Bad News: The Loopy Ewe Anniversary Yarn sold out in a day.
Good News: That was only 150 skeins out of our 200 skein order. The last 50 skeins will be here from J.Knits in the next day or two and will go up on the website when they come in. And we’ll keep selling the Celebratory Chevrons pattern here after the yarn is gone, because it would look beautiful in any J.Knits colorway - or others.

Good News: A new Lorna’s Laces order has arrived and I have picked two colors of the sport weight that need to be knit into a Chevron Scarf.
Bad News: My first Chevron Scarf isn’t any further along than it was in Monday’s post. I hope this isn’t the beginning of SHCSS. (Second Half of Chevron Scarf Syndrome.)

Good News: Trekking, Sockina and Austermann Step have arrived.
Bad News: I may have also started a new sock with the Sockina.

Good News: I live on Route 56.
Bad News: Apparently that’s not a good thing. (Note conversation below that took place at the post office yesterday afternoon.)

Mail Person #1, walking out from the back room: “Oh my gosh - who brought all of this in?” (as she points to a corner full of boxes that I had just brought in.)
Mail Person #2, checking me out with the International Orders: “The Loopy Loo lady here.”
Mail Person #1: “Oh. Wow. OHHH! You’re Route 56! We talk about you all the time at the other branch!”
Me: “Um …. Really? You know about me?”
Mail Person #1: “Oh jeez yes - we all know about you. No one wants to do Route 56 because of the lady with all the boxes every day! Now tell me again what you sell? Socks?”
Me: Sock yarn and lace yarn.
Mail Person #1: “That’s right. And there really are people who buy it? Because we all just kind of stand around and scratch our heads on that one. Who buys sock yarn? There are really that many people out there interested in this stuff?”
Mail Person #2: “Well obviously. You see all these boxes in here all the time.”
Mail Person #1: “That’s true. It’s crazy though, isn’t it? We just have to wonder about it. Sock yarn.”
Me:

Bad News: There are boxes and boxes of yarn that came in this week and are waiting to be photographed and put up in the next Sneak Up. (At least WH considers that Bad News.)
Good News: And more on the way. (Here’s a news flash - a big order of ShibuiKnits shipped to us today, so for all of you who have been asking me for it, it will be here very soon and I know you will love it.)

Bad News: Knitting Daughter went back to school this week, and College Boy goes back next weekend.
Good News: That means chocolate chip cookies! (A first day of school tradition at our house since College Boy was in Kindergarten. That day, there were plenty of mom-tears mixed into the batter. Don’t you love coming home to the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies?) And yes, College Boy takes a plate of them to school to have after his first day of college classes, too.

Good News: Here is my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe that I’ve been making all these years.
Bad News: They’re not non-caloric.

Best Ever Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. pck. chocolate chips

Beat shortening, both sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, soda and salt. Fold in chocolate chips. Grease cookie sheets. (or bake on stone). Bake at 375 degrees for 11 minutes. Cool 1 minute on pan.

Any Good News/Bad News that you’d like to share today?

Sheri badnews:deskisburiedinpilesofpapersgoodnews:it’sonmyto-dolisttoday

Edited later for Anniebananie: Wollmeise, Yarn Pirate, Zen String, Yarntini, and more - all shipping to us between now and the end of August!

We knit socks. We have leftovers. We must do something with the leftovers in order to make more room for new sock yarn. What to do?

1. Sock balls. Every time I finish a pair of socks, I roll the extra yarn up into a ball and plunk it in this glass jar. Obviously I need a larger glass jar. I also think this is handy because if I ever need to mend a pair of socks (and you know, I’d ONLY ever mend hand-knit socks), then I just come to this jar and find the right yarn. I like it.

2. Toe rings. It’s summertime and we’re all walking around in sandals …. and not wearing our wonderfully handknit socks. Why not match yarn to your outfit for the day, and tie on a toe ring? It’s the next best thing to wearing a handknit sock, I’m sure.

3. Blankets. True, it would take close to forever to knit a whole blanket out of your leftover sock yarn, but if you do a bit every time you finish your socks, one day you’ll be done. Won’t the end result be beautiful?

4. Cat toys. While Zoe is wonderful about leaving skeined and balled yarn completely alone, heaven forbid that a tail of yarn might dangle out to catch her attention. She’d love her own yarn-ball cat toys. Of course she’d eat the yarn and then there would be trouble. But maybe your cats are better behaved.

