Do you think some boxers will Google “creative boxing” in the hopes that they’ll get some fancy new techniques, and will come upon this blog? (Or, come to think of it, boxers probably don’t Google things like that, huh?) Actually, this refers to the creative ways I have come up with to box up the sock blockers that you all are ordering. When W. Husband was making them, he asked me the size of my largest shipping box. I looked on line (www.usps.com) and told him the measurements. We both thought we had this covered …. until I went to pack up the first sold set. The extra larges didn’t fit in there and the larges poked out the top. Aaaaccckkk!! Of course I went right to the website and checked it out. Apparently, I had never ordered the large boxes. I placed the order right away, but it will take 7-10 days to get the boxes. SO, if you have sock blockers coming to you (and many of you do), please do appreciate my creative boxing. By the next time you order, all will be normal and professional looking again. You really can’t see and appreciate the creative-ness in this photo. You’re missing out on the “blurbles” that I did in some of these boxes. Well ….. those of you receiving them, and the big batch that went out yesterday, can appreciate it when they arrive and it will be our secret.

I know that many of us are knitting socks for gifts at this time of year. I remember reading on the Knitter’s Review Board an idea about cutting out cardboard forms for the socks you’ll be giving as gifts. You slip these in the socks (as if they were sock blockers) and your socks look oh-so-impressive when they are opened up. I thought it’d be awfully easy to just trace our sock blockers onto poster board and tuck them into your gift socks. I think it’d be especially fun to trace our red plastic ones, because of the ruffly edge on the top. Wouldn’t that make a nice gift presentation? (And you wondered what you’d really do with sock blockers, eh?) Some of you have already ordered one of every size - you’re set for life and all future gifts, aren’t you? And of course you’re hanging your sock blockers up in your knitting corner for fun and decoration, right? Possibly displaying your favorite pair of socks on there? Oh, the many uses of sock blockers.

While we’re on the topic of gifts, did you see the great knitting bags that I put up on the website? I’m so in love with these bags! The Zelda by Offhand Designs is THE perfect sock-knitting bag. Not only that, but it looks very classy. Featured in Vogue International Knitting (10/04) these sleek totes are 5.5″ H x 20″ W x 5″ D with a 25″ removable velvet strap. They have a 16″ frame closure which can stand wide open (the tote has 4 feet to keep it standing up straight) so that you can knit right out of the tote. There are 5 inside pockets, corded velvet trims, Faille lining, with a sleek and secure closure so that none of your supplies fall out. I’m hooked. I love carrying this bag, that looks like a fancy cool purse. I love the way it is perfect for my socks in progress. I love the lush fabric. I love that it doesn’t look like a typical knitting bag. Cool, cool, cool. And I think it would make a great gift for yourself for the holidays. Just sayin’.

So no “virtual knitting group” as we watch Lost tonight. I don’t appreciate this “fall break” thing. What’s up with that? (And last week’s episode? I was rooting for Jack and Kate, not Sawyer and Kate. Poor Jack.) Well, I’m still going to knit tonight. I’ll make a cup of tea, and settle in with the snoring-dog under my feet (and likely, a warm, purring Zoe on my lap) and think of all of you as I work on some Christmas socks. Zoe says: “Why don’t I get my picture in your blog as often as Lucy gets in Wendy’s blog?” Casey says, “Who cares about cats. Where are all the DOG pictures in blogs?” I say, “Don’t get used to it. Neither of you will get your photos in this blog very often…..” (Although they’re both darned cute, aren’t they?)

Sheri sowhatisyourfavoritekindoftea?IloveGoodEarthandanythingfromAdagio

Hi Loopy Ewe people! I have quite the privilege of getting to say hello and introduce some of the new website features. I’m “College Boy” / “Web Guy” / “Danny” and I have been working on some new stuff for The Loopy Ewe which has just been updated. Here are some of the latest ‘features’ for you to discover.

