It was interesting to read your thoughts on getting a puppy in last week’s blog post. I appreciate all of you taking the time to weigh in. I broke down the cons:

1. “It’s a lot of work.” Having raised a puppy before, I do agree that it’s a lot of work. (But a lot of fun.) And I also agree that it makes more sense to train a puppy in the spring. Definitely.

2. “You and WH like to travel.” True. We do go off a bit on the weekends. Mostly we just do day trips for fun and adventure, but we do have the occasional weekend away to visit the kids. Fortunately, my folks and my brother all live in St. Louis and do great pet-sitting.

3. “You can’t leave it home all day.” Right. I would have to bring the dog to work (maybe I ought to find one that looks like Loopy?) and I know there are varying opinions on a dog in a yarn shop. This is a big place, though, so no one would be tripping over the dog. There is a dog who comes to work with one of the guys who works upstairs in our building. (Archie. He’s a Welsh Corgi, I think. The dog. Not the guy.)

4. “What would your cats do with a dog?” Gracie and Zoe like dogs. Well, Gracie would hide for a few days, but then she’d get over it. Actually, if she was out on the screen porch birdwatching when the dog arrived, she wouldn’t even notice it. She loves her birdwatching. She sits in that chair and watches the birds land on those birdfeeders a couple of feet in front of her, and her day is complete. And Zoe would put that puppy in its place the minute it walked in the house. She’s a 5 lb. bundle of  ”Alpha Cat”, which would then translate to “Alpha Pet”. No worries at all about Zoe.

But …. I’m thinking we won’t get one. At least not at this point in our lives. It doesn’t make a lot of sense and the cons still outweight the pros. (However, if I show you a photo next week of “our new dog”, please play along with me and don’t remind me about this conversation.) I really am more of a cat person, I think. Are you more of a cat person or a dog person? I know some of you are both!

Now I’m off with my knitting and my recipes, to visit Web Guy in Florida for a long weekend. (Woohoo!) We have some 2010 website planning to tackle, and I’ll be doing some cooking to fill up his bachelor freezer. I’ll be back with you next week, and will tell you how it went.

Sheri sothankfulthattheElveswillbeheregettingyourordersout
whileI’mgone!IlovethoseElves….

1. They are interesting to knit up.

2. You can make them out of the finest cobweb lace or the heaviest bulky yarn.

3. Once you add one to your wardrobe, you see a need for many more in multiple colors and styles to go with everything else.

4. People always comment on them when you wear them. (This does not always happen when you wear handknit sweaters or socks.)

5. You can try a lot of different techniques with shawl knitting.

6. There are easy-peasy patterns to start with, so you can ease into it slowly. And there are amazingly complicated patterns, for those of you who need a good challenge.

7. Mini shawls often take 1-2 skeins, so there is a not a big investment in yarn.

8. Mini shawls also quicker to knit up. I might be a little addicted to them. Mini shawls like Multnomah (I made 2 of them), Traveling Woman (I made 1, so far), Mara (just finished one of these – love it), Damson (still need to try this one), etc.

9. They’re a great way to use up sock yarn in your stash. They’re also a great project for trying out new lines of yarn (whether it’s laceweight, fingering weight, worsted weight, or something in between.)

10. Knitting a shawl is our Fourth Quarter Challenge, so come participate with us!

Details on the shawl shown here:
Pattern: Traveling Woman
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Pearl (I had to order more Pearl for the shop last Friday, when I finished this shawl. It’s so warm and luscious and lovely to knit.) The pattern calls for fingering weight, although I used the heavier Pearl. I think it would also be pretty done up in Dye Dreams semi-solids, or The YoYo String and Fluff semi-solids.
Modifications: None

Details on today’s Monday Update: It’s Re-stock Week! We have re-stocked our Knitspot patterns (ok, and added a few new ones), Heartstrings patterns, more Lorna’s Laces, and some fun Monkeypal colorways. (Note – both Knitspot and Heartstrings have wonderful shawl patterns, if you’re feeling the desire to make one. Just sayin’.)

Sheri knitaMaraovertheweekend.NowpickingoutmoreMadtoshWorsted
tomakeanother.Ilovethatpleatedruffle.

I have to get over this “let’s find the best recipe with a chocolate and peanut butter combo” phase. No good can come of it, there are not enough people in our house to benefit from it, and it takes away from the knitting time. But first, let me just share one more with you. Then I’ll stop. (Um, unless someone has another recipe that I need to try?) No, really – I’ll stop.

Peanut Butter Dessert

1 pk. brownie mix (for 9 x 13 pan)
2 1/2 cups cold milk
1 pk. vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
12 oz. carton of Cool Whip
3 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Prepare and bake brownie mix as directed. Cool completely.

Mix vanilla pudding mix and 2 1/2 cups cold milk, beating at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar and peanut butter and whip well. Spread on cooled brownies.

Melt chocolate squares in microwave for 1 minute (on high). Stir until all bits have been dissolved.  Put frozen Cool Whip in microwave for 1 minute (on high). Mix chocolate and Cool Whip together and whisk well to blend. Pour over pudding layer and spread evenly.

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving. Store in refrigerator.

This what I had for dinner last night. Well, there might have been soup, too, but this is the thing I remember most. The chocolate and peanut butter dessert. Mmmmmm….

