It’s another gray and gloomy day outside today – but inside Loopy Central things couldn’t be more cheerful! The yarn continues to arrive. Yesterday brought boxes from Yarntini (a new cashmere sock – yum!) and all of this new Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn. Isn’t it gorgeous? We bought LOTS of it for you, and we will have it up next week. The colors are amazing, in typical Noro fashion!

I’m always a little amazed at how many of you are up late into the night. This becomes particularly evident when I do a late night Sneak Up (like this week – midnight on Monday night) and I watch the numbers of people shopping on the website go up and up and up within a few minutes of the Loopy Groupie Heads Up going out. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only night owl. Sooner or later I’m going to have to get a key to the Sleep Center across the hall so that I can just toddle over there to bed. (Ok, ok. Three blocks from home. I can make it back there to bed, even on those late nights.) Speaking of the Sneak Up, I did gulp a little bit when I saw that we had 1043 different yarns in stock here after that update. That means 1043 different colorways currently in stock (and of course multiples of each one. I will have to have Web Guy tell me how many skeins we’re up to now. Or maybe I don’t want to know. I would say that I have sufficiently risen to the occasion of filling up the extra space we gained when we moved over here….)

Loopy Friend and customer Tina, aka – the Knitting Contessa, kindly asked me to do an interview with her for the holiday season. She’s featuring some fun things on her blog this month – you ought to go over and take a look!

Thank you again for all of your fun RAK comments on Monday’s blog. This week’s winner of the Loopy Loot gift package (drawn randomly from all of the comments) is: Patricia. (Patricia has been emailed, so if you’re Patricia, check your in-box!) Keep up the great work out there. It really is more fun to be on the giving end than the receiving end, isn’t it?

Back to work. We still have a lot of your Sneak Up orders to get out (because you all really really had fun again this week. Those Cherry Tree Hill yarns just zoomed right out of here!) We also have a couple of Loopy Elves out sick (or out sick with sick kids). Tis the season, right? But all the rest of us are here and cheerfully packing up and sending out as fast as we can. (And waiting to see what the UPS lady brings today…..)

Sheri holidayknittingmustwaituntiltheweekendFPS

Aren’t these stockings adorable? Eva submitted them to our photo gallery (for the Q4 Challenge – and how are YOU doing on that?) and I asked permission to share this photo on my blog. You can get the pattern free from this site. (I love Julie’s website and am the proud owner of some of her wonderful knitted toys. If you have never heard of her, please do not ask to be put on her email list for updates in her shop, as that is just that many more people that I have to compete with when I want to get another one of her toys get on her email list so that you will know when she updates. Her toys are so fun and beautifully done. Each one is a treasure.)

I know I said this last week, too, but I have just so enjoyed reading about all of your RAKs. Truly, they are so inspiring. (If you missed them, you’ll find them in the comments here and here, although there have been others left in comments on other days of the week as well. We’ll continue having RAK Reporting Day every Monday in December.) Today is another RAK day, so leave your comments telling us the things that you have done in kindness to others since last Monday’s blog post. Before I post on Wednesday, I’ll draw another name for the winner of this week’s Loopy Loot gift package! (We have had patterns, books, and even skeins of Wollmeise from Claudia herself, donated to our RAK gift packages! Yay!) One thing that several people have commented on and I have often thought about, too – isn’t it a little sad that doing something kind for people is so surprising to so many? You show them a common (or uncommonly kind) courtesy, and they can’t believe it. Their response is, “Oh my goodness – why would you do that?” I guess that is just proof that there isn’t nearly enough of this RAK stuff going on around the world and we need to do more. It shouldn’t be so astonishing to people. So I’m glad we’re all working on it, and really glad to have all of these fun ideas every week.

Thanks for weighing in on Spring Fling sign-ups. What we have decided to do is open up signups next week (details in next Monday’s blog) but we won’t require your first payment until mid-January. That way, everyone is happy. College Guy is coming home this week for Christmas Break (yay!) and we’ll work on getting the information page done so that you can check out the details of The Fling. We’ll also keep signups open all week next week, so that you don’t have to stress about being first in line. (Or we’ll keep it open longer than that if it hasn’t all filled up. We really have no idea what to expect. If we get more than our limit, we’ll pull names and keep a back-up list in case anyone cancels at the last minute.)

Is anyone done with their holiday knitting? I’m woefully behind.

