot trainees. 

Inside the cockpit--some instruments and the center stick.  This particular PT-19 was completely restored in California in 1989.  A piece of history that continues to live on.

"Little Noodle"

This massive piece of equipment arrived as we were viewing the PT-19.  This is a Big Gun Army Helicopter!  It was an interesting morning for us.  We met WWII pilot and spoke with Andrew, who was retired SouthWest pilot.  Andrew knew all about the flying equipment on site and then some.  We were fortunate to hear some of his flying stories and be proud of our military people who serve their country for our freedom.

Artists Community

TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List 

TACtile

Do you have artists communitites to support?

Spin, Span, Spun, etc.

Lovely to look at!  Lovely to handle!  This is 85% Polwarth wool and 15% Silk from Dicentra Designs. 

Four ounces of "kind of blue 2" going on the wheel.

And a look at other handspun fibers being knit into a whirlwind of colors.

Wingspan  pattern designed by maylin Tri'Coterie Designs, which you can find on Ravelry.

A little handspun wool, little handspun silk with other bits of handspun fibers helping making one of the wings.  This is a fairly easy pattern to knit using short rows.  Hoping it will make a circle--the theme for our January Spin-in. 

ATC

ATC or Artist Trading Cards came about during 1990's,with orgins in Switzerland, as a form to deliver small pieces of art.  These cards, sized at 2.5" x 3.5", are traded, not sold.  Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth.   These works of art are a way to exchange your ideas, thoughts, creativity, and a means of expressing oneself, but on a small scale.  If the idea doesn't work on ATC, then there is no need to produce on a larger scale.  It is also a recycling project as you can repurpose old playing cards, cereal boxes, various other cardboards that have been treated to accept the media to be used.

Some artists work in singles, some in series.  The back can contain artists info, date, signature and info on media used.  Take a look at these at Artist Trading Cards.  At the ATC Quarterly website you can check out one of an e-zine to get some ideas from various artists.

These fabric ATCs were exchanged amongst a quilter group.

There is no end to what an ATC can contain.

Have an interest in ATCs?  Small works with major impact!!