I continue to be a sucker for knitting magazines, and it always seems like I find the most knittable projects in Interweave magazines. Oh, there is beautiful eye candy in all of the different knitting magazines out there, for sure. But the projects I look at and think, “I might make that!” typically come from Interweave magazines.

Did you get a copy of their Holiday Gifts issue this fall? I want to knit up McHenry by Susan B. Anderson (a cute stuffed puppy pattern, as well as a puppy hat for kids option). Susan comes up with the greatest patterns for kids. I also like the Novel Sleeve by Kathy Zimmerman (perfect for your Kindle or Nook). But the pattern that I just had to start in on this week are the Ashbury Mitts by Simona Merchant-Dest, shown on the cover. It’s making me try my first go at bobbles. (They’re so easy. Sometimes I wonder why I think things are intimidating – cables, colorwork, bobbles – all were just fine, once I actually sat down and tried them.)

Another recent publication from Interweave was Jane Austen Knits. I’ve marked the Fiori Pullover sweater by Mary Annarella, the Lambton Top by Theressa Silver, and the Frederick & Anne scarf by Kirsti Johanson, as possible future projects. I was so anxious to see this issue that I bought it myself, even though I knew I’d be getting a copy in the mail for advertising in it. Since I now have 2 copies, I’m giving one away to a lucky blog reader today. Would you like it? Just leave a comment below and we’ll announce the winner on Monday’s blog. (I wish I had five copies to give away!) Do you have a favorite pattern that you’ve made from a knitting magazine?

In keeping with Gratitude Week here on the blog, we have winners from Wednesday’s blog. We are sending a beautiful skein of indie-dyed yarn to these five knitters: Eloise from OR, Suellen from PA, Beth from MD, Cynthia from NC, and Melissa from MI.

I took photos of the Colorado Loopy Shop Space-in-progress last week. I’ll share them on Monday’s blog. It’s sloooowly coming together ….

Sheri leftoverturkeysandwichesareontoday’smenu

…. so many things! But I’ll give you the ones that (mostly) relate to The Loopy Ewe:

1. I’m thankful for all of YOU. We would have no business without you. You keep us on our toes, and you make stocking the shop fun. You’re at the top of our list and we’re always happy to have you here.

2. The indie dyers who trust us to represent and showcase their beautiful lines. Such talent in that group, and we’re grateful to share their art with you.

3.  The “big” yarn companies who are so wonderful to work with. (Big is in quotes because even though they are big, most all of them work hard to be personal and friendly in all of their dealings.)

4.  Coffee and chocolate. There might be a little stress going on with this cross-country December move of ours, and coffee and chocolate are helping. (I know that I should say knitting is helping, too, but my knitting time is going to be limited for a bit….). Coffee and chocolate are staples in our Loopy kitchen.

5.  The St. Louis Loopy Elves. They’re forever a part of the Loopy family (meaning their impact here will last forever, but it also means that they get a Forever Loopy Employee Discount, and a forever free place to stay when they want to visit Colorado in the future. Also? A forever job if they realize that they’re tired of the St. Louis humidity next summer and want to move to the mountains. I keep hoping.).

6.  The moving company that will be taking all of Loopy’s earthly possessions and driving it cross-country in a week or so. If you see a bright yellow Exodus moving van in Missouri/Kansas/Colorado the first weekend in December, you might want to ambush it and plunder the yarn. (On second thought, don’t plunder. Let’s make sure it arrives safe and sound in one piece.)

7.  Your patience. I know you don’t like No-Update Mondays. I don’t either. But we are stockpiling a bunch of great yarn for our first post-move December update here in Colorado, on the 12th!

8.  Stash enhancing. Ok – beyond the coffee and chocolate stress busters, I’m also picking yarn to add to my stash. I might not be able to knit for a bit, but I can still dream about future projects in wonderful colors. And I do have cases and cases of yarn sitting at my house, waiting for your next Monday Update. What’s a knitter to do?

9.  The Colorado Loopy Elves. They know they have a lot to live up to (because they know you all love the St. Louis Elves) but they are ready for the challenge. I promise you, they are bringing their own kind of awesome to The Loopy Ewe. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

10. A long holiday weekend with my family. Nothing is as refreshing as spending time with the people I love the most. I hope you’re doing the same!

In honor of my Top Ten Gratitude List, we’re giving away 5 prizes. I’ve picked out 5 skeins from 5 different indie dyers and we’ll pick five winners. Will you be one? Leave a comment and let us know what you’re thankful for, even if you’re not celebrating an official Thanksgiving holiday this week! Prize winners will be announced on Friday’s blog (where we’ll have another Gratitude Week giveaway).

We have five winners of a copy of the Skinner Hat from Monday’s blog, and I’ve emailed the winners. Congratulations to Analiese in NY, Anna in WA, Lael in WI, Sarah in AL and Lisa in VA!

Sheri wishingthoseintheU.S.aHappyThanksgiving!

(P.S. So that the Loopy Elves can enjoy a long weekend with their own families, we won’t be shipping orders today, Thursday and Friday. You can still place orders 24/7, and we’ll ship them out on Monday and Tuesday of next week.)

