The year has just about come to a close. Did you get everything done that you intended to do in 2009? How about those resolutions you made back in January – completed? (Or have you given up on resolutions completely?) I went back to my last blog of 2008, to see how I had done on mine. (I figured I had blogged it. I was right.)

The quick synopsis is: I completely avoided lima beans and creamed corn in 2009.  I did frog several UFO’s, and I finished several as well.  I spent more time keeping up with friends and found a better balance at work. I bought more knitting bags. I did make some progress on the back room in the basement, I stayed on top of my Christmas knitting list and I’m positive that I continued to bug my two kids on a regular basis. I may or may not have exercised more, eaten more vegetables and knitted all of the yarns that I wanted to get to. I also may or may not have worried less, but I’m sure I prayed more. And I didn’t do as many RAKS throughout the year as I wanted to.

I’m thinking about what I want on my 2010 list. I like having three sections – the completely do-able (buy more knitting bags, and significantly increase my stash in case of future economic woes), as well as the challenging (increase the number of days a week that I exercise and learn to cook with more vegetables), and the nearly impossible (give up knitting and learn to play the bagpipes instead). It keeps things interesting. And no, I’m not doing the last thing. That’s why it’s on the “impossible” list. That’s an easy list to make. Actually, the completely do-able list is also very easy to make. It’s that darned challenging list in the middle….

So do you have a “completely do-able” or a “challenging” or a “nearly impossible” resolution that you’d like to share for 2010?

Sheri lookingforwardtosharing2010withallofyou!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and weekend! It was good to have a few days off with family and friends. We read books, watched movies, did some knitting, and enjoyed big fat flakes of snow on Christmas Day, and through the weekend at different times. It was great! This photo is from our Christmas Eve Service at church. I love the oversized words formed with photos from nature. (click photos to enlarge) Although check out this second one. For the entire month of December, I thought it said GRACE, even though it was obvious that they kind of messed up the “G” photo. How do you get a “G” out of that? Each week I’d ponder it again and wonder what that photographer was thinking. It wasn’t until we sat in a different spot this weekend, that it became glaringly clear to me that it says PEACE, not GRACE. (Hello?) Funny how a change of perspective can change something like that. (Maybe I was personally in need of more Grace than Peace this season, and I saw what I needed to see? Anyway – great words.)

Thank you again for sharing all of the wonderful things that you have been doing for others this season. I think I just need to come back and re-read them each month, to keep the ideas fresh in my mind. I always get so inspired to go and do likewise, when I read about the things that you’re doing. Today is our last week in this contest. We’ll again be randomly drawing a winner next week (from today’s comments) for a $50 Loopy Ewe Gift Certificate. Congratulations to Robin from Kentucky, who won last week’s contest! Share with us what you’ve done this past week (or go find something nice to do in the remainder of this week and come back and post).

For those of you with a Loopy Ewe Gift Certificate burning a hole in your pocket (or for those of you who didn’t get one and are not going to let that stop you from shopping), we have a whole bunch of things just up: Louet Gems, Malabrigo Worsted, Malabrigo Silky, Malabrigo Sock, Madelinetosh Worsted, Claudia Hand Painted, Shibui Knits, Hand Maiden Mini Maiden, String Theory DK, Perchance to Knit’s Midnight Rainbow Lace, and Spirit Trail Fiberworks luxury yarn base, Sunna. And most of you have already seen the new Opal Antonia line that we put up last week, which is named after a Tyrolean Pop Singer. The labels are …. interesting. Come see all of the new stuff.

In-person hours this week: Remember, we’re closed on Thursday and Friday of this week for New Years, but we ARE open from 10 am – 1 pm on Wednesday instead. Next week, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled hours.

My brother was the recipient of the Never-Ending Scarf and he liked it. Knitting Daughter offered to knit me one for my birthday (because remember I said that I wanted one for my very own?) I picked cream (Natural) and tan (Baby Camel) for a subtle striping mix, and it’s looking beautiful so far. I think I have to re-name this the “Never-Ending, Warmest-Ever Scarf”.

