“How many pounds do you think you’ve lifted today?” you ask your brave friends. And any knitter might wonder How much of that was yarn?

Our latest Store Showcase answers that question as Sheri from the Loopy Ewe in Colorado (and formerly Missouri) ponders sleep-related super powers, tells about how knitting with her daughter turned into a full-time job, and explains the webcam in her store.

JP: How did your shop come to be?

I wanted to encourage my daughter to find a hobby when she was in her teens. After trying a few different options, knitting is the thing that she liked and I took it up with her. After we had each made about 30 scarves, we decided enough was enough and it was time to move on to socks.

At the time (seven years ago), there wasn’t much sock yarn at our local shops, so we decided to open a shop that stocked a lot of sock yarn. Since then we’ve moved on to stocking all different types of yarn, but we started with sock yarn and we still lots of that!

JP: You just had a grand opening! Congrats! Was moving difficult? How are you adjusting to the change?

Moving was interesting! We moved 16 tons of yarn and fixtures and I hope to never do that again. On the plus side, it was a move that was entirely our choice, because we wanted to relocate to the mountains. I never get tired of seeing mountains out my office window and on my way to and from work! We love being here.

JP: What can we find in your store? Tell us about a few of your favorites.

So much! We have all weights of yarn for all kinds of projects. In addition, we love cute bags, so we have a lot of those in the shop. We also carry Roving, Patterns, and plenty of fun accessories.

JP: How many employees does the Loopy Ewe have? Has that changed a lot?

Ten employees. For the first year, it was mostly me pulling and packing orders, my husband doing all of our photos, our son designing and maintaining the website, and our daughter helping with the packing when things backed up. It’s nice to have plenty of help now!

JP: What project are you working on right now?

Well, it’s never just one project. I have 3 shawls, 2 scarves, 2 sweaters, a stole, and a sock on the needles right now.

JP: Aside from your awesome employees, is there anyone that has really helped you with the store?

Yes, every single one of our sweet customers who has blogged about us, sent their friends to check us out, written testimonials for the website, talked about us on Ravelry, etc. We are really grateful for the positive word of mouth.

JP: Do you play music in your store?

We do. We have a Pandora for Business account and we have set up different music stations (smooth jazz, movie soundtracks, etc) to rotate. That way none of us get too tired of one particular genre.

JP: Where did the name come from?

I wanted to call our shop “Loop”, and then found out that there is already an awesome shop in PA named Loop Yarn. So I started brainstorming variations, and ended up with The Loopy Ewe.

JP: When do you enjoying knitting most? 

Any and all times and places. Although with working a lot, I only really get to knit a night or two per week and on Sunday afternoons.

JP: You’ve got a webcam for your shop…where did that idea come from?

We have a lot of customers from around the country and in several other countries, who feel like part of our Loopy family to us. We thought it would be fun if they could pop in and share some of the daily activities with us, virtually.

Although we have to be careful of any yarn or products we’re trying to keep under wraps. No sooner do we set something like that out than we start getting calls or comments on Rav, wondering what “that gorgeous blue yarn is on the counter that we haven’t seen before.”

JP: How did you hear about JP bags? 

My friend Wendy of Wendyknits.com told me about them. She is a fan of JP and knew that I would be too (since she knows of my slight bag addiction.) My favorite JP bag is the LJ Kaelms bag in Teal.

What I like about it is allllllll the pockets! And the fact that I can carry two projects at one time, or I can use it as a purse on one side and a project bag on the other. We just started carrying them this year, but we keep selling out and re-ordering more. We have a lot of customers who are bag-lovers, just like me.

JP: Tell me what sock yarns you first stocked when you opened Loopy Ewe. 

We started with Schaefer, Claudia Hand Painted, Regia, Online, Fleece Artist, and Lorna’s Laces.

JP: If you could choose a super power, what would it be?
Is “getting by on 4 hours of sleep a night” a superpower? Because that’s what I’d like. I really am an 8 hour a night person and I could use those extra four hours…

JP: If you could eat or drink anything with no consequences, what would it be?

Pepperoni Pizza and Peppermint Mocha’s. But not together.

JP: What did you do before you were an LYS owner?

I was a Junior High School Remedial Reading teacher before having kids, and then I was a consultant with Creative Memories for 15 years before leaving that to do The Loopy Ewe full time.

JP: What’s one of your favorite parts of owning The Loopy Ewe?

- Walking into the shop first thing in the morning and being overwhelmed (in a good way) by the beautiful colors.

- Seeing all of the projects that our customers are working on (although that has resulted in an explosion of things in my knitting queue).
- Working with yarn companies and our indie dyers – so many smart, talented people.
- Working with the Loopy Elves every day – they’re all a lot of fun.
- And having a business that my whole family is involved in, one way or another.

JP: Your blog is so great! What kind of posts are your favorite to write?

I like our monthly contest blog posts the best, because it’s always fun to read all of the replies to the contest question!

Read Sheri's blog

JP: Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

JP: What’s one of the strangest customer request you’ve ever gotten?

We had a customer send us an old pair of handknit socks once, and she wanted us to find yarn to match it so that she could duplicate them. We didn’t think that was strange, but it was very interesting!

JP: Is there anything your store is known for?

Great customer service, fast shipping, and Frequent Shopper Benefits. We work really hard on all three of those things!

JP: What’s one of your favorite outdoor activities?

Shopping in downtown Fort Collins. (Wait. That probably doesn’t count, right?) Ok – taking walks with my hubby. We try to get in our 10,000 steps every day.

————

Can you imagine moving all that yarn? Thanks so much Sheri for sharing about your store! You can catch The Loopy Ewe on Ravelry, follow them on Twitter, like them on Facebook and check out the store blog, which is where that killer tutorial resides.