Sheri obviouslyneedingaFlingRetreatrightnowtogetthisknittingdone

I thought I’d show you the sign out front. After hearing all of you tell me that we really ought to be on that sign (because initially I told them we didn’t need to be on there), we went back and said we would be on there after all. So, if you come to visit, the sign will help you spot us. (You might have to click on it to make the photo bigger so that you can actually read it.) I really was waiting for them to email us back and tell us that they “couldn’t” put a sheep in socks on the outdoor sign. To their credit, they didn’t bat an eye. Or at least they didn’t verbally bat an eye – ha! We still have a few people here who wonder. The other day we walked out the door and someone was standing there “trying to figure out what you all do at The Loopy Ewe”. The door doesn’t give any hints. See? Just more signage with our name on it and a doorbell to let us know you have arrived. It’s hard to get lost on your way here with all of the signs. If all else fails, follow your nose. It usually smells like cinnamon in our entryway. (That would be Sweet Cinnamon from Yankee Candles). And it smells like Peppermint Jack Frost at the back of Loopy Central where my office happens to be. Mmmmm. Back to the outdoor sign – it does make me smile to drive by and see Loopy standing there in his socks. This road is on the way to most places from our house.

Let’s see, on Fridays I frequently tell you about the new things that will be up next week. Due to go up, we have:

Araucania Ranco (solids and multi – a very good selection, but we still have half of our colors on backorder. More to look forward to! 10 semi-solids and 10 multi’s are in, 10 more semi-solids and 10 more multi’s on backorder.)
Alpaca With a Twist – Baby Twist (12 colors in, a few more coming)
Alpaca With a Twist – Roving (5 natural colors in, 2 more coming)
3 new colors from Spritely Goods (Summer Sky, Desert Rose, Olivine)
Duets (in all 3 weights – Original, Skinny and Middy)
Chewy Spaghetti (more great colorways)
And some fun sheep-y accessories!

We also have a special for you from Cherry Tree Hill. Cheryl at Cherry Tree had a great deal on her Supersock base yarn and of course we jumped on it. She had large or small skeins, and we opted for the larger ones (450 yds. in each. Great yardage for longer cuffs, longer feet, more intricate patterns, hat plus fingerless mitts, etc.) Instead of picking their regular colorways that we stock all the time, I asked her if she could do all new colorways with this batch. She had new dyes that she was anxious to try and thought this was a great idea, and I think they had a lot of fun playing! Consequently, these are all one-of-a-kind colorways from Cherry Tree Hill and there are 22 of them for you! We have a lot in stock, but when they’re gone, they’re gone. (Although she did say, “Maybe our next new colorway will be in that batch!” – so you might see a variation of some of these down the road eventually. But you get the first skeins and you can only get them here at The Loopy Ewe!) The other great thing about this is that she offered this to us at a great price, which we are passing on to you. Each skein is just $17.75 from this batch. (Regular Supersock is 420 yards and sells for $21.00 a skein.) There are some really fun new colorways in here, so watch for them next week.

For the Sneak Up after next week (which will be our last one for 2007 – wow) we will have: Tempted Yarns (ohhhh, will you ever be tempted by these!), Zen String (including a gorgeous new exclusive colorway), and Yarn Pirate BFL Semi-Solids. Also, our Noro Sock yarn has shipped (yay!!) so we expect to get that in and up, as well as our next Dream in Color order (Smooshy, Classy, Baby Lace, and the new colors), and anything else that pops in in the meantime. Many of you have asked about our next shipment of Wollmeise Sock Yarn. It left Germany this week. (Thank you Claudia!) Depending on the mood at the post office, we ought to be able to get it up the first or second week in January. We have some other really fun things coming up in January, too.

Today’s recipe is from Wendy (Loopy Photographer Elf). This is the crockpot recipe I promised to share with you from Wednesday. The thing I love about crockpots? You can throw dinner in there in the morning, and sit and knit right up until it’s time to serve the meal. (Well – in an ideal world, I guess.)

Oven Beef Stew

1 lb. stew beef, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 Tbs. Tone’s beef base
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. basil leaves, chopped
2 tsp. Minute tapioca (optional)
1/2 cup red wine (optional)

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Toss all ingredients into a large Dutch oven or roasting pan. Bake covered for 4 hours until meat is fork tender. Stir once during the last hour to test the meat.

Or to crockpot: Toss everything in the post and cook on High for 4-6 hours.

Top stew with fresh grated Parmesan. Serve with rolls and tossed salad. Serves 3-4.

We’re about ready to tell you all about Loopy’s Spring Fling and we’re excited! Is it better to open up sign-ups BEFORE or AFTER the holidays? (Before – you can include it in your “I want this for my present!” list. After – you can include this in your “I got money as a gift and this is how I want to spend it!”) What would be your vote?

Sheri avoidingputtinguptheChristmastreethisyear
becausekittenGracieisgoingtobeclimbingrightup
themiddleofitandbringingitrightbackdown.
ShelookssoinnocentsittingontheLoopyCentral
redcouches,butsheisSONOT!Crazycat.

Wow – it really is so fun to read all of your RAKs. Our family has had fun talking about some of the different things you all have done. (It makes great dinner conversation, and isn’t it nice to plant those kinds of ideas into our kids heads?) Keep looking for ways to show kindnesses this week, and save up your comments and ideas on this week’s RAKs for next Monday’s blog again. I did the random number generator to pick a Loopy Loot Gift Package winner again, and Susan’s name came up! (Susan has been emailed and has emailed me back, so if you are also a Susan and hoping it’s you …. well, you’d already know!) A special thanks to the dyers and designers and authors who have contributed to the Gift Packages so far. I know you all are doing the RAKs because they’re fun and they make a difference, but the gift packages ought to encourage you to leave a comment and think about doing them every week.

