This is what I’m contemplating today:

1. What’s the appeal of Twitter? Do people really enjoy knowing what other people are doing all day long? I don’t get it. I have an account set up there just in case, but I have never used it because I’m waiting to be enlightened on the whole thing.  And when you Twitter – do people then “answer” your Tweet (did I use that word right?) and then you have to answer their answer? It sounds time consuming. But bottom line, do we really need to know that much about everyone’s life? Or do I just not get it because I’m not on it?

2.  Why isn’t there a National Knitting Month? All knitters could be exempt from household duties that month, in order to knit and “promote knitting worldwide”. Oh, and yarn budgets triple during National Knitting Month. Sounds reasonable. Crocheters get their own month, too.

3.  Why does the same cute rabbit keep bounding back and forth in my backyard? (I’m home, making Snickerdoodles and blogging on the back porch. Oh, hey!  I could’ve Twittered/Tweeted that, right? But unless you’re a block over and can stop by for warm Snickerdoodles, why would you want to know?)

4.  Who has knitted the most items in their lifetime? And who has the biggest stash? (Doris sent me this link and thinks that Bonney might win in this category. I agree!) And who has taught the most people to knit? Shouldn’t there be a “Knitter’s Hall of Fame” somewhere?

5.  How am I going to get a booth’s worth of fixtures and yarn from St. Louis to Portland for the Sock Summit in August? Having a booth? Not stressful. Meeting all of you there? Downright fun! Coordinating the booth contents, getting them all out there, figuring out where to store it all before I get there, or thinking about taking 3 long days to drive it out, or coordinating a delivery by freight? Giving me nightmares. Absolutely stressing me out.

Got any answers? Or any things you’re wondering about yourself?

Sheri backyardneighborisweedwhipping,nolongerpeacefulontheporch.(Hey,Icould’veTwitter/Tweetedthat….)

Graduation Week-end is over and we have one less college bill to pay a successfully graduated son – woohoo!  It was a fun weekend and I’m glad that my folks, WH’s mom, and my brother were all there to help us celebrate.  Here are some photos for you:

College Guy and his favorite friends (L-R): Matt, Audrey, Jen, Gretchen and Danny:

College Guy and his favorite room-mates (not Jessica.   She’s Nathan’s fiancee and since the rest of these guys are currently girlfriend-less. she claims them all for her own and calls them “My Boys”. I think she has a pretty good deal!) L-R: Danny, Nathan, Jessica, Dan and Philip.

College Guy and his friend Matt getting ready to drive off to O’Hare Airport in Chicago to catch a plane to Budapest for their backpacking adventure (they met up with Matt’s college sister over there):

Look who they ran into at O’Hare – Janice’s son A and his girlfriend C! They had just flown back from C’s semester overseas and were driving back to Iowa that afternoon. Funny that their time overlapped at the airport!

Speaking of trips, it was so fun to read all of your hometown entries in the May Blog Contest! Clearly I don’t get out enough, because every one of them seemed like a must-see. You all have some great things to do in your hometowns and it made me wish that we could just hop in a car and start making the rounds. (And then we’d have to hop a plane to visit all of you overseas.) I’m ready! We did the Randomizer to find two winners for the contest. It picked Holly in CO and Allison in CT. Congratulations to both of you!  We’re sending off your Loopy Care Packages in the morning.  Watch for our June contest in a couple of weeks – we have another fun question for you to ponder and answer.

Have you noticed my lack of knitting progress on the blog, lately? That’s because I’ve been knitting away on my Girasole. I counted up last night and I have 30 more rows to go, and then the knitted edge. That doesn’t seem like a lot, until you realize that each row is 640 stitches, and I’ve heard that the knitted edge takes forever. I’m still enjoying it, though. I’ve also started my Challenge Socks. Good thing, since they need to be done by the end of June.

In re-stocking news, we have put up: more Dream in Color Classy, new colors of Yarn Love roving, Perchance to Knit Midnight Rainbow/Harlot’s Peacock Lace, and the Knit Kits are back in. Coming up (so far) for next week: Creatively Dyed Calypso, L&V Intentions Yarn and Roving, Yarn Love Juliet, Perchance to Knit Lace, Hazelknits, and possibly Numma Numma The Usual (if we get it in time to photo for the Sneak Up. It’s in the mail!).