One of the first changes we have for you is a Search Feature! So, perhaps you read something about a “tapestry” skein in the blog a while ago but aren’t sure who made it or where to find it. All you have to do is go to the new Search Inventory on the right navigation and type in “tapestry” to find out it’s made by Interlacements and it has a couple of great photos.

This next introduction is hopefully going to be a popular feature. Loopy Ewe Gift Certificates! Perfect for your friends and stocking stuffers. You can send a gift certificate via email, have us mail it, or print it out yourself to hand deliver. You’ll find a new link for gift certificates on the main right navigation. After placing an order with a gift certificate, they will typically be sent within 24 hours.

One slightly new page on the site is for our Frequently Asked Questions. We’ve put some of the common questions on the page that should hopefully help you with your Loopy Ewe experience. Be sure to let us know if you have another question�we can answer those too!

One thing I’ve learned is that a lot of people have blogs…it’s not just a high schooler thing anymore. So, we’ve added Blog Referrals to our Tell-a-friend Loopy Perks. Many of you have a blog as an easy way to show off your wonderfully knitted works � so we�ve added the ability for you to connect your blog to your Loopy Ewe account. If you link to The Loopy Ewe and one (or more, of course) of your visitors ends up clicking the link, registering, and eventually placing their first order…you�ll get a $5.00 credit! You don�t have to do anything special on your blog, so it�s very simple for you. Just be sure to visit your newly designed account page to add your blog.

While we’re on the topic of blogs�we were thinking The Loopy Ewe needs a fun Blog Button. Now, in the blogging world, isn’t it fun to stumble upon someone’s blog and see they have one of the same blog buttons that you have? Makes the two of you instant friends. So we have The Loopy Ewe blog button. Check out our button to your right…I’ll wait…… That’s our new button…sorta. The one on the right shows one of our many yarns available and we want you to be able to show off your favorite yarn! That means you can pick from many of the yarns we sell and make your own Loopy button for your own blog! You can check out this simple guide about how to put your Loopy button on your blog in minutes.

We’ve also made a couple of minor changes in terms of order email notifications. We no longer will send you a message when we�ve received your payment (PayPal sends their own and we don�t like adding clutter to your Inbox). Typically, after you�ve placed your online order, you’ll only get an email once we ship your order, including a link with the tracking number.

On the more technical end of things, we’ve resolved a couple of issues that affected a few customers including:

• some credit card orders were being declined by our credit card processor � we believe this issue should be resolved (including international orders; we’ve made these issues easier to track too)
• placing an order that didn�t need payment (e.g. with an existing balance or now gift certificates) previously required payment information � we automatically skip the payment step if none is needed

Well ~ we sure hope you enjoy this round of new additions to The Loopy Ewe! If you have any ideas for us please leave a comment, send us an email, or gives us a call � we’d love to hear from you! Until next time, happy browsing and knitting!

« Danny »

(Sheri’s P.S. Cool, huh? Let us know what you think! Also - I added NEW PRODUCTS to the website over the weekend. Check out our Wooden Sock Blockers and our Fun & Funky Red plastic Sock Blockers - both made by Wonder Husband just for The Loopy Ewe. I also added some handy Loopy Ewe totes, and the cute Loopy Ewe Stitchmarker Set. (Update: Loopy and siblings have all gone off to live in their new homes.� We have more of these cute sets on order and they will be in after the holidays. If you’d like a personal email heads-up when the new flock arrives, just let us know.� We’re happy to do that!) All of these new products are in the Accessories Category under The Loopy Ewe……)

Remember last week’s contest on your favorite knitting spot and companion? The winner of that is this JULIE! (As we do have several “Loopy Friend Julie’s”!) Julie, please send me your address and tell me what colors of yarn you like, and I will be sending a great doorprize off to you! Thanks to everyone who entered. It was heartwarming to read through all of your answers. Just made me want to sit right down and knit some more!

I have the cutest flock of sheep, herding themselves in front of my computer. Here is a sneak peak. As soon as I can corral them, I will introduce you to Loopy Stitchkeepers (which include Loopy, sister Louise, and brother Black Bart.) They are as fun as can be and ought to be going up on the website tomorrow. What do you think of their red socks? I’m going to have to keep one on top of my computer, as they just make me smile!