Busy day today, packing up all of your Sneak Up orders. We had the Christmas Carols blaring and Wendy (Loopy Photographer Elf) brought in a yummy beef stew in the crockpot for lunch. I had her send me the recipe so that I can share it with you on Friday. Between that, Starbucks, and chocolate, it was a good day.

Someone stop me. I keep buying yarn for us. Today, I had a meeting with one of my yarn reps. We opened an account with one of the yarn companies that I have been trying to “get” since The Loopy Ewe was first beginning and gathering vendors. It will be 6 weeks before the line comes in, but I can’t wait to have it here. Anyone want to guess what it is? I knit my second ever pair of socks out of this yarn, and they’re still my favorite socks to wear when I want to be really warm and cozy. In more yarn news, I met with another one of my favorite yarn reps last week (Hi Stephanie!) and we opened accounts with two other new companies as well. (Seriously. Someone stop me.) One is Alpaca With a Twist and we have already received the Baby Twist that is my first choice for fingerless mitts and scarves (and shawls – must knit shawls) because it’s such soft, wonderful yarn. We also got their 100% Baby Alpaca “Ready to Spin Combed Top” (5 beautiful, natural colors have arrived so far, 2 more on the way) and yes, I am taking some home to spin. It’s the softest stuff ever and I can’t wait to play with it. All of that will be up in the next Sneak Up. What great turn-around with their orders! The other new company …. still a secret until we get are closer to getting our order in. But just know, we have fun new things on the horizon for you! (And definitely more roving coming soon. We have some great indie dyers on board and working on orders for us.)

It has been awhile since I did an etsy shout-out to some great indie artisans. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I suggested you might want to shop etsy for holiday gifts? I practiced what I preached! Here are some of the shops that I *might* have done some holiday shopping with. (And, um …. some shops where I might have found something that I needed. Maybe.) A few are shops where I have not yet purchased anything, but I bookmarked them for later.

Art Exchange (cool, crazy sculptures)
GudonyaToo (mmm – bath stuff. Surely you need a Bath Kiss?)
Lilikoidesign (beautiful jewelry)
FatDaddyBakeShop (really, with a name like that, how can you resist?)
Jpatpurses (pretty fabric bags)
Ivylanedesigns (ok – very creative and they crack me up!)
Maggieloujewels (my new favorite earrings because 1. the earwires are way too cool and 2. you can change out the ear charms. Get the Champagne – you’ll wear them with everything. And Maggie is a friend of mine, but I’d be a huge fan of her jewelry even if she wasn’t!)

Sheri listeningtoJoshGroban’snewChristmasCD-doyouhaveit?Iloveit.

We had to have a mini photo shoot for something today, so I thought I’d include a photo of the Loopy Elves for you to see! (Do you like how I’m knitting them all together from above? I had fun tangling the all up in yarn.) So the middle row – Sue, Kathy, Wendi and Diana, and sitting down – Susan and Vicki. Wendi has taken over doing the photos for us (although WH still does alllll of the color correcting on the computer every week) and Diana does the bookkeeping. (My least favorite thing in the entire world.) Aren’t they wonderful?

Today is our weekly RAK Reporting Day! Have you done any RAKs that you can comment on and inspire us with? Remember, although we all love doing them secretly, when you share it on the blog, it gives others some good ideas about things that they can go out and do, too. I’ll do the weekly Loopy Gift Package drawing on Wednesday before I blog that day. I did the “pay for the Starbucks in the car behind you” a couple more times this week. Although I’ll keep doing that, I want to come up with something else for this week, just to keep it fun. So I’ll be interested in all of your new ideas! I loved the ideas that people had about giving out knitted items. Back in my “just getting back into knitting after 20 years” days, I knit sooooo many scarves. Many have been worn once (or …. not at all) and I thought I should wash them all and then be on a mission to give them away this month.

I also wanted to give you a Sneak Peak at the new Dream in Color colorways – their 400 series! (And a special thanks to Veronica at Dream in Color for sending the photo so that I could share it with all of you on the blog!) We’ve had these on order forever (it seems like) and they’ll be here this month, as soon as they can get them labeled and shipped. (It will be a fun Dream in Color month with more Smooshy, more Classy, all the new Lace, and all of the new colors!) The colors, starting with the orange/peach and going counter clockwise: Flamingo Pie, Butter Peeps, Go Go Grassy, Lunar Zazzle, Pansy Golightly, Punky Fuschia, Into the Mystic, and Midnight Derby. YUM!

Sheri hadmylastspinningclass&nownotspinningalickuntilsomeknittinggetsdone