Sheri knittingdaughterjustdroveupintheparkinglot.Ilovehavingherhomeforthesummer!

It’s time to welcome new Loopy Groupies again. (I’m trying to do this more often so that the list isn’t quite so long and intimidating!) You become an official “Loopy Groupie” when you get your sixth package from us. When I first came up with this idea, waaaay back in the beginning when we first opened our shop, I remember wondering if it was a good idea. Would people think it was silly? Would anyone want to be a Loopy Groupie? I’m so glad that the answer was yes! (And people started reaching that magic number of packages so much quicker than I anticipated. Now that I know you all a lot better, it doesn’t surprise me a bit, but back then it did.) We’re glad to have you all with us, and a big, warm welcome to those who have recently joined in:

Catherine in WI, Dana in MO, Diana in FL, Anne in TN, Susie in CA, Dani in NC, Brianne in MO, Ann in CO, Lois in FL, Laura in NC, Tamara in CO, Cecilia in CA, Liesl in MI, Courtney in OK, Carolyn in CA, Jami in NC, Hallie in Ireland, Jane in TX, Regina in NM, Margaret in NV, Catherine in CO, Tiffany in VA, Susan in IL, Michelle in MO, Nancy in NY, Laura in MD, Jean in WA, Patricia in CA, Allison in Canada, Jody in MI, Judith in MI, Edna in KY, Susan in OH, Irene in Norway, Lisa in IL, June in NY, Grace in NJ, Gail in NH, Robin in KY, Stasia in WI, Denise in MA, William in OH, Jennifer in TX, Sally in VA, Matt in NE, Lauren in TX, Randi in GA, Amanda in MD, Irene in MA, Jocelyn in NY, Beth in MD, Lizzie in GA, Carol in NJ, Desiree in PA, Olivia in FL, April in MA, Karen in MN, Barbara in ME, Jean in OH, Samantha in NY, Helen in Sweden, Linda in GA, Jessi in VA, Denise in TX, Karen in DE, Emily in WA, Sandra in CA, Rhonda in NY, Melanie in Canada, Sarah in CA, Angela in CA, Marybeth in NC, Lisa in NC, Cherie in IA, Chana in CA, Kaisa in The Philippines, Vivian in VA, Mary in NY, Leonard in D.C., Theresa in CO, Jen in CA, Sharon in Canada, Suzette in OR, Leanne in The UK, Cheryl in Canada, Kristina in IL, Tasina in IL, Conchita in CA, Leslie in AZ, Sheryl in WI, Judith in PA, Cammie in WV, Beverly in CA, Laura in PA, Katy in AZ, Hazel in The UK, Nancy in TX, Holly in MA, Janie in IL, Barbara in D.C., Dorothy in FL, Michelle in MA, Jennifer in NJ, Rani in MN, Symbra in NC, Jennifer in the Armed Forces, Amy in MN, Arlene in NY, Julie in MI, Denise in IN, Antonia in NJ, Thersa in AZ, Terri in OR, Erin in CA, Kyoko in Japan, Kate in Australia, Georgiana in NY, Whitney in KS, Sue in WA, Toria in MI, Rosemary in VA, Trish in MD, Diane in Canada, Joanne in TX, Diane in CA, Jennie in PA, Mara in Spain, Wendy in MA, Elaine in CA, Soraya in South Korea, Alison in VT, Donna in IL, Kathleen in MN, Erica in OH, Elpida in KS, Julianne in MN, Josette in ME, Amy in WA, Gita in D.C., Laura in KS, Sarah in NE, Carol in NH, Susan in NY, Siw in Norway, Lisa in WA, Mary in VA, Jennifer in CA, Deborah in CT, and Marlon in The Netherlands.

We send packages all over the world, and there are so many times that we’re wrapping something up and someone says, “You know, I would be happy to deliver this one in person!” We do the next best thing – we send Loopy out to spend the summer with you, wherever you are. I hope you’re showing him a good time and taking pictures! But if we WERE going to deliver an order to you in person, what would you want us to see in your home town while we were there? That’s the Blog Contest question this month. What would you want to show us in your hometown before we headed back home? What is on your “must do and see here” list when you have visitors in town? Leave a comment and tell us one thing (or several things) and you’ll be entered to win a special Loopy Care Package. We’ll do the lottery drawings a week from today.