Today’s recipe is another family favorite. There are two ways to make this delicious soup - with fresh vegetables, carefully hand-cut and added to the pot, or with frozen alternatives, dumped in quick and easy. I won’t tell you which method I use. I will say that I started with one method (for years) and have evolved into the other method.

Cheddar Chowder

8 cups of water
1 large bunch of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces (or a bag of frozen broccoli)
4-5 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (or a bag of frozen carrots)
4 potatoes, cubed (or a bag of frozen, cubed hash browns)
2 onions, chopped
2-3 cups of cubed ham
Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil water and add all of the above. Cook until tender, but not mushy. (Note that the carrots and potatoes take longer to cook. I usually wait until the end to add the broccoli.)

In a separate pan, combine:

3 cups milk
1 stick of butter or margarine
4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar

Stir until the cheese is melted. Whisk in 1/3 cup flour to help thicken the sauce.

Add cheese sauce to vegetable pot (don’t drain water out of vegetables) and stir well, being careful not to let the soup come to a boil

Enjoy with salad and rolls!

I’m still enjoying reading about all of your favorite knitting spots! The drawing is Monday, so if you have not left your comment, scroll back to Monday’s post and get in on the action. I will say that reading them has made me wish for these things, while I am knitting:

1. That I had a mountainous view out my windows (not under my control)
2. That I didn’t have a dog that snores like a freight train at my feet (not under my control)
3. That I had a cup of Starbucks Peppermint Mocha on the table next to me (completely under my control)

Sheri havingabusyweekendbutlookingforwardtoyarntherapyinthemiddleofitall

I LOVED reading about your favorite knitting places/companions! It was so fun to see how many of you love to knit with your cats and dogs nearby, too. (Me, too.) If you haven’t left your comment yet, go to Monday’s blog and fill me in. There is a prize involved and you will want it!

Well, today I’m drinking a Starbucks latte and making up my own “four things” blog. I have included some that I have seen and have made up a few of my own. I’m not “tagging” anyone (because I wouldn’t want to be tagged), but if you care to fill one or any of these out and report in the comments section or email it to me, I’m always interested in knowing more about YOU.

Four places I have lived:
- Battle Creek, Michigan
- Clinton, Iowa
- Wheaton, Illinois
- St. Louis, Missouri

Four fun places I have visited:
Austria, Bermuda, Mexico, Hawaii

Four jobs I have had:
- Customer Service desk at Target (high school)
- Quality Assurance Technician at a pet food plant (college - and no I didn’t have to taste it….)
- Remedial Reading Teacher in a middle school (this was pre-kids in my life, and yes, I like adolescents.)
- Counted Cross model stitcher (stitched models for the cover of Cross-Eyed Cricket patterns for several years)

Four things I don’t like:
- Things that don’t work (computers, cars, systems, pretty much everything that doesn’t do what it is supposed to)
- Paying bills (so you’d think I would do more online bill-paying, wouldn’t you?)
- Grocery Shopping (although I do like cooking and baking)
- Waiting in long lines (anywhere, for anything. Except maybe at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Booth.)

Four beverages I like:
- Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (because I bought one today - thanks to Loopy friend Kathy who put the idea in my head - and it tastes great. Now it’s my new favorite.)
- French Vanilla Latte from 7-11 (but just from MY 7-11. All the other 7-11’s make them way too sweet. I think mine must be cheap frugal and they dial down the amount of powder that goes into the water….)
- Peach Fresca
- Caffeine Free Diet Coke

Four blogs I read all the time: (although there are lots that I read often)
- www.wendyknits.net
- www.jarlady.blogspot.com
- www.yarnharlot.ca
- and College Boy’s blog, which I’m sure he’d rather I not publish

