Art League of Long Island Holiday Fine Art and Craft Fair THIS Weekend- Dec 6 and 7th!

I cannot believe how fast time flies. It's been zooming!

LOTS of good things to share...but first -

Loops by Keri was selected to be in the juried Holiday Fine Art & Craft Fair at the Art League of Long Island this weekend!!

What is a juried show? All artists submit their work and the best are selected to show! So this is a fair of artists and artisan work! Now, that does not mean unaffordable! I know I have price ranges from $10 and up. Come down and see our work and support us! ADMISSION IS FREE

http://artleagueli.net
December 6 & 7
10am - 5pm
107 East Deer Park Road Dix Hills, NY 11746 p: 631 462-5400
70 artists and craftspeople will be in the Art League's galleries and studios

I have been so busy knitting, in fact I am off to do some right now, but rest assured, there will be lots of new knits to show!

SO many exciting things...here are just a few!

Shop local this holiday! thanks for looking and will be back with a "real" post SOON! :)

And if you want to shop my knits, but aren't local, you can do it online! https://www.etsy.com/shop/LoopsbyKeri?

Knit on! 

Knitting the afternoon and night away!

So much has been going on, it's been hard to keep up with the blog here. But I should, because tonight starts some knitting fun!

Loops by Keri has partnered with Emma Made to teach sewing and knitting and other crafty classes to the children, teens and adults of Huntington NY and nearby towns! We'd love to have you in our classes, where we focus on the process, not just a product.  You can keep up with our schedule by checking out

 http://www.emmamadeworkshops.com/

March is Craft Month! And today we start our new knitting classes! Super excited to teach children and adults alike my favorite hobby, KNITTING!! 

We still have some spots available and if you can't make it tonight, but want to join our next session on the 15th, that's fine with us! Just leave a comment or send me a message :)

Get Your Knit On!  

Adult class. Come learn to knit in our relaxed environment while meeting some new local moms. We’ll teach you how to cast stitches on the needle, how to knit and then bind off your completed scarf!  Perfect for the new knitter or if you need to relearn some long lost skills.

2 part class

Sat March 1st and

March 15th from

8pm-10pm

Supplies and snacks are included in price of class. Bring your own beverage of choice.

$85

Kids Knit Too!

Come learn to knit in our relaxed environment. We’ll teach you how to cast stitches on the needle, knit and how to bind off your completed scarf! Perfect for the new knitter. Ages 7 and up

2 part class 

Sat March 1st and March 15th

4pm-5:30pm

Supplies and snacks are included in price of class. $60

Here's some pics of some new hats to get your inspired! Much more to come!!

Craft on everyone!

Do not doubt the determination of a 7 year old

My daughter was home sick with me for a few days in December and what did she want to do? Have me teach her how to knit a hat to give to her Grammy (that's Grandma to you ;) for Christmas.

Now, she learned how to knit last summer, and made herself a cute scarf but didn't have too much knitting time with school and all. She recently wanted to try to use my "fancy thick and thin yarn" which is challenging to knit with and keep even tension. (and it's expensive, but she was so passionate about trying, I thought we'd give it a go)

WELL!

She learned to use circular needles (knitting in the round) AND then she switched to double-pointed ones - which means she was using 5 needles at once. And look at her go!

Her tension is incredible (tension is a good thing, non-knitters- it means keeping your stitches even, which is no easy feat on this yarn, not to mention when using 5 needles at once!)

For you knitters that haven't tried knitting on double points- SPLURGE on wooden or bamboo needles! It makes ALL the difference! The yarn sticks to them more (a good thing when you have so many needles going at once!) Metal doublepoints had me completely frustrated when I first learned to use double points! They kept slipping and dropping to the floor! 

And then she picked the perfect button to accent it and sewed it on herself. 

I could BURST I am so proud of her!

And then she made a matching scarf out of the same yarn on giant size 17 needles ( Her Grammy actually commissioned her to make a scarf for her- amazing huh? First commission at 7! But my little miss O wanted to make her Grammy a surprise present too, hence the hat!)

She got to deliver them in person to her Grammy when we went to visit over the holiday break! Look how excited she is to tell her Grammy that she has something else for her….

Ta-Da! Here is the finished set!

I honestly don't know which of the three of us is more proud. I do know that Grammy has been wearing this non-stop (thank goodness for that cold spell, otherwise she might be melting in it!) I have to say, she wore it when we were together visiting and numerous people stopped her to compliment her on it and she happily regaled the story of how her then 7 year old granddaughter made the ensemble for her. A knitter who heard the story told us, "I've never tried double points, I've been too scared. But if your 7 year old granddaughter did it, I am going to try it too!) Way to inspire, LMO! 

After finishing her hat, my daughter asked me when she would be old enough to have her own label. 

I think I have given birth to my competition. : )

The lesson of the day - Share your passions with your children and if they are interested in something else, let them try it! You NEVER know where it will take them. 

And let them use that expensive ball of yarn! 

Welcome 2014

Wow! Has a month really flown by since my last post? I guess so! It's been quite a crazy few weeks with the holidays, gatherings, ballet programs, school concerts, trip to see family….whew! Not to mention, lots and lots of knitting!!

This week has been especially nutty- kids had school Tuesday, only to be sent home half day due to snow and a snow day yesterday. They have parent-teacher conferences Friday, so today is their only full day of school this week! While I truly love having them at home, it does throw things into a bit of disarray. I was supposed to work yesterday, but everytime I snuck away to do it, somehow I was urgently needed. But that's ok.  I enjoyed our extra snuggle time and family game time. But now I had better get working, so…quick catch up and then back to work…

Here's some of the fun knits that have been flying off my needles as of late….

Some special ponchos for some awesome girls. They waited patiently for me to make these after they choose their yarns- amazing hand and kettle dyed merino wools. I've mentioned my love of ponchos before on the blog. They are the perfect accessory in my humble opinion!

You can see how much they love them by the looks on their faces!

A few other things I've finished in my blogging hiatus… Some tassel hats in new color schemes!

LOVE this tricolored one. Just because you don't know if baby is a boy or girl doesn't mean the hat has to be blah! 

And don't you LOVE the hot pink with the charcoal? So chic and so fun for baby!! I think I want a grown up one!!

Here's a quick pic of the cat and mouse set I made for some cuties for the holidays. Just LOVE the pretty kitty hats and to have a sister cat and mouse due is just awesome!

More pics to come. Have been working on LOTS of fun knits!!

Stay Warm all!