Today I promised some information on our 2009 Sock Club. We have a lot of fun putting these together for you, and we so appreciate all of your interest in being in it!  We have added in more spots for 2009, so hopefully that will help a bit.  Here are the details:

- Signups start on Monday, January 12th and continue through Friday, January 16th. There will be a link on the homepage when signups have opened up.

- Spots are assigned by lottery. (Why? Because so many of you told us that you really really dislike having to be ready to “pounce” at a certain time on a certain day, or stalk the website to see when it will go up, or “fight” to get through all of the people trying to sign up at the same time. And we agree. Who needs that stress?)

- If last year was your first year in the Sock Club, you DO need to sign up again, but you WILL be guaranteed a spot for your second year.

- If last year was your second year in the Sock Club, you are very welcome to sign up again and go into the lottery. We’d love to have you back!

- Each shipment will be $38 plus $5.95 shipping. (International sock club members will be charged international postage on a 2 lb. package.) We’ll bill you before each shipment, when we’re ready for the packages to go out. In general, you can plan to receive your kit by the middle of: March, May, July, September and November.

- When you sign up, you are committing to the entire year of shipments. We are able to stick with the “bill as they ship” method (which we know you prefer) because past Sock Club members have been so great about not flaking out on us mid-year!

- Each kit will contain 1 skein of yarn dyed just for our Sock Club, 1 pattern written for that yarn, and some fun extra in each box. We like to make these “extras” things that you will use in your knitting or for yourself. Since you keep asking for Loopy-Logo items, some of the kits will include fun things we find and want to put Loopy on. Other kits will have other items. We like making up kits that you won’t find anywhere else and that say “Loopy” to you. Of course Loopy Kisses or Loopy Peppermints will come with each shipment, too. We know those are equally important.

- No hints on yarn or pattern designers this year! Just know that we’ve arranged for some of your favorite indie dyers and yarn companies to participate, as well as some of your favorite pattern designers. The yarns will be mostly semi-solids or subtle colorways, that show off the patterns beautifully. We can’t wait to show you what they come up with. (Our 2008 Sock Club included yarn from: Cherry Tree Hill,  Dream in Color, sKNITches, Mountain Colors, and Wollmeise.  Our pattern designers included Monica Jines, Debbie O’Neill, Cookie A, Wendy Johnson, and Terry Ross.)

- We’ll send you an email either way, so you’re not wondering if you got a spot or not. These will go out sometime next week, as soon as we’re back and recovered from TNNA in California!

- Sock Club (& past kit) patterns typically go up for sale at The Loopy Ewe 6-9 months after they have been sent to Sock Club members. The fun extras are sometimes offered at a later date here as well. You can check out some of the ones from last year here and here and here. The yarn and Sock Club bags (which are sometimes included in a shipment) remain exclusive to the Sock Club members.

Sheri whothinksknittingandwearingyoursocksisbest,
(notjustdisplayingthemonourfunsockblockers!)

It’s January, which means another Challenge or Knit-A-Long! (Not that these Big Guys are knitting.  Rather, they seem to be stirring up trouble here at Loopy Central at the moment.) I had something in mind for this quarter, but in the meantime, Anne in MD started a Clapotis Knit-A-Long on the Loopy Groupie board on Ravelry.  There are so many of you working on that (myself included!) that I think it’s wise not to muddy up the waters and add yet another one. So – jump in and join us!  It started January 1st and you will find the pattern for free on Knitty.com (here’s the Clapotis link by the brilliant Kate Gilbert).  I’m making mine out of some Hand Maiden Sea Silk that I had in my stash. (Well, technically it was in my stash because I frogged the project I had started with it. Twice.) This is the first time I’ve done a Clapotis and I’m having a lot of fun with it. There’s something refreshing about purposely dropping stitches and watching them unravel. Now I really want to make another one out of Amy’s Vintage Office.  It’s on my new list.  So leave a comment below if you’re participating in this KAL with us.  The fun thing about the Clapotis is that you can use any yarn that strikes your fancy.  Different weights and materials will render different sizes and draping, but it’s all fun.  If you’re on Ravelry, check out the Clapotis link to see what others have used and how it looks. I’m not sure when it ends on the Loopy Groupie board, but we’ll leave it open here for the first quarter, meaning you should finish by 3/31 and have your photos posted by 4/15. (Here’s a tip from Sandy in WY that I thought was great.  She added a stitchmarker to the very bottom starting point of her triangle, to keep it from curling up.  I wish I had known that when I started, as it about drove me nuts. I’ll definitely use that tip on the next one.) Be sure to add your photos from the 4th Qtr. Challenge ’08 to the Photo Gallery by 1/15 so that we can vote and award prizes.