5. Face cloths. If the thought of a whole sock yarn blanket is intimidating, why not make up some face cloths with it? They’d be soft, machine washable, and beautiful.

6. Tying the stash cupboard shut. Of course I’m speaking of the cupboard where your yarn stash lives. No one needs to go in there except for you, right? (No one SHOULD go in there except for you, right?) Tie it shut and tell everyone that you’re working on things for Christmas and it’s not to be opened or disturbed.

7. Baby socks. One can never have too many pairs of socks for babies. Baby socks make nice gifts (they are great to keep on hand) and they take little yarn, depending on the size of those cute tiny feet. Maybe your next baby gift ought to be a “sock wardrobe” - different colors for the multiple wardrobe changes that babies seem to go through.

8. Reminders. Maybe you’re like me. Maybe not. But oftentimes I’d rather be knitting than … doing household chores, for example. And have you ever forgotten to do something because you became so involved in what you were knitting? Leftover sock yarn is great for tying a string around your finger so you don’t forget. Or tying several strings around several fingers, if there are many things you are putting off while knitting. This might apply to me.

9. Chevron scarf. You all know that I’m having fun with my Chevron scarf. Why not make a “scarf of many colors” and make it in all different sock yarns? The dip-and-weave pattern in the Chevron scarf mixes it all up very colorfully.

10. Save your seat. Have you ever wandered into the tv room to knit, only to find “your knitting seat” occupied? Annoying, isn’t it? Now you can use your leftover sock yarn to tie up an effective road block. Just loop a long tail of yarn across it to keep people out. Depending on your family and how likely they are to obey that, you might also need to add a sign to further dissuade them. Mine would not be dissuaded by yarn. Come to think of it, they probably wouldn’t be fooled by the note either. Maybe I need to resort to just leaving a bunch of yarn balls in the chair.

Those are a few ideas, but I’m sure you have more. What have you done with your leftover sock yarn?

Sheri no,I’mnotseriousaboutallofthese,butI’llleaveittoyoutofigureoutwhicharemeantinjest!

Been there, done that, loving socks. Or so I thought. Well, the “loving socks” part is still true. But after wrapping up yet another gorgeous Fiesta Boomerang color combination for Shannon, who is turning them into Chevron scarves, I googled and learned. After seeing just a few samples, I went straight to the bookstore to get Last Minute Knitted Gifts and the pattern. I picked two colors of Boomerang (Madrid and Plum Pudding), wound them up, and off I went. I am having such a fun time knitting this scarf and I love how it’s turning out. In fact, I have several more color combinations in mind, so I may be doing more than this one. Knitting Daughter started her own Chevron Scarf with two of the new colors of All Things Heather that will be up in next week’s Sneak Up. She’s having fun with it, too! Is anyone else out there working on one of these scarves? My Interlacement Tiny Toes socks have been set aside temporarily.

It looks like the final list for this week’s Sneak Up will include: Skinny Duets, Woolly Boully Softie (including a new custom color for us!), Fleece Artist Somoko, Lime & Violet Sasquatch Sock, and our J.Knits Anniversary yarn, plus the Ham’s Jams knitting bags. As always, more currently in-house and waiting to be photo-ed for the Sneak Up after this one……

We have another free pattern for you! Wonderfully Generous Wendy has given us another one of her patterns to share as a free download over in the “Free Patterns” section on the right side of this blog. (She is having way too much fun designing socks this summer.) This one is called “Cabletini Toe Up Socks” and it’s a very pretty pattern, knit with 2 skeins of Nature’s Palette. I love cables, and this new pattern is going directly into my “knit soon” pile.

Susan-the-awesome-assistant is back from her second vacation in three weeks. I might have to forgive her for doing that to me because she brought me this cute little sheep decoration. Speaking of vacations, Loopy has had some fun ones. Have you checked into his photo gallery lately? There are over 100 photos in there. And did you know that we currently have 284 sock photos in our Socks on Trees photo gallery? If you want to know how a particular yarn line knits up, check out the photo gallery. Chances are we have it somewhere in there to inspire you!

Sheri offtogetaBlueberryWhiteIcedTeaatStarbucks.Onemustmakeconcessionsforhotweather.