I’ll be out of town on Friday, so I’ll be back to the blog next week – Monday or Wednesday. Don’t forget, Monday is a holiday here in the U.S. – no mail going out. (We’ll make up for it on Tuesday, I promise.) This weekend is graduation for College Guy up in Indiana. I can hardly believe it. After he graduates, he’s heading off on a 2 1/2 week backpacking trip in Europe with some friends (you know, the kind of thing you do before you have job or family responsibilities.) He’ll get home and have a little time off  for the summer and then will head to FL to work for the company he interned with last summer. College Girl will come home with us this weekend and she’s going to be a Loopy Elf this summer. It will be fun to have her here!

Since we’ll be gone for the weekend and since Monday is a holiday, I’m not sure when/if we’ll do a Sneak Up. We’ll continue adding in things as they come in, though. For those of you wanting the Lorna’s Laces Wendy Knits color, we sold out of the Shepherd Sock, but we expect more in today or tomorrow. (Edit – It’s here! The gals at Lorna’s Laces are awesome.) As we were packing all of those skeins up yesterday, one of the Elves said, “I can’t believe we went through that many bags of this colorway and it all sold out. What’s the deal?” and another Elf answered, “Everyone loves Wendy!” Yes, yes we do. We still have the colorway available in the Shepherd Sport and in the Roving.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to leave us the “must-sees” for your home town!

Sheri readytogetridofthisconstantheadachebroughtonbyallergies,FPS

There’s a better crowd under the birdfeeders now. I am happy to say that I haven’t seen the possum pair since I took that photo. That makes me very very happy. We’re back to the duck pair and the regular rabbits and chipmunks scrounging under the birdfeeders. (Just noticed I had typed in “rabbis” instead of “rabbits”. Glad I caught that. We have no rabbis scrounging birdseed at the moment. Just rabbits.) I have to say, Jessica’s comment made me laugh out loud:

“Aww, don’t be so hard on the possums! We had one on our front porch when I was young… my mom picked it up one night… she was outside to get the cat and hadn’t bothered to turn on the porch light… I’m not sure who was more startled, but no one was bitten and the thing actually became sort of an outdoor pet.”

I’m just trying to imagine that. I’m pretty sure I would’ve shrieked and thrown it across the porch without even thinking. And I’m pretty sure the entire neighborhood would’ve heard me.

Check out the Elf Mugs in the Loopy kitchen. I had them done with all of our names on them, and then WH built the handy-dandy mug rack for me. We like having our own mugs! These are made by Twisted River Clayworks, my favorite pottery people over on etsy. I have ordered from them several times and they get the orders out quickly and package them up really well. It’s a pleasure to do business with them. (You might remember me talking about them in this post. They made my very favorite mug!) And here’s another fun etsy seller that I like – MudHutt Studio. I think this memo pad is made to swap out the clay ornament part if you want. I like her whimsical designs.

Sneak Up is up for the week – come see. We’ve added a lot!

Sheri hopingtoworkonGirasoletonight.Anyoneelsemakingonerightnow?

Remember that song, “Just another Manic Monday”? We’ve decided that we need to change the lyrics to “Just another Frantic Friday”. Somehow, between in-person shoppers and getting orders packed up and out and taking care of new cases of yarn that come in and need to be unpacked, Fridays have turned into crazy days.  Lately, we come in in the morning and race through until 3:00 (when the mailman comes) and then sit back and look at each other and just ….. blink. Frantic. Friday. But lest you feel too sorry for us (and we’re surrounded by yarn all day, so I know that you really don’t), we had Loopy Groupie Lori stop by with Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars, and Elf Wendy brought some dense chocolate desserts with her to work today. Since they both have such good taste, they both shopped for these delicious items at this bakery. I can see that I am going to have to pay an in-person visit there. Especially when they have lattes that look like that.

Question for all of you who live in Indiana. Last weekend when we were driving up to meet College Guy and College Girl, we passed fields and fields of these bright yellow flowering plants. What are they? They looked so cheerful, and they were planted in rows so I know it’s something that was planned and planted on purpose. We just couldn’t figure out what they were. Does anyone know?

