Did you know that today is National Coffee Day? I think you’re allowed to celebrate by drinking coffee, or by buying coffee-flavored ice cream, or by ordering some lovely coffee-colored yarn for a new project. (Or hey – all three. Why not?) I celebrated by getting a new coffee mug. Well, not really. I bought the mug a month or so ago. Kind of a PRE-celebration, you know? Because I knew I’d need it. The thing I like about this mug (from my very favorite pottery place on etsy) is that it holds a Venti-sized coffee, and the mug keeps it much warmer than the paper cup that my Venti coffee comes in. It’s shown here with a regular sized mug, which holds about 12 oz.

The coffee story goes that an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi (way back in the 9th century) noticed the interesting effect that a certain berry (coffee berries) had on his goats. He began experimenting with the berries. From there, coffee made its way to being roasted and traded in Indian and European markets, with the first Starbucks coffee shop being opened in Constantinople in 1475.  Nowadays, we consume 400 billion cups of coffee a year. It’s a world commodity second only to oil. I hope Kaldi bought stock in all that.

I asked you to tell me about your favorite mug one time. (Note – that’s another mug from the same potter. Remember my mug problem?) Today, in honor of National Coffee Day, tell me about your favorite coffee. (Or if you’re a tea drinker, share your favorite tea.) On Friday, I’ll share a cookie recipe that would go very well with either tea or coffee.

Sheri headingouttocelebratebygettingabigcupofcoffee

I was heading to the Loopy kitchen to make my first cup of morning coffee, and I came upon a pile of orange and black yarn. Not just a skein or two, but lots and lots of it, just sitting in a pile. Upon further investigation (“Hey, what’s all this?”), Head Elf Susan admitted that she thought we should show all of these pretty colors on the blog. Susan likes Halloween a lot. She’s the one who brings the spider tattoos for us to wear on the 31st, and the cupcakes with the Halloween rings stuck into the frosting, and then paints her face green and wears a witch hat for the day. Ok, not really, on the last two. But she does do the tattoos and the cupcakes. So it’s no wonder that she’s already thinking black and orange, and leaving a trail of yarn as she walks around Loopy Central.

I know I’ll get emails from some of you, asking what is what in the photos. So I re-arranged the skeins a bit so that I could identify them for you. In this first photo, top to bottom:

Alpaca With a Twist Jumbo Baby in Hot Flash and Black Pearl

Aslan Trends Royal Alpaca in Tangerine and Black

Malabrigo Rios in Glazed Carrot and Black. (Glazed Carrot – what a great name.)

Of course we also have orange and black in The Loopy Ewe Solids Line. And semi-solids in all of the Dream in Color lines (check out Flamingo Pie, Giant Peach, Melon Bomb, Black Parade, and Black Pearl.)

In mixed colorways, here are some fun options (top to bottom on the left, then top to bottom on the right):

Gale’s Art Autumn Fire
Studio June Andrea Mae DK’s Woodland Walk
Tuscan Grove Dog Pound
Madelinetosh Merino Light Cameo
Dragonfly Djinni Sugar Maple

(Right side, top to bottom)
Monkeypal Jaberwocky
Cascade Heritage Sock 9801
Sereknity Tree Frog
Malabrigo Seleccion G, Crystal Palace Panda Cotton Nasturtiams, Cascade    Fixation 4448
Sanguine Gryphon Bugga Smaller Yellow Ant (also in Skinny Bugga)

So – is anyone knitting anything fun for Halloween week? And does anyone else like Halloween as much as Elf Susan? (In all honesty, Susan is a big fan of all holidays, not just Halloween. I’m keeping an eye out for the next holiday-themed pile of yarn to appear around here.)

We’ve had a great time stocking shelves with the new things in tonight’s Update, because these are all the types of yarn that are as fun to pick up and knit with, as they are to wear. Just up, you’ll find:

Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere – we shared this brand new base with you in our August Anniversary Kits, and I know you’ve been waiting for us to put up more of it. We have it in 21 brand new colors. Some colors may be repeated later, some may not be repeated. We told them to just jump in and dye some new things, and they came up with great colors for us.

String Theory Hand-Dyed DK and Caper – new re-stocks in the DK weight (great for sweaters) and a few more colors in the Caper (great for socks and lightweight shawls).

Dragonfly Djinni – Kate’s merino/cashmere/nylon fingering base in 23 bright, deep colors.

GoKnit Bags - re-stocked in all sizes and all colors. We also have their two new colors (Gold and Mauve) in all three sizes, as well as the new Fur Bag (only available in small).