Update on the things that many of you have been emailing me about and asking!

1.  We do have Schaefer’s new Nichole yarn on order and the first part of our order is shipping out this week. We’ll have it up asap.  We may put the first half up and then the rest later when it arrives, instead of making you wait for the whole thing. We also do have more Anne, Lola and Andrea on order for you.

2.  Namaste’s Zuma Eggplant order is stuck in Customs at the moment. They’re hoping they’ll have it to ship out to all of their shops by mid-January.  They know we’re all anxious to get it in!  If you are on our pre-order list, we still have one with your name on it for you.  If you did not pre-order and want to, I do still have a few available from this first order.  Email me.

3.  Sock Club details coming in Friday’s Blog Post. Sign-ups begin next Monday, the 12th.

4.  Malabrigo Sock and Worsted – have been on order for a long time, and we’re not sure when it will be in. But we’re looking forward to getting it.

5.  I’m heading off to our twice-a-year TNNA Market in a week, so that I can stay on top of all of the new yarns and trends for you! Email me if there is any line/yarn you’d like me to look into while I’m there.  I’ll add it to my list.

6.  Did you catch this week’s Sneak Up? We added lots of Hand Maiden Casbah, bellamoden Fingering, new Tempted Roving, Gypsy Knits DK, Loopy Soap, Romney Ridge Calendars, Addi Clicks,  Opal Wintermarchen, and patterns from Figheadh and Nelkin Designs.

Lastly, Happy 25th Anniversary to my Wonderful Hubby. I remember thinking 25 years was a long long time when my parents celebrated their 25th. It seems to go pretty fast when you’re the one in it! We were married on a cold, snowy night and it was beautiful. I added this particular photo because so many of you know my friend Janice, and if I’m going to show what Paul and I looked like 25 years ago, then I think you ought to see Janice and Steve, too. It was a fun weekend with all of our favorite friends and family there with us!

Sheri whothinkswealllookjustthesametoday(cough)

Woolpets – you know those adorable felting kits that we have carried for quite some time?  Have you made one yet? They are so fun and Laurie’s designs and instructions make it pretty foolproof.  Today, you get a chance to know her better. (And I get a chance to show you my favorite-ever-photo that has been submitted for a limelight interview. Here is Laurie, relaxing with her sheep Hazel. What a comfortable pillow that must be!) I think I first heard about Laurie from my friend Georgia (Yarn Pirate). I asked Laurie if she could make up a few Loopy sheep for me to buy, and then we started talking about making it into a kit. We went from one kit to her full line of kits and have loved them ever since. (Note – a re-stock of more Woolpets will be here later in the week!)
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Loopy: Hi Laurie!  We love having your wonderful felting kits here.  How long have you been felting and do you remember the first thing you made?
Laurie: Hi Loopy! I’ve been needle felting for about 6 years now.  Before that, I tried wet-felting but I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I think the first thing I made was a sheep from a kit by Kelly Riley. After that, I was hooked for good!

Loopy: I think it’s easy to get hooked on felting because the results are so rewarding. What made you get into making felted animals to sell, and then kitting them?
Laurie: Before I sold my felted animals, I had been giving them away as gifts for friends and family.  More and more people began asking for them, and I found myself pretty busy.  The main reason why I thought about kitting them is due to the unique nature of the craft of needle felting. Since it is a new craft, not many people are familiar with how to use the wool and needle to make a little critter. I figured if people had step-by-step photo instructions to follow, it would make learning the technique easier.  Also, I myself buy kits all the time, so I enjoy learning via a kit. My husband is a photographer and has a little graphic design experience,  so creating the step-by-step photo instructions and putting them in a booklet is all his talent. He’s the man behind the wool!

Loopy: The instructions and photos are what make your kits so do-able for everyone, so kudos to your husband, Kevin for his part in this. Do you have a favorite animal or figure that you have done?
Laurie: I like making sheep the most. Every time I make one, I feel a silent gesture of gratitude to sheep everywhere from which this material came. And, I love ‘decorating’ their woolly bodies with curly wool locks. And, because their bodies are not very defined, they are easy to make. Some animals take a little more concentration and patience, like a lion. I enjoy the challenge, but it’s also nice to enjoy the process itself.

Loopy: How do you come up with new ideas for kits?
Laurie: Some ideas for kits come from illustrations in children’s books. Tasha Tudor is one of my favorite artists. She has a style of illustration that I find very appealing.  Whenever I go to the library or a book store, I browse the children’s section looking for inspiration. I also like to visit an Asian bookstore in Seattle that carries  great Japanese craft books which are full of photos with unique craft techniques and ideas.

