Friday, March 29, 2013

The SSS Operative Program~


Good morning lovely Oh! Loopers,

March is winding down which means soon there will be warmer days, trips to the park, flowers in the flower beads and............the final "Out of this World" KAL challenge!!!!!

Are you guys excited? Sarah and I can't wait to cast on, and we are super excited to see what everyone decides to make. Before we move on to shop new and collection pictures lets briefly discuss the final challenge and this week's extra credit.

As mention in the last few blog posts the fourth and final "Out of this World" challenge is really a pick your own project, but knit it with our yarn challenge. When Sarah and I had the idea for this KAL we wanted it to be about knitters taking themselves out of their usual knitting comfort zones and challenging themselves to try something new. For the first month is was a new technique, the second month a new color combination and this month a new pattern. The final challenge is about knitting with a new product, and that product is Oh! Loops yarn!!

So with that said starting Monday April 1st you will be able to cast on to the final project. "Knitters, it's only 400 yards from the Moon to Mars, so knit on!!!" This project can be anything you want. It can be a sweater, a shawl, a pair of socks, a dress, anything. The only requirements for this month's challenge are, that you choose a project that has a minimum of 400 yards and 200 yards of that must be knit with Oh! Loops yarn. As I mentioned last week, several of you have already purchased your skein of yarn and are ready to go, however for those of you that haven't yet had the opportunity to do so, we will have a new collection going up in the shop on Monday and our normal turnaround time is either the same day or within five days of purchase, so chances are you would be able to cast on to your project no later than Friday of next week if you order on Monday. If at any time you have questions about the final project we have a chatter/questions thread in the Oh! Loops group on Ravelry and either Sarah or I would be happy to answer your question.

You guys have been so awesome during this KAL and the finish line is within reach, as you move forward remember you are playing for some awesome prizes. One member of the Oh! Loops group and one member of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast group will win the prize package. The package will include things such as: a project bag from the fabulous Silver Pumpkin shop on Etsy, buttons from the wonderful Tangerine 8 Designs shop on Etsy, a skein of Oh! Loops yarn, stitch markers, and lot of other fun little "Out of this World goodies. Plus for those that have been participating in the extra credit challenges you will have another chance to win some fun goodies as well. Later this month we will upload a picture of the prize packages so you can see everything in its glory!!!!

Okay now for this week's extra credit challenge. This week is pretty easy. For the first challenge of the extra credit we had you make a list of things you wanted to accomplish knitting wise this year, well now we want to know how you are doing? Tell us what on the list you have accomplished, what has been or should be removed from the list and what else has been added. Once you have those questions answered add it to your claimed spot in the extra credit thread.

Now for some Oh! Loops shop news. Many of you know that Monday April 1st is just around the corner which means the first half of our April collection will be released along with our new Socks Anonymous club. As mentioned before this club will be available for purchase only until May 25th and the first skein of the club will be mailed out in June with its foot related goodie.

As promised here is a collection picture.

May we introduce our, "Yay for April Gray" collection!!!!! Part 1, The Dark Side.........................
 
 
 
 
Now some of you may be asking yourself, where are the stripes we were promised? Well don't fret the stripes will be in the update but for their own protection they have been entered into the SSS operative program, AKA Sarah's Secret Stripes, more commonly referred to as the SPP, AKA the Stripes Protection Program!!!! Due to their popularity and massive stocker following they cannot be photographed at this present time, but will still make their red carpet appearance, as to maintain their stripe status on Monday!!

Okay now that you all think Sarah and I have a few screws loose we will say goodbye for today and we want to wish you all a wonderful Easter weekend?

 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Spring is in the Air~


Good morning Oh! Loopers,

Sorry we are getting such a late start again today. I have a couple sick kiddos and one of Sarah's little ones had a dentist appointment this morning.

So let's just jump right in with a couple reminders. First, for those of you participating in the "Out of this World" KAL you have a little over a week to finish up challenge number three. We will officially announce the fourth and final challenge next Friday and you will be able to cast on April 1st. Please keep in mind that in order to be eligible to win the prize pack at the end of the KAL that includes awesome gifts such as a project bag from the amazing Silver Pumpkin shop, stitch markers, buttons from the fabulous Tangerine 8 Designs shop, a skein of Oh! Loops yarn and tones of other little Out of this World goodies, you must knit something with a total of 400 yards and 200 of those yards need to be done in Oh! Loops yarn for the final project.

With keeping that in mind we wanted to let you all know that our next shop update will be on April 1st, so iIf you haven't ordered your yarn yet and/or if there isn't a skein in the shop currently that you like we will have several more items to choose from shortly. If you are worried that ordering on the 1st of April won't give you enough time to finish please don't stress. Our shop, 9 times out of 10 will either ship your order out the same day or the day after purchasing, and you will have until the end of April to complete the final challenge.