Big pattern re-stocks in Wendy Knits and Knitspot patterns, as well as new patterns from both designers.

Have fun checking out all of the new lines and colors, and we’ll look forward to packing up your orders in the morning.

Sheri coolertemperatureshavearrived,sock-weatherwillbeheresoon

It has been a lot of fun reading your Bits and Bobs comments from last week’s contest. I got some new ideas, and I hope you did, too. Ruth shared that she makes Minions out of them, which sent me scurrying to Ravelry to see what a Minion pattern is. How cute are these? (And big ones, too!) I definitely need to make some of those, just for fun. Ania shared the pattern she’s using to make a cute toy for her daughter’s birthday. I like that pattern, too. Maybe I need to knit a few toys. And Diane and Michelle both mentioned that they have a jar of caked skeins, and I do, too. I love the look (and the jar is huge – those are full skeins of cakes) but now that they’re in there, I don’t know if I’ll ever really pull them out and knit them up. I forget they’re there (in the Loopy lobby) and … of course there’s always something new to knit anyway. Maybe what I ought to do is empty that container, keep the cakes with my regular stash, and start filling the container with more Bits and Bobs. I need a new container for them.

Several of you mentioned putting short pieces of the yarn outside on tree branches in the spring, for birds building nests. I keep meaning to do that each spring. Next spring for sure. A couple of you asked what I do with my yarn labels. I throw them away. Although I have thought about making something like this out of them, some day. Tracy asked if I ever use the bits and bobs up, or rotate them. I really don’t. They just sit there looking pretty until I need them for darning.

I also loved Teri’s idea of keeping a small jar of them on your desk at work. She said it helps her “get through the day.”  And how about spinning them into new yarn? That’s what Cassie does, and here’s a photo. Fun idea.

Thanks to everyone for sharing ideas and participating. We used the Number Randomizer to pick two winners from the comments section. We’ve sent Loopy Ewe Gift Certificates to Jody in IL and Brianna in MA. Congratulations to both of you!

Is it annoying that I bold different sentences in each paragraph, or helpful? Because I think mixed up bolding might be sorta kinda possibly irritating after awhile. Or hey – how about bolding, not bolding and italics on occasion? So many possibilities for annoyance. Not that I want to do that to you. I’m ending the post now. Have a great weekend.

Sheri whoapparentlyneedstogetoutofthewoolfumestoday

It’s time. Time for a Three Things post. (It has been awhile!) So here it goes:

Three things I’m happy about:

1. We have now donated a total of $2000 to the Marsha Rifkin Ovarian Cancer Research Center, thanks to all of your Skacel Socks for the Cure Kit purchases. All of our proceeds (and all of Skacel’s proceeds) are being donated, and you all have been wonderful in supporting that with your purchases!
2. I received the most beautiful samples of yarn yesterday from one of our yarn companies, and it has been sitting on my desk all day long. New line, new base, totally awesome.  The colors are making me happy. Details asap.
3.  Not only that, but we have some great new indie dyers coming this fall, and that makes me happy, too!

Three things I’m a bit wigged out concerned about:

1. Space. Or rather, the lack thereof. Need more room for yarn. (I did have one yarn company offer to send me shelves for Christmas, but I said I’d rather have another 1500 sq. ft. of Loopy space instead. I’ll wait and see if they come through on that…) This is the only place in Loopy, not filled with shelves – our front room. And I like it just like this. I want to keep it.
2. Projects. Or rather, the amount of projects currently OTN (on the needles), and the rather large number of things I want to add in to my list. Although I did send one yarn off to a Loopy Sample Knitter today, even though I really wanted to knit the sample myself. I thought this was a mature decision on my part. (I have a second skein of that yarn. It’d be best if I just left it sitting here and didn’t start a project with it, right? Because that would negate my maturity in sending off the other skein to be sample-knit …)
3. Decisions. As related to new lines and too many choices. But that only wigs me out concerns me temporarily, until I can spend the time planning and deciding. Working on that tonight.

Three things I love about the Fall:

1. The crispness in the air (and the wonderful smell, especially when people are burning leaves.)
2. The colors of the leaves changing. (Really, how awesome is it that they turn red, orange and yellow instead of just going from green and alive, straight to brown and dead? Great plan.)
3. Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Bread …. (I know you can make some of these things at other times of the year, but they taste best in the Fall. Seriously.)

Got three things to share?

Sheri backtotheyarndecisions,gonnabealongnight.
Mightneedapumpkinspicelatte,nowthatIthinkaboutthat.