Sheri whostartedMara#2andanewsockovertheweekend

One of my favorite things to set up for the holidays is my collection of snowmen. How can one be stressed by the season when you have all of these plump happy dudes smiling at you from the corner of the room? I didn’t plan to collect these. As with most collections, a few turned into a shelf full, then a couple of shelves full, then all of a sudden they were at “takeover” quantities. It takes awhile to set them up, but it’s not Christmas until they’ve all found their own places on the shelf. Do you have a favorite holiday collection or decoration that you enjoy putting up every year?

Speaking of holiday decorations, we have one house in the neighborhood that goes all out. Really, this photo doesn’t even begin to give you the scope of things in their front yard because there is more to the right of the photo, and more to the left. (And that’s just the front yard. They back up to the neighborhood lake and they decorate the backyard as well.) The people across the street simply prop a large mirror up in their front yard, and call that “done”. I like their sense of humor! Doesn’t every neighborhood have one house like this?

I finished the Never-Ending scarf. I have to say, even though it took forEVER (or seemed to), it is the warmest, softest, most wonderful scarf I have knit up. I knit this with 4 skeins of Cascade Eco Alpaca (2 each of jet and charcoal) on 16″ size 5 circulars. You cast on 70-80 stitches (depending on your gauge – you want the stitches to fill the circ so that it’s easy to keep the tube going round and round) and then just keep knitting around and around and around until you reach the desired length. I made each stripe 10 rows wide. The nice thing about knitting it in a tube is that you can just carry the yarns right up the inside and you don’t have to cut and weave in the ends. I just “catch” it every 4 rows or so, to keep it traveling up. The other nice thing about knitting it as a tube, is that it’s double thick, which makes it double warm, and it looks exactly the same on the front and the back. The scarf has 41 stripes, which used almost all 4 skeins. I had to pull the one side up to show the fringe, but there’s more scarf behind the mannequin. And now that it’s done and I’m giving it away? I find myself wanting one to keep for my very own.

We’re off for the holidays after today, so no blog again until Monday. I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas (if you celebrate Christmas) and I hope that you get a lot of knitting time in over the weekend.  Remember – our last Random Acts of Kindness Contest will be next Monday. See you then!

Sheri tryingtodecidewhattopickupandknitnext.
(FinishoneofmyWIPs?Probablynot.Thatwouldbesilly.)

Did you read all of the wonderful things that people are doing while out and about this season? I love how you’re all reaching out and finding ways to make someone’s day! If you’ve found some kind act to do since last week’s post, please post it in a comment below and we’ll draw a winner next week. (Note – we’ll have one more Random Acts Contest next Monday, so keep watching for opportunities around you.) The randomly drawn winner of last week’s contest is Jenny from MO, who won a $50 Loopy Ewe Gift Certificate. (Yes, we also up the certificate amount for these Random Acts contests, just for fun!)

This weekend, we did our holiday baking. One of my random acts this week was to put together trays of cookies and treats for neighbors. We have several elderly couples on our street who probably don’t do much baking during the holidays, so this is a fun way to share our baking with them. These Oreo Truffles are amazing. I think everyone and their brother made them last year, but I didn’t see the recipe until this year. If you haven’t made them, here is the recipe:

Oreo Truffles

1 package of Oreos
1/2 package of cream cheese (about 4 oz.)
white melting chocolate

Put the whole pack of Oreos into a food processor and process until it’s all dark crumbs. Add the cream cheese and mix until well blended. Scoop out bite-sized pieces and roll into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet in the fridge for 15 minutes. Dip the balls into melted white chocolate and let them harden on waxed paper.

Note – I tried this with the mint oreos, too. While the taste was good, I had to use two packs of Mint Oreos to one package of cream cheesse, due to the peppermint oil in the flavoring. Not sure I’d make those again.

The cookies in the photo are made with our favorite sugar cookie cutout recipe. We make these for two or three different holidays per year.

