Create Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair THIS Saturday Dec 7th

Hello All,

This blog will be short and sweet as I have LOTS of knitting to do tonight. Tis the season! :)

If you are around Saturday December 7th, come join us at the Create Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair from 10am-3pm at Five Branches Wellness locatated at 430 Main Street, 2nd Floor in Greenport!

Have been working on lots of knits….the latest….sparkly cowls and headbands! SWOON!

Will have lots more, come on by and see!

Would love to see you so come on by & do a little local shopping!

Off to knit! Hope to see you soon!

Cooking with the kiddos Barefoot Contessa Style

We often bake together as a family, but we don't cook together as much. That all changed with this cookbook book report they were assigned at school. They had to choose a cookbook, read through it and choose some dishes to make. Have I mentioned HOW AMAZING their school is?!

 My daughter had to choose 3 dishes while my son, who is older, had to make 3 balanced meals.  It was an amazing experience for them and they loved being in charge of the menu. And the best part- they tried everything!!

They chose Barefoot Contessa cookbooks to work from. Ina Garten's cookbooks offer beautiful photos, clear directions and is approachable, even for the under 10 set! This was fitting, as Barefoot Contessa was truly the first show my son really watched. He wanted to be a chef at 3 1/2 and even dressed as Mario Batali for Halloween that year, orange crocs and all. And yes, people knew who he was!

My daughter used her newer book, Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That? My daughter loves to try new things, so she loved the creative items in the book.

 She choose couscous salad, which she liked, but we'll make next time with fewer onions.

Wild rice salad: which has oranges and grapes and pecans in it. Isn't it pretty?

BUT HER FAVORITE was the smoked salmon deviled eggs with caviar. Yes. This was her choice to make and her favorite, by far! But that's not the most impressive part...

 Just look at the photo she composed with my husband of her favorite dish. Looks like something you would see in a magazine, no? SO impressive. You can tell from the other bland pics that I took those. Ah well, food styling is not in my future…

My son used her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which I think is the first one. He wanted to make breakfast, lunch and dinner, which sounded great to me!

His dinner he made first and it was a doozy! Homemade applesauce,  fingerling potatoes, roasted carrots and meatloaf! It was all delicious!

For his lunch, he made roasted tomato basil soup and it was completely restaurant worthy! Gotta love a boy who can work a food mill right?

His breakfast was granola and though it was not technically difficult at all, he never eats dried fruits or nuts, so I let him have at it. And he ate it! It wasn't his favorite, but he ate it. Not to worry, we found someone else who enjoyed it very much, so it was all eaten!

I LOVED this project and so did they and I know we are going to keep it going. Just yesterday, after all this was complete, my daughter wanted to make cupcakes, so we did. Ina's red velvet cupcakes, although, we had to sub purple food coloring, so they were purple velvet. And we made them dairy free, but they were still delicious though! 

Thank you Ina Garten, for all the fabulous food memories! If you ever need some helpers for your show, we are close by (and we have some friends in common, which is kind of fun!)  

Who needs a Friday night out? Come one, come all!

Hello Friends!

Loops by Keri will be at the Shopping Extravaganza at Flower Hill Primary School
98 Flower Hill Rd, Halesite, NY 11743  - I wrote the wrong address before!!! 98 Flower Hill Road!

Hope to see you tonight!!

Halesite is a section of Huntington, so it's pretty close for many of you readers :)

THIS Friday November 22, 2013
From 6:30pm – 8:30 pm
Open to all!! 

Hope you can join us! Lots of knits for babies, children and adults too!

If you can't join us, be sure to stop into Rexer-Parkes in Huntington for Loops by Keri knits, available there every day! 

Or if you aren't that close, there is Etsy. :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoopsbyKeri


Took some pictures of my latest knits! Check them out below! Hope I have time to photograph al the other cowls, headbands, scarves, hats, baby booties and more I've been knitting…..

And by request, I will have many different kitty cat hats with me!
In realistic colors and super funky colors too!!

and did I mention the fun headbands! Whee!! LOVE them!!

Hope you can join us!!

Meow!

What'cha doing this Sunday?

Hey Everyone! So many of you emailed to tell me about the Holiday Boutique at Tumbling Tunes this coming week- I am going to be there along with at least 7 other vendors! 

THIS Sunday, November 10th from 1-5pm. 

Tumbling Tunes ~ 212 Laurel Road ~ East Northport, NY 11731 ~ 631-697-0140

Please come by, say hi & bring a friend!

LOTS of new knits to show you for babies, children and adults!  Plus there is time to get an order in before the holidays if you need something extra-special! Some of the items I will have with me below...

Thanks for sharing and spread the word! 

Maritime Festival - 2013 Wrap up- SO many knits!!

Wow. How is it Halloween already?! Will post some pics of that soon, but I have been meaning to post these pics for a few weeks. 

We did the Maritime Festival a few weeks ago, and I have just got around to blogging about it! It's been a little crazy here, as I am sure you can tell! The focus was getting Etsy up & running! 

Here is a look at our booth from the Maritime Festival, which is held in Greenport, NY every September! I highly recommend the festival for great food, music, and of course, artisan crafts and of course, shopping!

The holidays are coming fast. If you see anything you like, let me know. Custom orders are available anytime! :)

Neckwarmers, headbands, cowls and scarves- all super soft and cozy! 

These cowls are in store now at Rexer-Parkes! 

These scarves and hats are available on Etsy now! 

Yummy soft extrafine Merino Scarves! 

Hats for babies and toddles and headbands and neckwarmers for kids and adults! LOVE all the colors. Looks like candy, right?

The sweetest little baby booties and hats! LOVE them!! 