Four Eleven favorite sock yarns in random order:
- Sweet Georgia
- Fleece Artist
- Schaefer (Anne and Lola)
-Claudia Hand Painted
- All Things Heather
- Yarn Pirate
- Yarntini
- Lorna’s Laces
- Interlacements
- Cherry Tree Hill
- Posh

Four favorite yarn colorways:
Kissed from Sweet Georgia, Copper Urn from All Things Heather, Earth and Ocean from Yarn Pirate, Toast from Claudia

Four favorite knitting accessories:
- My Loopy sheep tape measure with red socks from Jari (watch for a variation of these at The Loopy Ewe, soon)
- My Loopy’s Knit Notes for Socks (already in its second printing!)
- My new sock knitting tote bag (oh - I haven’t shown that to you yet? I love it! Watch for these at The Loopy Ewe in the next few days)
- My Loopy, Louise, and Brother Black Bart Stitchmarkers (well for pete’s sake - there are so many new things I have to share with you, aren’t there? Stay tuned…….)

Four things I have to do today:
- Get a handle on the household laundry situation. (It’s about to bury us. I need to do laundry.)
- Grocery shopping (Or we’ll be moving on to bread and water soon. I need to grocery shop.)
- Packing Loopy orders (The fun part of my day! At least until Knitting Daughter and Wonder Husband get home. I like that part of my day, too.)
- Knitting on my two secret pairs of socks for up and coming yarn lines (while watching Lost tonight. Will anyone else be knitting and watching Lost tonight? We can have an “in spirit” knitting group.)

Sheri whoneededfourmorehoursofsleeplastnight

P.S. Just re-stocked a bunch of Claudia Hand-Painted Fingering Weight colors that we were out of - take a look!

In my last post I mentioned that Knitting Daughter and I would be spending the day knitting and watching movies on Friday. It was a great day! We packed some Loopy orders, then headed to Starbucks for my favorite Pumpkin Spice latte (how much longer is Pumpkin Spice available?). Finally, we settled in for some knitting. It got me to wondering about all of YOU. Who is your favorite knitting partner? And where is your favorite place to sit and knit? Here’s my favorite place - this comfortable recliner in our family room. Since we have two, Knitting Daughter gets to sit in the other one. Frequently, the cat is perched on the back of my chair, watching the birds at the birdfeeder outside this window. (In another post I’ll have to tell you about the squirrels at the birdfeeder…..)

Knitting Daughter has been working on these great purple socks out of Jigsaw. It’s a fun self-striping yarn and purple is her favorite color. She is almost done with the twin to this, except for a bit of frogging that she decided she needed to do last night. Heels are her most unfavorite part of socks. Other than that, she’s a sock addict and already has several other balls of yarn picked out for future socks.

I worked on a few things. I knitted these fingerless gloves (the pattern - Fetching - is on Knitty.com) out of Schaefer Lola. I used Lola for my Sock Wars socks and totally fell in love with it. Knits up fast and I love the feel and texture. Of course the gloves don’t take much yarn, so I’m using the rest of the ball to make a pretty lacey scarf. (Yes, I too, thought I was done making scarves. But I will like having one to match my gloves and the lacey bit of pattern makes it more interesting. I also knitted up a new yarn that I love. This one is called Loopy Blooms from Yarntini! (Do sheep eat flowers? Jessie - from Yarntini - and I decided that at least my Loopy eats flowers - thus, Loopy Blooms was born, our signature colorway from Yarntini. Also patterned after colors on the homepage, but I like the concept of Loopy’s favorite snack even more!) Our Yarntini order will be in the first or second week of December and will include Loopy Blooms. I must say, I haven’t been a big fan of self-striping yarns. It’s fun to watch the colors appear in order, but the variegated yarns always catch my eye first. I may have just changed my own mind. I had so much fun knitting with this Yarntini yarn. I think because the colors are not machine-dyed stripes, but have the beautiful look (color saturation, clarity) of hand-dyed yarns. I have decided that I now like hand-dyed self striping yarns. I have more on my list from Yarntini that I want to do. I also worked on another pair of socks this weekend, but it’s from one of our new indie-dyers that I haven’t told you about yet, so I can’t show you that. Her order is not due in until the first week or two of January. No sense getting you excited yet. But you’ll love that line as well! (shhh - and I have a couple more indie-dyer lines to debut in January for you!)