Loopy: That must be one reason I like your kits so much. I love Tasha Tudor’s illustrations, too. Is this a full-time job for you?
Laurie: Yes – it has been for the last year and a half. I had a Waldorf-inspired home daycare for 6 years before Woolpets became full-time. Part of Waldorf education is working with natural materials, so my interest in needle felting began in a teacher training workshop. Needle-felted puppets are used in the Waldorf kindergarten for puppet plays and story-telling.  I enjoyed making animals so much that I took it to the next level of making them to sell as art. Woolpets has also been my husbands full-time job for a little over a year now.  Here is a photo from my workshop, where I put kits together. I do my artwork in the main room of my house. (Second photo). It has a nice big window that lets in natural light.

Loopy: It’s fun to see your shelves of roving. It must be like a painter’s palette in there. Are you also a knitter?  If so, how long have you been knitting and what do you like to make the most?
Laurie: I’ve been a knitter for about 10 years. I don’t seem to have the patience (or interest) in knitting clothing. Mostly what I make are little animals. Imagine that!

Loopy: For any other artisans out there, do you have any advice in starting up a business and marketing yourself? And any mistakes that you made along the way that you want to share?
Laurie: I think we (hubby and I) have the advantage of introducing something relatively new, so that has helped a ton as far as starting out a craft-related business. I do believe in shameless self-promotion, and do whatever it takes to get your product out there, within reason, of course.  And I think that having patience can go a long way. I’m sure I have missed a step here and there but I can’t think of any worth noting. Knock on wood!

Loopy: Tell us  about how your book came about? It’s wonderful! (Here’s the link, for anyone interested.)
Laurie: Thank you for the compliment! An editor from Creative Publishing contacted me and asked me if I’d like to write a book, and would my husband be interested in doing the photography for the book.  I think she saw my website and that drew her interest.  It was a lot of work to write the book, but Creative Publishing and our editors there were wonderful to work with!

Loopy: I hope there are more books in the future for you. Tell us about your family.
Laurie: My husband and I have been married for 7 years and we have many four-legged ‘children’. (Two-legged if you include the chickens!) We have four sheep, two dogs, 7 chickens, a cat and a bunny named Bert (who thinks he’s a chicken.) We have extended family close by and owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to them for all of their hours volunteering for Woolpets! My mom and dad help us put kits together about one day a week.

Loopy: It’s great to have a business where your family can be involved. (And it’s great to have family that is willing to be involved!) Anything else you’d like to add?
Laurie: I would love to thank everyone out there who has supported our business.  It’s due in large part to their support that we’ve been able to succeed. And thank you, too, Sheri for carrying our kits in your wonderful shop! The Loopy Ewe was actually one of our first wholesale accounts. Thanks for helping Woolpets grow.
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Sheri whohasseveralcuteWoolpetsdecoratingheroffice
Theymakemesmile

Here it is January 2nd and my first project of the year is already done – woohoo! (Well – I started it Christmas Day and finished it last night. I’m totally counting it as a 2009 project. Might as well start the year off positively, right?) This is a new indie dyer line that we’ll have sometime this month. I met the Dye Dreams gals in November at Stitches East (in fact this was one of the yarns in this mystery lineup post) and they do beautiful work. Wonderful semi-solids and yarn bases. They had this particular pattern knit up and on display in their booth. Why is it that when you see a pattern knit up in person it’s so much more interesting than seeing a great photograph of it? I bought this skein of yarn and came home and put the mitts on my “to knit soon” list. It was a fun and quick pattern to knit up. (Notice the second mitt. I had to include that in the picture just so you know I did the second one, too.  My Transition Glove is still waiting for a mate.  And this mitt still needs a mate, too. I love both of those patterns and mitts. There is no reason they are still single.  Maybe I’ll be better about this in 2009.) What is your first project for 2009?

Today’s recipe was one that I made for brunch on Christmas Morning.  It passed all taste testers, so I thought I’d pass it on to you. (I think it’s the Feta Cheese that makes it so good.)

Sausage and Egg Strata

4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 lbs. sausage, browned and drained
8 slices of bread, cubed
2 1/4 cups milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 lb feta cheese, crumbled

In a 9 x 13 casserole, layer ingredients as follows: bread cubes, cheese, beaten eggs with milk, sausage, and soup. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day before needed – just cover and refrigerate, then bake as directed). Serves 8.

College Guy and Girl will be heading back up to Indiana this weekend. It has been a lovely 3 weeks, having them home and I’ve gotten spoiled by it.    (I’m pretty sure they’re plenty ready to head back to their independent lives up there. Go figure.) I’ll have to spend some serious time knitting in solace. Perhaps a French Vanilla Latte or two would also help.

Sheri theLimelightwillbebackinplaceonMondaywithWoolpetsfeatured!