Don't you love babies dressed as animals? Mouse, rabbit, bear and as pumpkins! :)

LOVE this cowl! Pop it right over your head and you are stylish and warm all day!

You may have noticed these beautiful items in the photographs. They are ballerina hairclip holders! Theylook stunning hang on a wall in a girl's room and they give her a place to hold all of her hairclips and bows! You can even loop headbands through. 

They are gorgeous and handmade by my dear friend Elena, who I shared a tent with at the Maritime Festival!

Elena uses a variety of fabrics and tulle colors, so matching your girls room will be easy! Elena can even do custom dresses. 

You can buy Elena's beautiful dresses by contacting her at elenachambi@yahoo.co.uk

Hope to get her on Etsy soon! Her pieces are gorgeous!! 

My Little Miss O has a beautiful one hanging on her wall which matches her room! the clips are in one place so their is no dashing around the house looking for the right ones before the bus comes! And her room is beautiful with this on the wall!

They make a beautiful Christmas gift as well!

Happy Halloween all! Pictures soon! 

A Free Hat Pattern for all you Knitters out there!

I love a crisp fall Monday morning!

And I LOVE a free knitting pattern, so I decided it was time to share a pattern I have been asked for before.

You may remember it from this post:  http://loopsbykeri.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-special-hat-for-special-girl.html

My Candy Topknot hat, the one I designed and made for my little Miss O!

I got this fabulous yarn at Chelsea Yarns, who has many amazing yarns- be sure to check her out!  http://www.chelseayarns.com/default.asp

 For those of you non-knitters, I can make you one if you like in your choice of colors. I will put one up on Etsy soon.

Materials Needed:

1 Skein of Candy Yarn, by FEZA yarns. 50% wool 50% acrylic, 100 grams =110 yards
1 size 11 circular needles 12"
1 set of 5 size 11 double pointed needles
1 stitch marker
Tapestry needle

Finished size of hat 19" circumference unstretched. This will stretch to fit most heads comfortably.

Hat is knit in round on circulars and then switches to double pointed needles.

* Note  - this yarn has beautiful felted pom poms that will randomly show up in yarn as you knit with it. Ensure the pompoms are on the right side of the work and that you keep your tension even when they appear, so they are secure in the knit.

Cast on 56 sts onto size 11 circular needles
Place stitch marker and join in round.

K2P2 rib for 5 rows.

Knit 22 rows.

Then we start to decrease for head shaping. During this decreasing section, you will need to switch to double pointed needles, as you will not have enough stitches to make it around the circular needles. I usually switch after the first or second decrease row.

(Knit 6 stitches, knit 2 tog) * repeat for entire row
(Knit 5 stitches, knit 2 tog) * repeat for entire row
(Knit 4 stitches, knit 2 tog) * repeat for entire row
(Knit 3 stitches, knit 2 tog) * repeat for entire row
(Knit 2 stitches, knit 2 tog) * repeat for entire row

You will now have 21 stitches on the needles. It will measure 7 1/2" from cast on.

Knit 8 rows.

Next row is a Decrease row: (Knit 6 stitches, knit 2 tog) * repeat for entire row. You now have 18 stitches pm the needle.

Knit 10 rows.

Next row is a Decrease row: (Knit 3 stitches, knit 2 tog, k1) * repeat for entire row. You now have 15 stitches pm the needle.

Knit 10 rows.

Next row is a Decrease row: (Knit 2 tog) *4, K 1 .You now have 9 stitches pm the needle.

Knit 24 rows.

Next row is a Decrease row: (Knit 2 tog) *4, K 1 .You now have 5 stitches pm the needle.
Next row is a Decrease row: (Knit 2 tog) *2, K 1 .You now have 3 stitches pm the needle.

Leave about 6" of yarn & cut yarn. Using tapestry needle, thread yarn and loop through the remaining 3 stitches, securing them with a knot. Then bury the yarn through the long tail of the hat.

Sew in edges of yarn securely!!

Once yarns have been buried, tie the long tail of hat in a loose knot.

That's it!

Let me know if you have any questions! If you use this pattern, please email me or post it at Ravelry.com! Would love to see you Candy Topknots!!

Hats On! ;)

Button Band Chunky Knit Hat

So, I have been knitting like a mad knitter! And I have a lot of new knits! Trying to make sure the Etsy site looks good while keeping Rexer-Parkes well stocked! 

My newest favorite?

The Button Band Chunky Knit Hat! 

Made of lusciously soft hand painted extra fine merino wool, these hats are soft and cozy and look incredible on!

Love this on my friend L! So thankful she let me take pictures of her to show you all. This is her hat by the way- midnight navy with little pops of lavender and lighter blue. I have another skein  if anyone would like one…  : )

 Just LOVE the colorways and check these out…..

And awesome rainbow with layered vintage buttons. Just makes the colors pop! This hat is now with it's owner, that looks amazing in it!

This one reminds me of a grapevine with purples and greens- it's gorgeous! I layered two buttons again, one in lavender & one in green to bring out the colors. It's stunning AND it's still for sale on my Etsy site. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/165367569/button-band-chunky-hand-knit-hat-in?ref=shop_home_active 

Lots of other colors are available! I can match your coat, your eyes or find a favorite color! With or without buttons….I happen to love me some buttons, but it's all about what works for the wearer! 

I still haven't been able to decide which color I want. Every time I knit one I have a new favorite! 

I designed these hats for adults- they look great on Men and Women. 

BUT, the hats work on kids too. A child's head isn't that much smaller than an adult. Guess who wanted to try one on?

Doesn't she look adorable?

Lots of other items on the Etsy site. Be sure to stop by- just click on the link in the upper right hand side of the site or go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/LoopsbyKeri

Accessorize On!