I joined the Easy Top-Down Raglan Knitalong last week, so I could start fall with a brand-new pullover. It’s hosted by Susan B. Anderson, designer and curator of the Spud Says blog, and special guest Wendy Bernard, designer and author of Custom Knits. They are providing plenty of instruction and encouragement. If you’ve never knit a sweater, never knit a sweater in the round, or, like me, just want a new sweater, then join in!

For the Knitalong, we’re using Spud & Chloe’s fantastic worsted weight Sweater yarn. It’s a blend of wool and organic cotton that’s a pleasure to knit. I knit a jacket with Sweater last fall and it’s good for wearing all the time – not too warm, but warm enough. The Sweater color palette is wonderful; there are wearable neutrals, mod medium tones and a few fun brights. I’m using Firecracker, which is a big departure from my usual brown. So far, I’m really loving it!

It may not look like much, but having started at the neck, I’m working my way out toward the shoulders and down the chest and back. Once I think it’s long enough to cover my shoulders, I’ll transfer the stitches from the needle to some waste yarn and try it on. This is one of the benefits of top-down knitting – you can try your work on as you knit.

One of my favorite things about top-down raglans is the look of the increases, which are made by knitting into the front and back of two stitches in a row.

Get in on the fun and join the knitalong! There’s plenty of help online and you can always stop in the shop if you need a hand. Best of all, you’ll have a fantastic new pullover to wear when Fall returns!

We’re looking for experienced knitters and crocheters who are patient, enthusiastic, and enjoy working with people to teach at Loop this Fall. Teaching experience is preferred, but not necessary. Our classes are held weekday evenings and weekend days.

Does this sound like you or someone you know? Please email us at loop(AT)loopyarn(DOT)com with:

• - a description of your knitting or crocheting experience
• - the types of classes you’d like to teach
• - your availability, and
• - photos of at least 3 recently completed projects.

Your Ravelry user name would be great too, if you’re a member.

Thank you!

Like a lot of people, I’m taking a little time off this month for some summer fun. It’s been so hot here in Philadelphia that I’m going north in search of some cooler warm weather. The shop will be open with the usual hours – and there are some amazing summer yarns on sale – so stop in and check them out!

We’re leaving in an hour or two, and what’s the only thing I’ve packed? You guessed it, my knitting. I’m taking a couple balls of Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn to make myself a scarf. We’ll be doing a lot of driving and I want to be able to see the sights while knitting, so I need something easy.

I’m switching my from usual notions bag – a zipper pouch I made myself at Spool – to my new bag from Moop. Laura turned me on to this great company in Pittsburgh that designs and makes these fantastic bags. I bought the Messenger bag in Slate first and then the Clutch in Brown, which is in the picture above. I love supporting other small business and I love using handmade products. And how could I not love a business called Moop!

So now that I’ve organized the essential notions – tape measure, scissors, tapestry needles, stitch markers – and packed my knitting, I guess I should put some clothes together and get moving. Have a great week!

Olga’s Mittens are one of the new designs from Blue Sky Alpacas for Fall 2010. They have the look of traditional Latvian mittens, but are updated with luxurious Blue Sky Sport Weight alpaca yarn.

Kathy knit this one with colors Dark Brown and Blue Sky. I like how the leaf motif really pops against the background. Each pair takes only 2 hanks of Sport Weight yarn, one in each color.

The palm-side of Olga’s Mittens has this fun geometric design. The knitting stays interesting – and a little challenging – since the mitten is knit in the round and you work the leaf motif and the geometric pattern in each round. It requires a more attention than some knitting, but the results are well worth it.

Olga’s Mittens would make a great gift. They’re a portable project that’ll keep your interest. And with all of the colors that Sport Weight and Melange – the heathered colorways – come in, you could knit a pair for all of the women on your holiday gift list and they’d all be unique!