Guess what I got to do over the weekend? WH and I flew down for a long weekend with Web Guy (who also happens to be our #1 son!). We had a great time and it was so good to see him. I’m just not a fan of kids moving 18 hours away from home. Why in the heck would they want to do that? Luckily, we do still get to see him from time to time. Last fall, I flew down by myself to fill up his freezer and get some long-term Loopy plans discussed. It was nice to have Paul along this year. That way, I can show you what sunrise at Deerfield Beach looks like (because he went and took this photo while I slept a little longer):

And another (click to make it bigger – you can almost hear those waves):

He also took a photo of a cute raccoon. There is a big family of them who like to investigate the tidbits that are in the dumpster at the apartment complex. I find this charming, because I’m a sucker for animals. Most of the residents of the complex (and definitely the guy who has to clean up after them each morning) find this a nuisance.

There is also a crane Great Blue Heron (thanks Wendy T!) who lives by the lake at the complex. Web Guy ways he has a damaged wing and can’t fly any farther than the other side of the (small) lake. So he’s a resident that pretty much stays put, much like the raccoons.

I did some more cooking and filling of the freezer, because as a mom, it makes me feel like I’m taking care of Web Guy a little bit. He does just fine taking care of himself, but his freezer WAS a little on the empty side. Long work hours and not a lot of time to cook. I filled it back up for him. (Burger Goo, cooking in the background. I was going to link to the recipe, but I see that I have never shared that with you. I’ll make it again and will photo it to share!)

All in all, it was a very fun weekend. By the time we arrived back home last night, it was hard to believe that we had been walking along the beach, just that morning. And I miss Web Guy again.

Today I was back at Loopy, catching up and getting ready for the Monday Update. Tonight we added in:

Malabrigo Rios - This 4-ply superwash worsted weight is gorgeous, and comes in 19 colors. Great for sweaters, hats, scarves, and heavier weight shawls (like the Tesni Shawl, which I think I need to do out of Rios.)

Knitcellaneous Mitten Keychains – back in stock and just as cute as the first batch, of course.

Alpaca With a Twist – Re-stocks in Baby Jumbo (everyone needs one skein of this, just to look at and touch when things get hectic), Fino, Socrates, and Roving.

Ysolda Teague patterns – We have both of Ysolda’s booklets – Whimsical Knits 1 and 2. There are 10 patterns in the first book and 13 in the second book.

Bye Bye Blues Kit - We had some extra kits from this Loopy Lite offering in the spring. Once these are gone, that’s it for this kit. They contain a skein of String Theory Caper in “Bye Bye Blues”, two patterns, and a set of Oh Snap Red pouches.

Loopy Scissors/Tape Measure - This went out with our summer kit to all regular Sock Club members, but we bought extras so that we could share them later on the website, too. I think you need a set in each knitting bag. (And if you’re a reasonable person, you probably have one or two knitting bags. If it’s somewhat of a problem collection interest for you, then you might have a few more than that. Like me.)

Pop over and check out the fun!

Sheri whocanseesomeREDleavesinthetreeacrosstheparkinglot.Yay,Fall!

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared what usually goes on outside of my office window? People talking on their phones. A lot. And here I was, thinking that it was a bit annoying and all. I’ve changed my mind. I want more of them. When the phone talkers aren’t there, I have a skate boarder. The first time I heard this noise, I thought the street crew was back, jackhammering on the street. But no – it’s just a skateboarder, zipping back and forth on the walk that goes along the side of the building. I wish I could record the noise and let you hear it. You’re really missing out on this headache-inducer. On the other hand, I realize that there are a lot of worse things that kids this age could be doing. Maybe skate boarding after school isn’t so bad. And don’t you love it that I keep you posted on things around the Loopy Building? I’ll tell you another story about that, soon. There’s always something going on around here. I know you’re waiting on the edge of your seats. But back to the issue at hand – if there are people talking on their phones out there, then no one can skateboard. Now I need more phone loiterers.

I have a new recipe for today. WH wanted “some kind of chicken casserole” for dinner, so I took another recipe and tweaked it a bit and came up with this. Make up a fruit salad and some fresh steamed broccoli, and you have dinner.

Chicken Poppy Seed Casserole

6 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1 cup sour cream (I used Light)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 md. onion, chopped
3 cups cooked noodles, al dente (I used the German noodle spaetzle, but you can also use corkscrew or small macaroni noodles)
2 Tbl. poppy seeds

Combine the above ingredients and put into a 9 x 13 pan. Then top with:

2 tubes of Ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick of margarine, melted
1 Tbl. poppy seeds

Mix together and put on top of the casserole.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (longer if you make it ahead and refrigerate it first.)

Sheri lookingforwardtomyweekend,howaboutyou?