Know a shop with personality? Do you just love a LYS you think should be featured? Email us or tell us in the comments! Think you’ve moved a ton of yarn? We wanna hear about it too! Tell us in the comments!

Anne over at knitspot is also a seasoned traveler (with a penchant for taking great photos of foliage, among other things), which is why we asked her to give our L.J. Kaelms a try and see how it worked out for her.

Isn’t Toby (her pup) super cute? Totally adorable. Can you believe all the stuff she fit in there? I’m seriously impressed. Makes me think I need an L.J. Kaelms for my next trip in the sky.

Anne loved the bag. Of course it didn’t hurt that green is her favorite color. But she loved the weight and the pockets as well. She wasn’t sure if it would replace her older green bag for traveling, but she did say this:

I do find this one a little more stylish, so I’ll definitely grab it to tote along when I feel the look is important — and certainly I love how it babies my iPad. I also really like that it could easily work as my only bag for overnight trips — I may even try that sometime soon.”

Traveling with just one bag? She must be a pro. I’d love to see what she gets in there then and if it fits under her airline seat. See how hers fit in the bottom left photo there?

Thanks for sharing your travel thoughts with us Anne! You can read the whole review of the L.J. Kaelms on the knitspot blog, along with all sorts of fun pictures. Check it out!

Could you travel with just one bag? What tips do you have for traveling with your knitting?

Recently our Bella was reviewed on KnitCircus’ new podcast with Jaala and Amy. They also took a few lovely, spring time photos of her!

You can skip right to 24:50 to hear the thorough, very nice two-minute review — our vegan leather is so convincing Amy kept calling it leather — or (in the spirit of Rebecca) grab your needles, listen to the whole thing and knit to your heart’s content.

What about you? What do you do while you knit? Do you have any favorite podcasts (knitting-related or not) Rebecca should subscribe to? Some of her favorites include RadioLab and This American Life.

We think it’s really important to encourage this. Young or old, who couldn’t use some help nurturing and growing their imagination? This is why we’re proud to donate The Knitter’s Satchel to the Power of the Purse auction in Duluth, MN.

The event will be held May 3 at Spirit Mountain Chalet, where there will be nearly 200 purses available for bidding, and all the proceeds go to the Imagination Library.

The premise behind the Imagination Library is simply awesome: Any child living in the greater Duluth area who is enrolled (for free) will receive an age-appropriate book every month until their fifth birthday.

Aside from the great cause, bidders can enjoy appetizers, desserts and wine tasting, and hear from Margi Preus, the author of 2011 Newbery Honor winning Heart of a Samurai.

And then of course, there are the purses. Check out the catalog. I don’t know about you, but I can use my imagination to put together some fantastic outfits with those pretty accessories!

Art rounds off life’s sharp edges, which is why we’re huge on original art, whether it’s on our greeting cards, gift cards or on our webpage. Have you seen the newest JP art on our homepage? (It’s promoting free shipping right now, btw. Check it!)

Celeste Young is the genius behind it and also our newest JP Featured Artist, here to tell us about about her process, her inspiration (she finds it everywhere!), some amazing mac ‘n’ cheese and a glimpse at why she’s named herself the Angelina Jolie of adopting sock monkeys.

JP: How did you meet/talk with Jordana?

I met Jordana through mutual friends, and we started talking about knitting and art one night at a Travis Oberg house concert.

JP: What is your primary art medium?

I work with a mix of watercolors, colored pencils, origami paper, scrapbook paper, found paper and markers.

JP: If you could eat or drink anything with no consequences, what would it be?

The first think that comes to mind, is this mac and cheese my friend makes from scratch.  It has blue cheese and bacon in it.  It’s super rich and comforting, and I could eat the whole pan!

JP: What project are you working on right now?

I am working on a couple ideas for childrens’ books … I’m also trying to replenish a body of work that sold well, so I can show again.

JP: What medium is your piece for Jordana Paige?

The piece was to feature one of her knitting bags in this pretty mauvey color, so I decided to stick with what I usually use: colored pencils, watercolors, markers, and scrapbook paper.

 JP: How did you get your inspiration? 

I wanted to take a break from my usual subject matter (Russian nesting dolls).  Thought it may be cool to draw someone using the knitting bag.

I found this amazing, funky homemade retro dress at the flea market, and decided the character in my illustration should be wearing something like it.  I wanted to give the background an old-fashioned, sepia toned quality so that the bag would really pop.

JP: How do you like your eggs cooked?

I like sunny side up.  Scrambled is okay, if there is other stuff with the eggs, like cheese and vegetables.

 JP: Do you knit or do other crafty things aside from paint?

I love to knit!  I also enjoy creative writing and gardening.

If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?

I’m sure everyone says fly.  But I would have to agree.  You wouldn’t have to be afraid of heights because you would never fall.  It would also make traveling easier and less expensive.

 JP: Have you been commissioned to do other work or do you mostly do your own and sell it?

Yes, I’ve done a couple murals and some storefront signs.  I mostly draw Russian nesting dolls.  Sometimes people will specify the color of hair or cloth on their head.

JP: Coffee or tea?

Coffee.  Tea is nice sometimes, but it is usual something I will choose if I don’t feel well or have already had too much coffee.

JP: What inspires you?

Folk art in general. Irony, anime, spirituality.  My Kindergarten students.  I also am inspired by others who create and the Do-It-Yourself culture.

JP: What’s one of your favorite outdoor activities?

I live in Santa Cruz, so I enjoy walking along the west cliff and watching dogs go by with their people.

——–

Thanks so much Celeste! And thanks for sharing your sock monkey collection with us.

You can read more about our Featured JP Artists here.