Well Holy Cow - I had no clue that we’d end up with over 1000 comments on our Happy Anniversary blog last week! You have no idea how fun it was to go through and read all of your wonderful comments and best wishes. I wish I could email each and every one of you to tell you how much we appreciate you. Due to the large number of entries, I decided to give away 10 drawings instead of 6. Remember, one prize goes to the person who guessed closest to the number of skeins we had here on August 1st. The other 9 have been randomly drawn. It was funny to see the wide variance in numbers guessed! We do send out a lot of skeins each week, but we also have a lot of skeins arriving each week as well. The total in-house at any given time goes up and down, but the number on August 1st (according to our website admin section - so no, I didn’t have to hand count each one) was 7977. Would you believe that someone actually guessed within 4 skeins? Greta from Oklahoma guessed 7981 and wins the big prize! (Next year I ought to have you guess total number of items we have in stock - yarn plus accessories plus patterns. Or maybe not. I don’t think I even want to know that number, as it might overwhelm even me.) The other nine prizes go to: Michele in Maine, Megan V, Shelby B, Jenifer C, Mo B, Sarah L, Lisa, Amy H, Kim and Margaret R. (Email me your addresses - sheri AT theloopyewe DOT com, just so I can make sure the prizes are going to the right place. I do have last names for Sarah, Amy and Margaret, so email me if you’re wondering if I mean YOU!) Thanks so much for participating in the contest, and more importantly thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement. This was Year One, and we do plan to be around for a long time to come.

This week’s recipe is my favorite to make for “company”. It always gets rave reviews and it’s suprisingly easy to make. I hope you and your family enjoy it!

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Melt in pan and then cool:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsalted butter

Add in:

1/2 cup brewed coffee
4 beaten eggs

Line a springform pan with foil and then butter the foil. Pour batter in and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until crust forms.) Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.

Topping:

Whip 8 oz. whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla until stiff peaks form. Pile whipped cream on top of cake and garnish with raspberries or strawberries. Serves 10. (Keep refrigerated. Can also freeze the baked cake base and just add the whipped cream and fruit when you’re ready to serve it.)

Sheri anyonedoinganythingfunthisweekend?I’mjustplanningonstayingintheairconditioning…..

I have the best Sockret Pal out of the whole bunch. Clearly. Look at these amazing socks that arrived in the mail today! I absolutely love them. Included in the box was a “read me first” note. (And I promise, I did read the note first, before opening the socks. But it took iron will to do that.) When this swap first started, my pal emailed me to let me know that she had found a yarn that I didn’t carry, to knit my socks out of. Well I just thought that was so nice of her. Of course I love every single yarn we have here at The Loopy Ewe and would’ve been delighted with any of them, but my pal wanted me to have something different. So she contacted a swapping pal in England and arranged for this cool yarn to be sent over for my socks. Imagine how she felt, then, when she read a few weeks later that we’d be getting Wollmeise in at The Loopy Ewe. (Yes - my new socks are Wollmeise. Did I luck out, or what?) Of course I mentioned in my blog that I was knitting some socks out of one of the colorways, and had taken another colorway out for my stash. I failed to mention which colorways. So my poor pal stopped working on my socks the whole time I was on vacation, waiting for me to come back and share which colors. (At this point in the note I was reading, I was starting to feel really bad. I was just so sure the story would end with her telling me that she was using the same colorway for my socks.) Fortunately - the colors were different. So that means that I am now the proud owner of a new pair of Wollmeise socks and I’m so happy! But does it stop there? No. Because she also included such fun things in my package. This beautiful sock bag (love the fabric), some very handy DPN holders, notecards, Burt’s Bees products, and a magazine from her home state. (That reminded me that I forgot to include a postcard from my area when I sent off my Sockret Pal box to MY pal. Darn.) Zonda, you’re just THE BEST. I totally lucked out in getting you as a pal for this swap. Thank you so much! (And for those of you who are now thinking that it’d be a lot of fun to be in a swap - you’re right. It is! You can google swaps and find info on different ones going on right now.)

In addition to getting fun things in the mail, we’ve also been having a great time with our friends who are visiting. (Go visit Janice’s blog and leave a comment - you might win a skein of Duets Skinny which she pulled right off the Loopy shelf!) We went yarn shopping today. We stopped by Knitorious and found a few things that needed to come home with us. Then we stopped by Trader Joes on the way home. Do you have a Trader Joes? I took this photo to show you some of the chocolate-covered items that are available. Pretty unbelievable. We walked all the rows once and then Iowa Girl said, “Let’s go back to the chocolate-covered row.” It was a marvelous idea. (Among other things, you will find chocolate covered: almonds, pistachios, edamame, raspberry sticks, blueberries, cranberries, pretzel bits, figs, orange sticks, Peanut butter maltballs, cherries, macadamia nuts, cherries, ginger, mint creams, raisins, banana chips, sunflower seeds, espresso beans, cashews, and almonds. Just to name a few.) We really like Trader Joes.