My Traveling Woman Shawl is done and ready to block. Now I’m on to Mara with Madelinetosh Worsted and another pair of Cabled Mitts with Lorna’s Laces Worsted. (Worsted weight – a knitter’s best friend when gift knitting must get done. And Lorna’s and Madelinetosh must have the most wonderful worsted yarns on the planet. Seriously.) I’m also contemplating Colonnade with Lorna’s Laces. Elf Donna is making one up out of LL Worsted and it is gorgeous. A Must Knit.

Sheri inthemoodtogetapuppy.Pleasetellme
whythat’sareallybadidea.WHclaimsitis.Idon’tbelievehim.

We are celebrating Veteran’s Day here in the U.S., a day to honor all of those who have served in the military. Whether you live here or in countries far from here, most all of us know someone who has been a part of serving their country at one time or another.

I was curious as to how this day came to be, so I did some research. Back in 1918, World War I ended with the implementation of an armistice (temporary cessation of hostilities until the final peace treaty could be signed in 1919) at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November.  In 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the first official “Armistice Day” to honor those who had died in service to their country. The idea was that all businesses would stop for two minutes at 11:00 am on 11/11 to honor these people.

In 1921, Congress passed legislation declaring 11/11/21 a legal Federal holiday to honor all who had participated in the war. In the 20’s and 30’s, most states established 11/11 as a legal holiday, and the President gave an annual proclamation to observe this at the Federal level.

In 1938, Congress passed legislation making 11/11 a permanent legal Federal holiday, Armistice Day. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation to change the name to “Veteran’s Day”. During the 60’s and 70’s, the observance varied between state to state, from the 4th Monday of October to November 11th. In 1978, the celebration was moved back to November 11th for everyone.

I’m sure that I learned about the history of this day as I went through school, but I didn’t remember how it came to be. I’m glad that we have a day to stop, remember, and honor.

Sheri includedinthisFederalholidayisnomailservice.
We’llgetbacktothattomorrowforyou.

Ok – many of you emailed or commented to say that you don’t want the term “Sneak Up” to go away. Truth be told, we will always refer to it as the “Sneak Up” here at Loopy Central, because … well, because it’s ingrained in our brains that way. So call it whatever you’d like, but you know that it means new things going up on Mondays, and that’s the most important part. Things are always hopping here, and we plan to keep it coming!

We have another whopper one for you today because so many things arrived over this past week. One line that I’m thrilled to have back in the shop is Sweet Georgia. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, you know that Felicia’s line is one of the first few indie dyer lines that we added in here. After carrying it for quite awhile, Felicia decided a year-long dyeing break was in order and off she went to travel the world. She came back with more color ideas and a desire to dye, which was good news for all of us! We have our first shipment from her, which is her popular Tough Love Sock Yarn, in many beautiful colors.

Another new dyer that we just added in is Huckleberry Knits. I found Scarlet at Sock Summit this summer. Or, rather, her yarn found me. I was sitting in a talk by Barbara Walker and the person in front of me was knitting the brightest (happiest) colorway I had seen in a long time. Since the session had already started, I couldn’t ask her what it was. But I did walk the marketplace later that afternoon, determined to find it. Sure enough, there it was in Scarlet’s booth. Success! This is the sock that I knit up with it and I really love it. We have Scarlet’s worsted line here right now, with the fingering weight line coming sometime in January. (I wanted the Worsted line, too, because I think her colors would make some really great sweaters.)

We’ve also added in: More Dream in Color Starry, Baby and Classy, more colors of Lorna’s Laces Worsted, Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Sport and Helen’s Laces (also from Lorna’s, the Loopy Ewe colorway in Sock and Sport), 50 colors of Madelinetosh Worsted, a new batch of Sereknity Yarn and Fiber, Mind Your Knitting Beanie Baggies, 3 AM Enchantments bags and wrist tags in the Sheep-y fabric you all love, the new Red bags and accessories from Namaste, and a new pattern from Wendy Knits that gives you fun things to do with your sock yarn leftovers. Come on over and check everything out!

And that’s why we were so busy around here last week. This week is shaping up to be the same way. We like that.

Sheri startedmyTravelingWomanShawlovertheweekend
andIhopetohaveitdonesoon.Greatpattern.

Yum. I tried these Homemade N(ot) O(reo)’s (because you can’t use that “O” name) and they are so good. Are you one of those who has to take the two chocolate sides off and eat the cream center first? Not me. I like them stuck together, along with a big glass of cold milk.

Homemade NO’s
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups sugar (plus 1/4 cup to flatten the cookies)
2 1/4 cups unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Vanilla Cream Filling (see below)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients.

In mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and beat well. Slowly add in dry ingredient mix and continue beating until the dough is well mixed.

Scoop out 1 Tbl.-sized balls onto baking stone (or parchment-lined cookie sheet), about 2″ apart. Dip bottom of glass into sugar and press to flatten cookies to about 1/4″ thick. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cool on pan/stone for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Filling
1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
7 cups confectioners sugar
2 Tbl. pure vanilla extract

Cream butter and shortening. Gradually add in sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix to combine.

Spread on flat side of one cookie, then top it with the flat side of a second cookie and press lightly.

Filled cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.  Makes approximately 3 dozen sandwiches.

*Note, you can also half the recipe and get just 16 sandwiches. But why would you want to do that?

So much to get done this weekend. I’m still trying to knock off some of the half-finished items from my “to knit” list, so that when I write about it in the blog next week, it won’t look quite so bad…

Sheri madetheselastweekandtookthemtoWebGuyinOhio
NowI’mwishingIhadonetogowithmycoffee.