I’m pleased and proud to tell you that Philadelphia Magazine gave Loop and our sister store Spool the Best of Philly 2010 award for Best Way to Get Crafty! I grew up reading Philly Mag and the annual Best of Philly awards, so this is an incredible honor for me. Thank you Philadelphia Magazine!

Even more, I want to thank you, our customers! Thank you for your shopping at Loop and Spool, for telling your friends about us and for bringing your family and out-of-town guests to see us. Thank you for sharing your knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting with us. You inspire us to always be better and you allow us to do the work we love. Thank you!

Kathy H has been on the Loop Staff for 3 years. She started working just one day a week and then became our only full-time person. She has taught more classes at Loop than anyone. In fact, thanks to Kathy, there are many more knitters in Philadelphia than there used to be!

Alas, things change. Kathy was married last year and will have their first child this fall. To get prepared, Kathy and her husband are moving outside of the City, so she won’t be working in the shop any more. We’re sad that we won’t see her as much, but we’re happy for all of the wonderful things happening in her life.

We’re sending Kathy off with a little party this Saturday, July 24. Please stop in any time between 11 and 6 to have a drink, a snack, and to say farewell!

Ten new colors of Koigu KPPPM yarn arrived this week, each more beautiful than the last.

colors P118B, P164, P470, and P811

Deep brights like the ones shown above are some of my favorites. P118B has olive green, turquoise, and purple with yellow, gold, and dark red. Gorgeous. Within P470′s blend of purples and blues, there are strands of evergreen and fuchsia. These unexpected color combinations are thrilling.

colors P900, P834, and P300

Some of the best Koigu colors are autumnal. Browns, rusts, greens, and grays. The shots of blue running through P900′s field of orange and rusty gold are electrifying. P834 has the rust, green, and russet of a quiet fall day and P300′s range of neutrals feel like the start of winter.

When the yarn is here on the desk in front of me and I take the time to really look at each one, I’m amazed by how much there is to see. Not only does each colorway have so much depth, but when you start combining them, they play off each other in incredible ways. To really see the colorways put to use, see Koigu creator Maie Landra’s amazing designs in her book, Knits from a Painter’s Palette.

I once joked that I should knit a square from every color of Koigu KPPPM yarn that came to the shop and make myself a giant blanket. Now I’m thinking that I really should.

The Buga Baby Bunting is my favorite of the fall 2010 Spud and Chloe knitting patterns. The baby in the picture looks so happy surrounded by soft and warm Outer yarn, honestly, I just want one for myself. And where so many buntings are rectangles with neck openings, The Buga Baby Bunting has shaping that makes it look like a real garment.

Fortunately, I have a newborn in my life to knit for, my friend’s granddaughter, Ruby. (Not that I wouldn’t have made it without a recipient in mind; someone’s always having a baby.) And I couldn’t wait to knit with Rocket, one of the three new colors of Outer yarn.

This was a much quicker knit than I expected. I brought it home the night before my day off and it was finished the next night. I didn’t follow the pattern exactly. I used a 3-needle bind off instead of kitchener stitch to attach the hood to the body. And I didn’t make ears, because I thought it was cute enough without them. It turned out so well that the Buga Baby Bunting definitely gets moved up higher on my list of go-to baby gifts.

It wasn’t until I sat down to write this post that I realized something was wrong. I won’t tell you what it is, but I made a mistake. I don’t need to rip it out; it still functions. But I didn’t follow the directions correctly. So maybe that’s a lesson that not only is OK to make mistakes, but that everything can still work out in the end.

I’m going to see Ruby for the first time this week. Hopefully, she’ll like it!

Spud and Chloe’s fall 2010 pattern collection brings us more fun, fresh designs for the whole family. And by releasing them now, you’ll have plenty of time to make your new knits before cold weather returns!

For the guys, Spud and Chloe enlisted one of our favorite knitwear designers, Melissa Leapman. Her Uplander Pullover is a great all-purpose guy sweater. Knit with Spud and Chloe Outer yarn, it’s a lightweight yet warm sweater that can be worn instead of a jacket deep into fall. Shown in Cedar, there’s also the brown Flannel, the charcoal gray Carbon, or the new green Hedge, that may better suit more conservative guys.