It’s time for my November contest, and this one is so easy. Simply leave a comment telling us 1) where you like to knit, and 2) who you like to knit with. A week from today - next Monday - I will put all entries into a hat and pull one out for a wonderful Loopy Care Package, from me to you! (I’ll email the winner to find out color preferences. Since I love putting together gifts, you know it will be a good one.)

Sheri it’sanotherrainydayhereinSt.LouisIoughttobeknitting

I love this industry. Even though The Loopy Ewe has only been open a few months, I already feel like I have made some of the nicest friends here. You trade emails, you answer a question here and there, then you find yourself emailing again, and then …. well, pretty soon, they feel like a friend. I like that!

Look at this fun box of goodies that arrived this week from one of my new fiber friends. Wool from her beautiful sheep! I especially love the little sample bags of wool that come with a picture of that sheep attached. I can’t tell you about this place yet, because I have ordered something for my Loopy Groupies Club and I want to get those in (middle of November, maybe) and mailed out to them first. But eventually I’ll tell you more! Plus, these wonderful yarns and items just might be available online by the end of this year. Right now, they’re sold at their farm in Maine, exclusively. I want to go and sit and knit in the pasture with Kelly’s charming sheep. Do you suppose the sheep put up with that sort of thing?

So - about those Loopy Groupies - what IS that exactly? You know that we include fun little gifts in your first five orders from us. Why five? Because that’s how many fun little gifts I could come up with! With your sixth order, you become an official member of the Loopy Groupie Club. (I’m calling you “Loopies” for short). With that, you’ll receive:

- a fun care package to welcome you in (a cool tote - I’ll photograph it when they arrive - with a couple of goodies inside)
- Loopy Kisses with each order (you’ll have to wait to see those in person)
- Advance notice of all new yarns and products right when they go up on the website (although if any of you have a particular yarn line you’re watching for, of course you can email me and request to get notice of that yarn early. We’re always happy to do that.)
- special sales and offers, exclusive to the Loopy Groupies
- random freebies in future orders, if we find something else that would be fun to include for you (and I’m always on the lookout!)

Right now, I have quite a few of you who have already become “Loopies”, and are waiting for these care packages. I promise that as soon as all of the components arrive here, they will get turned around and shipped out to you. Just know, you’re on The List and we love you here!

One thing that the Loopies found out about this week - they received an email when I put all of our new Posh Yarn (cashmere/wool blend) up for sale. Have you seen it? Wonderful colors and truly a special yarn to knit socks out of. You might think of using it for a special person for your holiday gifts, or for yourself. All of us deserve our own special pair of socks (or two or ten) right? To see how this yarn knits up, check out Monday’s post where I showed you a sock in Highland Mist.

It’s Friday - time for another recipe. Now this salad will sound weird, but trust me - it’s so good! People always ask for the recipe after they’ve tasted it. It goes great with everything, but I especially like it with barbecue or burgers. Try it and let me know what you think.

Frito Pea Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce
1 red onion, chipped
3 Tbl. sugar
1 lg. bag frozen peas
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
3/4 cup Parmesan
1 bag of Fritos

Layer ingredients in the following order: lettuce, red onion, sugar, peas. Mix Parmesan with mayonnaise and “frost” the salad with this mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. Before serving, crunch the Fritos in the bag and then sprinkle over the top. Mix up the whole salad and serve.

Next week’s recipe - another favorite family soup recipe.

Guess what I’m doing today? Knitting Daughter has the day off from school. Yippeee! We’re starting our morning at Starbucks, and then we have a whole bunch of knitting and movies on our schedule. If I could just get it to snow so that I could have a roaring fire in the fireplace, it’d be about perfect….

Sheri catjustdoveatthewindowinmyofficeandgavethebirdsaheartattack