Sheri tryingtofigureoutawaytomakeourfriendsstayafewmoredaysandnotgohometomorrow

My Sockret Pal socks are on the way, so here is the photo which I promised to share! My pal requested “fall” colors and since I was really wanting to knit up some Scarlet Fleece, this color seemed perfect. (That’s sunlight and shadows on the socks - there really aren’t light and dark spots to them.) I love how this yarn blooms and softens when it is washed. The colorway is “Easter Basket” and the pattern is from More Sensational Knitted Socks, called Open Twisted Ribbing. I hope she likes it! I have a skein of Red Velvet Waters caked up and ready to go for myself out of Scarlet Fleece. And more knitting went on this weekend, too. I finished a sock of Urban GypZ (out of Curry with Raisins) using the Waffle Rib pattern out of Sensational Knitted Socks. (Ohmygosh easy, and I really like how it came out.) This Twisted line from Urban GypZ is really pretty up close because of all the lights and darks and blends going on in the yarn itself. We have more on order and I’ve already decided which other color I’ll keep the next time. (The Tomato Salad - loved those colors in person.) I will admit to starting another new sock yesterday, though. We have three or four new colors of Interlacements Tiny Toes to put up in the next Sneak Up, and one of them is called Colorado Treasures. You all know how I feel about Colorado - how could I not cast that one on?

I thought I’d fill you in on what will be coming in next week’s Sneak Up. Since we’re not doing one this week, I knew I’d at least have to give you some “scoops” of coming additions. So next week we’ll have: Duets Skinny, Woolly Boully Softie, Fleece Artist Somoko, J. Knits Anniversary yarn/pattern, and a few others as well. 300 skeins of All Things Heather arrived today - that box about broke the UPS guy’s back getting it into the house. 97 pounds. We’ll hopefully have some of that up, too. And remember that I told you about a new bag line? This is from indie-crafter Dena of Ham’s Jam and her beautiful work arrived today. She is doing exclusive fabric combos for us and we will get her Totes, Yarn Cruisers, and Needle Rolls in as often as she can sew them up for us. Her workmanship is absolutely top notch. Another brand new indie line arrived today - Lime & Violet’s Sasquatch Sock Yarn! We’re thrilled to have this yarn here (you know how much we love L&V at The Loopy Ewe) and the colorways are beautiful. (The names are fun, too.) So any or all of those different lines will be up next week.

Brand new lines coming sometime soon:

Schaefer Heather - this is a new silk blend sock yarn from Schaefer. I first heard about it at market this June and have been looking forward to getting it ever since.

Trekking - Many of you have asked for this, and I’m so glad we are able to finally get it. We’ll let you know as soon as it arrives.

Sockina Cotton - 55% cotton in the blend - wonderfully soft.

Austermann Step - the one you’ve heard about that is treated with Aloe Vera and Jojoba oil. It’s wonderful on your feet, but you can imagine how nice it is to knit with as well.

Addi Turbo Needles and Addi Turbo Lace Needles - Another item that has been requested over and over from all of you and we’re happy to have gotten an account with Skacel to make this possible now.

Classic Elite Alpaca Sox - 60% alpaca, 20 % merino wool, 20% nylon. This is a brand new sock line for them.

Fiesta Baby Boomerang - which I already told you was coming, but it bears repeating!

Oceanwind Knits - an indie dyer out of Canada with beautiful colorways and yarn.

Of course we have big orders from our regulars coming in this month as well - more Dream in Color, Wollmeise, Yarn Pirate, Zen String, Chewy Spaghetti, Cider Moon, Lorna’s Laces, Perchance to Knit, and Seacoast Panda. The other lines we carry will have more coming in September. We’re keeping UPS, Fed Ex, and the mail system busy.

We have definitely outgrown The Loopy Room. Actually, it hasn’t been a “room” for a long time now, but I still think “The Loopy Room” sounds nice, so I’m sticking with it.

Sheri theheatindexwillbeover100degreeshereallweek.WhydoIlivehere?