Today’s recipe was adapted from the Year of Crockpotting blog. She has such great recipes – I hope you have that site bookmarked. This soup recipe is delicious and SPICY!

Buffalo Wing Crockpot Soup
3 cups cooked and cubed chicken
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup butter, unsalted
1/4 cup flour
2 cups fat free milk (or no higher than 2% – it will curdle)
1 cup chicken broth
4 oz. Velveeta
1/3 cup hot wing sauce (more, if you like it hotter)
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Add chopped onion, celery, and chopped chicken to your crockpot. Pour in chicken broth and milk. Add Velveeta and salt.

Make a roux with the flour and butter. (Melt butter in microwave and then whisk in the flour.) Add to the crockpot, along with the hot sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (or on high for 3-4 hours).  Delicious.

Watch for next week’s Sneak Up – we have fun things going up! Just in – the new Color Commentary from Lorna’s Laces, and this time it’s in honor of our friend Wendy at WendyKnits.  We ordered lots in Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Sport, and Roving to go up next week. We’ll also be adding in new colors of Claudia Hand Painted Fingering and Silk, as well as new colors in Mountain Colors Bearfoot. We have more Fleece Artist Trail Socks to go up, Yarn Pirate Roving and Fingering weight yarn, and Creatively Dyed in a new Worsted Weight. We did a lot of photographs this week (and by “we”, I mean Elf Wendy) and we’ll do a lot of color correcting this weekend (and by “we”, I mean WH), and then we’ll get it all up for you asap next week (and by “we”, I mean me). It takes a village, you know.

Sheri whohasn’thadmuchknittingtimelately,haveyou?

Here in the St. Louis area, if you want acres between your house and the next, you drive about an hour west of the city, or you spend several million dollars. Instead (because we don’t want to drive an hour, and we don’t have a million dollars), we live in a neighborhood with lots of other houses along the block. People walk their dogs, kids ride their bikes, joggers run by with their ipods attached to their heads, and the sound of lawn mowers can be heard from early Spring through late Fall. Typical suburbia. It was interesting enough when we had a raccoon living under our screen porch last spring. (Really, in the middle of a very populated neighborhood? No woods nearby?) I thought he was kind of cute and the cats were enthralled with this interesting creature, but WH pointed the hose under the porch and the raccoon shot out of there like a bandit on the run. We haven’t seen him back. (It’s a good thing. He brought fleas into the yard and shared them with the dog. FPS.)

This spring, we were again surprised to see a pair of mallard ducks in our yard. There is a neighborhood pond about 3 blocks from our house, so I suppose they get their water fix there. But they continue to walk around our yard and waddle under the big bush by the bird feeders almost every morning and night. I know that some of you were guessing that we’d have baby ducks when I mentioned something in Monday’s post. So far, no babies. However, the wildlife IS increasing in our backyard (in the middle of suburbia). Monday morning I looked out and saw these two possums eating birdseed under the bird feeders. POSSUMS. Those snarly, hissy, not-at-all-nice animals. They’re not cute (like the raccoon) and they’re not fun to watch and listen to (like the ducks), and I don’t want them in the backyard!  I took the photo of the two of them and then raised the window to see if I could get a closeup. One ambled under the screen porch when the window went up, but the other one just sat there with his teeth bared. I haven’t seen them since, and I hope not to. (What were they doing out in the morning, anyway? I thought possums were night animals?) It appears that it is time to board up the space under the porch, don’t you think?

This month is birthday month at our house. Yesterday was Web Guy’s birthday (Happy Birthday again, Danny!) and Monday was my mom’s birthday (Happy Birthday again, Mom!). We celebrated Web Guy’s birthday in Terre Haute on Sunday (along with celebrating Mother’s Day with them). It was really fun to see both of our kids and spend a couple of hours with them. Totally worth the 3 hour drive each way to get there. I’m so glad that they were up for it! On Monday night, we went out for dinner to celebrate my mom’s birthday. See that Creme Brulee she has? It was divine.

Sheri whothinksasheep(orthree)inthebackyardmightjustfitinafterall