Thanks to everyone who participated in our mutual blog giveaway with Loop, London! (See our interview with Loop, London here and the reciprocal interview Loop, London did with us here.) We had so many creative and clever comments all discussing the shiny wonderfulness that is Blue Sky Alpacas Metalico yarn!

Droolworthy Metalico braids!

Lee (from Loop, London’s blog): I have never knit with BSA, but am already planning how to get to your shop to have a feel of these yarns. The Metalico range looks like a wonderful combination of ‘natural’ and ‘sophisticated’. I would love to knit the Daisy Wrap to keep my daughter warm as she breastfeeds her baby (soon to be born) in the middle of the night. Not that she’ll need to be sophisticated then! But she could also wear it on her first night out with her partner after the birth.

Patsy (from Blue’s Blog): Metalico looks stunning and would love to knit with. All 3 patterns are amazing but love the Frances.

Congratulations to the winners, who will receive their choice of one of our 1920s-inspired Metalico wrap patterns (Daisy, Frances, or Zelda) and enough Metalico yarn to complete their project! Thanks again for participating, everyone!

Today, I am traveling halfway around the world for our first international shop interview! We are in London, but, more specifically, we are in Islington on Camden Passage. It is a narrow, historic street that is only accessible on foot and is famous for its old unique charm and twice-weekly antique market.

Bustling Camden Passage! Photo © http://mycreativephotography.co.uk/

Now that we’ve oriented ourselves, let’s check in with today’s interviewee: Loop, London’s owner, Susan Cropper!

Susan Cropper. Photo © Loop, London

Jillian: Hi, Susan! Thank you so much for talking with me today and for being our first international shop interview! Your shop has been open for almost eight years, but let’s go back to the beginning. Can you tell me how you came up with the name for your shop?

Loop’s logo. Photo © Loop, London

Susan: I came up with the name of my shop after weeks of brainstorming with family and friends. I wanted something short and “loop” was perfect in that it reflected what the yarn was doing in a sense—a series of loops.

Jillian: Indeed, loops are important in knitting, crochet, weaving… almost all fiber arts. And it’s hard to get much shorter than four letters!

Front window display. Photo © Loop, London

Susan: Haha, true! Funnily enough, Craig from Loop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania must have had the same idea, as we opened around the same time and have the same name. I like his shop and he’s a lovely guy, but our shops are actually very different! Both great shops, but in their own ways!

Super-cute display of baby sweaters in the front window! Photo © Loop, London

Jillian:  Absolutely. Now, let’s go back even farther! How did your love for all things textile evolve?

Susan: When I was young, my mom went back to art school to study Interior Design and there were always mood boards strewn around our apartment and stacks of design magazines. I was dragged around the Museum of Modern Art and the Decorative & Design Building in NYC on weekends.

Colors and textures everywhere! Photo © Loop, London

Susan: My mom saved up to get a pair of Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs and then started weaving. Suddenly, there was a huge wooden loom in our living room and hanks of yarn drying in the bathroom, which she had dyed with cochineal and plants that she sent off for. I think I must have become a designer and textile junkie by osmosis. I knit. I love to knit lacy shawls most of all.

Jillian: I am still practicing many techniques in knitting, and lacy shawls are still something I have to master! Clearly, this interest in textiles and design followed you into adult life.

Susan: Oh, yes. I studied both Textile Design and Graphic Design, and, before Loop, while raising my three children, I was a designer and director for lifestyle magazines in London. I love to go to design fairs, vintage fairs, and flea markets wherever I am.

Jillian: It is no surprise, then, that this love of texture, design, color, and textiles led you to opening a shop! How was the response?

Such an inviting interior! Photo © Loop, London

Susan: Enormous, from both press and customers! It has been so much fun to teach so many hundreds of people to knit, watching their excitement grow as they see what they can do. And, it is gratifying to hear the exclamations of delight as people come into the shop—I want people to find joy in colour, texture, and design as much as I do. I feel proud of the contribution we make to the knitting community.

Jillian: It certainly sounds delightful. What types of activities do you have at your shop?

Susan: We have a huge range of classes from beginners to advanced and lots of technique workshops. We also have special visiting teachers who are masters at their craft, such as Stephen West, Franklin Habit, Cecile Balladino, Cecille Franconie, Julie Arkell, and Brandon Mably. We also have KnitNight every Thursday night and book launches at the shop.