Sheri determinedtofinishthenever-ending-scarfbyWednesday’sblogpost

We get a lot of boxes here every day. Big boxes, little boxes, all kinds of boxes. Usually the Elves unpack the big boxes (because those always contain yarn orders). If there are any smaller boxes of undetermined origin, they usually leave these on the counter for me to open later. A while back, I wandered up front to check on something, and while I was talking to the Elves, I opened the small box sitting there (obviously waiting for me. Obviously.). I flipped back the flaps and pulled out …. a sleep mask? Huh?  That’s when Elf Karen said, “Oh my gosh – that’s not for us. The Fed Ex guy left that box here for the Sleep Center people across the hall!” Well heck. That was the end of me opening up boxes just because they were sitting there waiting for me. Obviously. We carefully taped the box back up and I’m pretty sure you couldn’t even tell that it had been opened. (And fortunately none of them are knitters and read this blog.) However, Karen has started leaving me notes on boxes that I ought to just leave well enough alone. I guess she still doesn’t trust me. (Although if those Sleep Center people kept regular daytime hours, we wouldn’t be storing their deliveries. Just sayin’.) Are some of you getting boxes at your house that you need to leave alone and not open up? In fact, I know you are, because we’re shipping a lot of them out there to you as gifts. Don’t snoop.

Today’s recipe is something that Photo Elf Wendy brought in to contribute to the Loopy Kitchen. It’s called Three Hour Granola because if you eat a handful of it, you can stave off your hunger for three more hours until dinnertime. And it’s delicious! A good alternative to all of the holiday sweets. (It’s not low-cal, but it IS healthy, in moderation.) Or a quick gift to mix up and give to friends and neighbors.

Wendy’s Three Hour Trail Mix

2c. old fashioned rolled oats
3 c. cashews, whole
3 c. pecans, whole or halves
3 c. walnuts, whole or halves
3 c. almonds, whole
2 c. unsalted sunflower seeds
(plus any other nuts you want to add)
1 c. flaked coconut, unsweetened
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4c. honey
2c. dried cranberries (set aside)
2c. golden raisins (set aside)

Mix dry ingredients in a large, foil, turkey roasting pan. Add oil & honey,  stir well to coat. Toast in a 350 degree, stirring every 15 mins. until browned.  (Approx. 60 mins.)  Allow to cool completely.   Add dried fruit & store in a closed canister on the counter (with scoop).  Store extras in air-tight containers or Ziplocs.

I absolutely love reading your Random Acts of Kindness comments. I keep jotting down things that spark my imagination, and am continually bowled over by the incredible ways in which you have helped those around you. I hope you all find something to do for someone this weekend, so that we all have a whole new batch of things to read about over coffee on Monday’s blog post. I know that these December contests require you to DO something in order to enter (unlike most of our contests), and you continue to rise to the occasion. You all are amazing.

Sheri whonowhasbothkidshomefortheholidays
andthatcoverseverythingIwant

Do you ever feel like you have too much to do and not enough time? (Silly question. I’m sure most of us feel that way. Especially at this time of year.) Here’s a fun little app that might help. I put a link on my toolbar so that I can click it and check it out each day. I think the best part is crossing things off the list, but I may just be weird like that. Watch the 1 minute video to see how it works, then off you go. I like that I now have ONE To Do (TeuxDeux) list to work off of each day, instead of the little post-it notes that I continue to write for myself. Think of the money I’ll save in post-its. They may just go out of business.

I finished up another pair of fingerless mitts last week. I had Elf Donna model them (by giving Loopy a big hug) and then I wrapped them up and gave them to a good friend. She said that just that morning, she had seen them talking about fingerless mitts on Good Morning America, saying that it was “the” gift to give and get this year. (We are so WITH it, aren’t we?)

We got so many boxes in today that we could’ve built a fort. You know, if we were so inclined. Nothing too exciting. Just boxes of boxes from the post office. About 2000 of them today. But we DO have boxes of yarn on the way, too. Madelinetosh called today to say they were about to “inundate us with boxes”. Ditto with the String Theory gals and Hand Maiden, who has Mini Maiden enroute to us. So hopefully the next box delivery from the post office will bring fun yarn, and not just boxes of boxes. That was a rather disappointing (although necessary) delivery.

Can you believe that Christmas is next week? How did that happen? (I still have one knitted gift to finish up. More on that next week.) Just as an FYI, our in-person shopping hours will be different during the weeks of Christmas and New Years. We’ll be open WEDNESDAYS, 12/23 and 12/30, from 10 am – 1 pm. Closed Thursdays and Fridays, 12/24, 12/25, 12/31 and 1/1.  We’ll be here answering phones and packing and shipping orders M/T/W of next week (Christmas Week) and M/T/W of the following week (New Years Week). Back to our regularly scheduled shopping and working hours the first full week in January.

Sheri knittingonthe-never-ending-scarfandreadytobedonewithit