In other "Out of this World" KAL news........ it's Friday so you all know what that means!!! It means there is a new extra credit challenge :)

In honor of Spring we want you to knit something Springy!!! It could be something with Spring in the title of the pattern, it would be something that makes you think of Spring, it could be something you would wear in the Spring or it could be something knit in Spring colors!! Anything you want and any size you want as long as it references Spring in some manner :)

In shop news, as mentioned earlier our next shop update will be happening on April 1st. We are so excited for this collection and loved it so much that we have decided to make it a month long event!!! It is a very fun and refreshing collection.

Along with our regular collection stocking we will also be introducing our newest club. We mentioned this last week but quickly want to share the information with you all once more. Our "Socks Anonymous" club will run similar to our current Yarnie AA club. It will run for three months, the first month being June and will consist of three sock worthy skeins. Month one will be a semi solid, month two a variegated and contrasting heel toe combination, and month three a self striping. All the extra goodies included in this club will be sock and/or foot related. As mentioned before the major difference between this club and our Yarnie AA club is that these skeins will be a surprise, meaning you will always know what type of skein you are getting but you won't know what color the skeins will be. Sarah and I think this will be a fun little surprise for you guys each month.

If interested you will have the option to purchase your subscription until Saturday May 25th and your first skein would be mailed out the third week in June. We will still continue with our current Yarnie AA club as well as this club is a new option in our shop not a replacement. We are super excited for this club and hope you guys are also.

Well guys it has been fun to chat for a brief moment but I must say goodbye for today. I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend and we will see you back here next week. Until then happy knitting. I hope it's Out of this World!!!!

Friday, March 15, 2013

All the Pretties!!!


Wow March is just flying by!!! If any of you are like Sarah and I this means that there are only two more weeks to complete the 9 million projects you assigned yourself in March lol!!!! I am making pretty good progress but the light has not yet shown itself at the end of the tunnel. Why oh why do I let myself do this to myself??? I need to ask myself "Self why are you purposely making yourself insane?" I'm pretty sure my "Self" would say, "because I must knit all the pretties!!!!!!" Well there you have it folks!

It's Friday finally which means it's time for me to give you guys all kinds of exciting Oh! Loops news! First let's talk "Out of this World" KAL. Many of you have finished challenge number 3 and are gearing up for the fourth and final challenge so congrats to you. For those of us that haven't finished, don't stress we still have plenty of time. This challenge will remain open until March 31st at midnight PST. 
We do want to send a quick friendly reminder that for the fourth and final project you will be asked to challenge yourself by knitting with our yarn, since for some of you that is a new thing. So, with that said for those of you that haven't yet had the chance to purchase your final project skein Sarah and I ask that you do so by no later than Sunday March 24th so that we can get your yarn shipped out on the 25th. We want to make sure you have plenty of time to complete your final project and are eligible to win the fun prize package.  Please note that aside from the required 400 yards for the final project everything else will be up to you. The final project can be anything you want. Any pattern, any color, anything. The only requirement will be that it uses at least 400 yards of yarn and 200 yards of that comes from Oh! Loops yarn. We are so excited to see what everyone decides to knit!!! You will be able to cast on to project four on April 1st.

For this week's "Out of this World" extra credit challenge we want you to "Think Green"  In honor of St. Patrick's Day we want you to harness your Leprechaun energy and find that pot of "GREEN" at the end of the rainbow. Well actually we just want you to find 17 green items and get a clever picture of all 17 green items together. Once you have your picture upload it to your claimed spot in the extra credit thread.

Okay in shop news we have a few very exciting things to tell you about. First for our Yarnie AA club members the first skein of this collection will be going out earlier than expected. Your March club skein will be in the mail on Monday!!! We are so excited for you all to get them. They are so fun and will make you think of Spring.

The second exciting thing to tell you is also club related. Are you ready? Brace yourselves..........Starting April 1st you will be able to purchase a subscription to our new club!!!! Yes we said NEW club. Our "Socks Anonymous" club. This club will run similar to our current Yarnie AA club. It will run for three months, the first month being June and will consist of three sock worthy skeins. Month one will be a semi solid, month two a variegated and contrasting heel toe combination, and month three a self striping. All the extra goodies included in this club will be sock and/or foot related. The major difference between this club and our Yarnie AA club is that these skeins will be a surprise, meaning you will always know if you are getting a semi solid, a variegated and contrasting heel toe or a self striping but you won't know what color the skeins will be. Sarah and I think this will be a fun little surprise for you guys each month. So as mentioned above a listing for this will go up in the shop on April 1st and you will be able to purchase your subscription until Saturday May 25th. Your first skein would be mailed out the third week in June. We are so excited about this club and can't wait to get things in the dye pot for you guys!! We will still continue with our current Yarnie AA club as well.