So pretty, all arranged in a rainbow! Photo © Loop, London

Jillian: There seems to be a real sense of community surrounding your shop and yarn crafts in general.

Susan: Absolutely. Sharing interests and learning new skills helps you feel connected with your wider community.

Jillian: Before we end for today, I just want to go back for a second. You mentioned earlier that you grew up in NYC. How did you end up in England? I thought you were from England!

Susan: *smiles* I wound up in London because I married an English guy who was living in NYC. He grew homesick, so we moved here in 1985.

Susan’s third book! Photo © Loop, London

Speaking of Loop, London’s blog, be sure to stop by today and read the reciprocal interview they did with us here at Blue Sky Alpacas! Even better, in honor of Loop, London’s favorite Blue Sky Alpacas yarn and the release of The Great Gatsby, we are hosting a simultaneous giveaway, in which one winner chosen on each blog will receive one of our new 1920s-inspired Metalico wrap patterns of their choice (Daisy, Frances, or Zelda) and enough Metalico in their color choice to complete the project. To enter, leave a comment telling us why you love Metalico and we’ll announce the winner next week! And don’t forget to head over to Loop, London’s blog to check out their interview with us and enter their contest!

Remember, if you own or visit a shop that carries Blue Sky Alpacas yarn or is hosting a special class or activity with Blue Sky Alpacas patterns or yarns, drop us a line at info@blueskyalpacas.com! Also let us know if there are questions you’d like answered by our shop owners that we aren’t touching on, and we can look into adding them to our repertoire.

It’s all in the details. Photo © Loop, London

Have you knit anything from the Royal Petite collection yet? This collection includes seven petite patterns and the Royal Petite palette includes fourteen colors. You can read more about the three mitt designs by Colleen Powley here. Maybe, though, you’re more of a hat person like me. No problem! The Royal Petite collection includes two hats.

Buckingham Hat

The Buckingham Hat is the perfect, uncomplicated gateway to indulging in this decadent fiber.

The Details

Pattern: Buckingham Hat
Designer: Bobbi IntVeld
Size: Circumference: 18″, unstretched
• Height: 7½”
Needles: Size 2 (2.75mm) 16″ circular needle, or size needed to obtain gauge
• Size 2 (2.75mm) double pointed needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Royal Petites, shown in Antique Black #1705
Pocket Pattern available at Blue Sky Alpacas Stockists
Digital Pattern available in the Blue Sky Alpacas Pattern Store

Westminster Hat

The Westminster Hat, with its sophisticated, all-over texture, is one of my favorites! With this hat, you can learn to cable without a cable needle, like I did.

The Details

Pattern: Westminster Hat
Designer: Bobbi IntVeld
Size: Circumference: 18″, unstretched
• Height: 7″
Needles: Size 3 (3.25mm) 16″ circular needle, or size needed to obtain gauge
• Size 3 (3.25mm) double pointed needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Royal Petites, shown in Cameo #1704
Pocket Pattern available at Blue Sky Alpacas Stockists
Digital Pattern available in the Blue Sky Alpacas Pattern Store

Two cable rounds.

I’ve cabled before, but never so repetitively. Usually, it seems that there is one large cable in the front of a sweater, and one cable doesn’t really make for good practicing of this technique… it’s not a good way to retain the skill of cabling without a cable needle. However, the Westminster Hat features two distinct cable rounds. One round with right twist cables and the other round with left twist cables. To achieve the all-over texture, the cables are worked across the entire round for the entire hat, making this a great project to master cabling without a cable needle. And boy… do my cable projects fly off the needles now!

Slouchy-Style Westminster

This is the tutorial I used to learn to cable without the cable needle. I liked it so much I just kept knitting my Westminster for many additional rounds to get a slouch-factor. (That’s really the only thing you have to do to make a hat slouch, just keep knitting.) How do you prefer to knit cables? Do you like a beanie-style hat or do you prefer hats with slouch?

Photo © Barney Sellers

Even the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll knows his way around a ball of yarn!

It can be a struggle to find the right gift for Mom for Mother’s Day. But, if your mom is a knitter, we have just the thing!

Royal Petite Boxed Knit Kits

These kits, available at your LYS, include two Royal Petite balls and a Royal Petite Pattern… everything mom needs to get knitting!