For the ladies, Spud and Chloe’s Buck Hill Pullover really hits the mark. Evoking the classic Norwegian ski sweater, the Buck Hill Pullover has a fair isle motif with trees and deer. However, the waist is shaped and the hems are turned, giving it a beautiful fit and a clean line. The colors of Spud and Chloe’s Sweater yarn also give Buck Hill a bright, mod twist. It’s shown in Grass, Ice Cream, and Splash, but there are lots of other fun combinations.

With the Lucky Number Pullover, you can create a personalized garment for the kid in your life by knitting his or her favorite number into the back of the sweater. And where you flexed you colorwork skills in the fair isle section of the Buck Hill Pullover, now you can exercise your intarsia abilities with a nice big motif.

I’m always on the look out for great baby designs and Spud and Chloe hit the mark this season with our friend Susan B. Anderson’s Buga Baby Bunting. Imagine being surrounded by soft and warm Outer yarn – I’d be ready for my afternoon nap! Adorned with tiny ears to up the cuteness quotient, the Buga Baby Bunting will be this season’s go-to baby shower gift.

One of the many things I love about Spud and Chloe is that they always make time for play. The Pack o’ Puppies Mitts are crocheted characters that are entertaining to make, to wear, and to play with. Imagine the faces of your kids opening a gift filled with these at the holidays!

The Popsicle Socks take us back to a time before printed sock yarns, when if you wanted stripes, you had to change colors yourself. And with Spud and Chloe Fine’s bright, mod colors, the more the merrier. Use their recommendations or choose nine of your own. The palette is so well coordinated, you can’t go wrong!

And lastly, for the whole family, there’s the Flower Power Throw. Groovy flowers adorn this big, beautiful blanket that uses intarsia to create the motifs. Perfect for cuddling up for an evening in front of the fire.

Spud and Chloe added new colors to all three yarns – Fine, Outer and Sweater – so your choices for pattern and color combinations has really grown. It’s worth reviewing the entire pattern collection to see what you might want to make – or make again. As always, I love to see what becomes of the yarn you buy, so send pictures of your Spud and Chloe projects!

Cottage Creations’ Log Cabin Afghan is a fun and colorful garter stitch blanket. If you’re a new knitter, you’ll learn to pick up stitches and to do a 3-needle bind off. For experienced knitters, it’s an easy project to take with you on your travels.

We knit our afghan with Ella Rae Classic Superwash yarn. There are lots of colors to choose from and Classic Superwash is soft, durable, and washable; perfect for everyday use!

The colors we used in our afghan are:

#26 deep red
#14 beige
#13 light copper
#15 saddle
#05 kiwi
#12 olive
#21 hunter
#20 deep brown

The Log Cabin Afghan pattern is inspired by log cabin quilt blocks – one of the oldest and most popular quilting squares. The blocks traditionally begin with a red square, which represents the chimney on a house. Rectangles of different colored fabric are attached in rotating layers with dark shades on one side and light shades on the other. Once enough squares are sewn, they can be assembled in any number of ways aligning or opposing the light and dark sides. For quilters, the log cabin makes good use of stash fabric.

Carol Anderson of Cottage Creations translated the quilted log cabin square into a knitted square using leftover yarns of the same gauge. The afghan is entirely knit. The individual blocks are made in garter stitch and attached with a 3-needle bind off. The pattern provides yardage requirements for 2 sizes of afghan – baby or lap robe at 40 by 40 inches with a border and full-size at 48 by 66 inches with a border – and several alternatives for arranging the blocks. It easy to make a smaller or larger afghan, though, by changing the number of squares you make. We knit 12 squares and had a finished measurement of 32 by 44 inches.

The Log Cabin Afghan makes a great wedding gift or charity project, where each knitter can make one square. It’s big project that you can really get in to and will give you or a friend an afghan to be enjoyed for years to come.