Our final piece of news is about our newest collection, which will be making its grand appearance in the shop on Monday March 18th. We know how you all love a sneak peak though and figured we could totally help out with that :)

So may we introduce "A Masterpiece"

Friday, March 8, 2013

Finish it or Frog it Friday!!


Happy Friday Oh! Loopers,

Well it's been a fun week here at the Oh! Loops headquarters!!! We were totally blown away at how much you all loved the Seussical Oh! Loopsical collection. It was by far the most exuberant collection we have dyed and released and we couldn't be happier with how well it was received!!

Before we move on to "Out of this World" KAL and shop news we must say a huge thank you to Diane of the Knitabulls Podcast for showing our "Georgia O'Keefe Poppy 1927" colourway on her show yesterday. She has also agreed to allow members of her group the opportunity to win a second skein, so if you are a member don't miss your chance to win this lovely spring colourway.
 

Diane thank again we truly appreciate all your kind words!

Okay it's Friday guys and you know what that means, it means it's time for a new extra credit challenge. This week's challenge is "Finish it or Frog it" that's right got a project on the needles that needs to be finished, or just simply ripped out and repurposed? Well here is your chance so power up the LEM, get ready for a cryo stir, make your final engine burn and get that project off the needles!

In shop/KAL news we are excited to report that those of you waiting for your custom "Out of this World" colourways to arrive you won't have to wait much longer. The "Venus & Nebula" and "Jupiter & The Red Dwarf" colourways will be shipped out on Monday so you should receive them early next week. We are excited to see your finished projects!
 
 
 

Well there is a lot of knitting going on this week/weekend so I will say goodbye for now. I hope you all have a nice and relaxing weekend and we will see you back here next Friday.

 

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Seussical Oh! Loopsical

What do Whoville, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Oh! the Places You'll Go, The Grinch, Gertrude McFuzz, Sketch, The Kings Stilts, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, Sophisticated Dr. Seuss, Thing 1 and Thing 2, The Once-ler, Yertle the Turtle, Truffula Tree, The Lorax, Cindy Lou Who, Fox in Socks, The Thinks, Cat's Hat and Balloon Ride all have in common?...............

Well the obvious answer is that they are all beloved characters or books of the late Dr. Seuss. The answer we are looking for however is that they are all skeins in our new collection!!!

Need a sneak peak at what will be going up in the shop just a few hours from now????? Well I think we can help with that. So without further ado we give you,

Seussical Oh! Loopsical






Friday, March 1, 2013

Are you Excited???


Wow can you believe it is March 1st already?????????

Are you excited? This means spring is on its way. There will be sunny days, walks in the park, flowers beginning to sprout and it also means that you can cast on to the next "Out of this World" challenge, because let's face it, that is what you are really excited for he he!!

Before we can chat about the new challenge let me just extent our congrats to all the February finishers. The socks, baby booties and leg warmers are AWESOME!!! Well done guys.

Okay let me quickly remind everyone what the next challenge is. Knitters, we are HEADed for Space. For the third "Out of this World" KAL challenge we ask that you knit something for your HEAD or NECK using a pattern you have never knit before. The pattern could be anything from hats to scarves, shawls, cowls, anything you want. You will have from today until Sunday March 31st at midnight PST to knit and upload your picture to the correct FO thread on Ravelry. Since this is a challenge about new patterns we ask that you include a link to either the pattern or your project page.

I am super excited for this challenge, there were so many new patterns on my list that I wanted to try out, and Sarah has been liking things right and left.

Since it's Friday we also have a new extra credit challenge. "Going Public!!!!" Yep that's right we want you to knit in public, then have someone snap a photo of you doing it and upload that photo to your spot in the extra credit thread. This one will be lots of fun!!!!! Are you excited?????

In Oh! Loops shop news we wanted to let everyone know that the custom "Out of this World" listing have been taken down and for those of you that ordered we will be getting your skein dyed and sent out no later than 22nd of March.

We also wanted to say thank you to our wonderful Yarnie AA club members. We are super excited about March, April and May's colors and will have the first skein in the mail on March 22nd as well. We quickly wanted to let our club members know that the listing for June, July and August went up in the shop today but there are a few changes. For the summer months due to stocking restrictions from our yarn distributor we will only be offering the Light House Spritzers on our Platinum Fingering or our Merino 2ply High Twist (not the Glitter or DK) and for the Heavy House Porters we will only be offering it on our Worsted Merino Wool or our SW Worsted Merino Wool (not the Aran or Bulky) This change should only apply to the summer months.

Oh and guess what???? Our new collection goes up on Monday March 4th and it will be lots of fun. We are releasing our biggest collection to date and introducing a new product. It has been brought to our attention that some of you (and you know WHO you are :)) have been asking for teasers and clues. So Sarah and I being the kind ladies we are wanted to give you something to hold you over. Below is a quote that helped inspire our collection. Can you guess what it is????????? :) :) :)

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple"

Have a great weekend everyone we will see you back here next Friday.