We have winners today! First of all, the winners of our Camp Loopy Project Two awards. It took us awhile to tally up all of the votes, but we had a Reader’s Choice winner. That goes to Christina in CA for her beautiful Owlie Socks. We also drew four winners from all of the entries, and those go to: Jessica in NM (Eugenia’s Mittens), Samantha in IL (Sammi’s Convertible Mittens), Rebecca in VT (Sprouting), and Eve in PA (Sweet Loopy Socks). Each of the winners has received a $25 Loopy credit, and I know they’ll spend it well!

Now please help us choose your favorite project from Camp Loopy’s Project Three Gallery. You can send your response to us at support@theloopyewe.com and we’ll report back soon.

We also have winners of last month’s blog contest, which I snuck in at the last minute. We’re sending a skein of Wollmeise to Diane in MA, Patricia in WA, and Jen in CA. Congratulations to all of you!

Today’s recipe is one I tried earlier in the fall and it was a hit. I found it on Pinterest and it comes from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. I hope you and your family enjoy it.

Baked Penne Chicken, Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1 bunch broccoli (about 1.5 lbs.), cut into small pieces
12 oz. penne pasta
2 Tbl. olive oil
1 md. onion, minced
6 md. garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth (I used low sodium)
1 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into small pieces
3 oz. smoked mozzarella, shredded (I used regular – couldn’t find smoked)
8 oz. jar oil-packed sune-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped

Topping:
3/4 c. bread crumbs mixed with 2 Tbl. melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bring water to boil in large pot, add 1 Tbl. salt and the broccoli. Cook the broccoli until it is bright green – 2-4 minutes. Remove from water and add pasta to the boiling water. Cook until al dente (about a minute less than you might normally cook it). Drain and toss with 1 Tbl. olive oil.

Drain water from pot and add 1 Tbl. oil. Put on med. heat until you see the oil shimmer. Add the onion and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme, mixing well. Slowly whisk in the broth and cream, stirring as you bring it to a simmer. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and cook through, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes and mozzarella.

Add the pasta and broccoli to the sauce, and stir to combine. Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle with the topping. Bake at 400 degrees until it’s bubbling and the crumbs are lightly brown (about 15 minutes). Enjoy!

Sheri thinkingaboutcastingonahatthisweekend.
Gotafavoritehatpattern?

I was sad to hear that I missed the first big snowfall in Fort Collins, because I’ve been working from St. Louis this week. Here’s a picture of our back deck that WH sent to me the morning after the big snow. (Here’s what the deck looks like without snow. Big difference!) I love snow and cold, and I hope there is plenty of it in store for us this winter. The nice thing about Fort Collins is that apparently it snows one day and then the next day it can be in the 50′s or 60′s. So you get the pretty white stuff, but it doesn’t stay around long enough to get tired and dirty looking. Today is supposed to be in the 50′s, so I’m sure it will be gone by the time I get back home tonight.

On the other hand, St. Louis is a baseball town, and it has been fun to be here during the World Series games. You just can’t beat last night’s game (if you managed to stay up for all 11 innings and watch it). The two teams seem well matched in this series and they both have provided some great baseball moments over the past week. I won’t even be too sad if Texas wins tonight. Great team, great players, and they lost last year in the World Series. Two years in a row doesn’t seem right. I’m still going to root for the Cards tonight, but either way, I’m sure it will be another good game.

Today I’m sharing a recipe from my friend Audrey’s mother-in-law. We’ve been making these bars for about 20 years, and they are always a hit. (And always a good way to use up ripe bananas.) I hope you and your family enjoy them as much as we do.

Mrs. Wilson’s Banana Cake Bars

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3-4)
1 cup nuts (optional)
1/4 cup sour milk*
2 tsp. vinegar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Frosting Glaze (see below)

*You can use regular milk and make it sour. Measure slightly less than 1/4 cup of milk, and add a bit of vinegar to bring it up to the 1/4 c. mark. Let it sit for 5 minutes to sour before adding it to the batter. You can also use buttermilk if you have that.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas, nuts and milk. Then add all dry ingredients, plus water and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Let cool and then frost.

Frosting: 6 Tbl. butter, 4 3/4 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Blend well.

For this month’s contest - leave a comment and tell me your favorite sports team. It doesn’t have to be a baseball team and it doesn’t have to be a professional team – it might even be your little one’s little league team. We’ll do a drawing next week for Wollmeise. I saved a few skeins for this month’s contest!

Sheri notadmittingtohowmuchyarnI’mtakingbacktoCOwithmetonight

I used to think that it would get easier to send your kids off to college, each year that they went away. You know, you kind of get used to the coming and the going, right? Well I’m here to tell you – you might get used to it a bit, but that doesn’t make it any easier. It was just as hard to say goodbye to Knitting Daughter for her Senior Year as it was for her Freshman Year! Or maybe I’m just a sentimental sop. That’s probably more likely. I did feel strange making my last ever batch of “first day of school chocolate chip cookies“. I started the tradition while Web Guy was off to his first afternoon of Kindergarten, and have enjoyed making them on the first day, ever since. When they went off to college, I just made them ahead of time and sent them along. That means it is a 20 year tradition in our household! What I’ve found is that even though the first day of school events are done, the desire for chocolate chip cookies never goes away. They’ve assured me that I can make up a batch for them any time.

On our way home from Indiana yesterday, we stopped at a place we’ve known about for a long time, but never visited. You don’t travel that stretch of road without seeing the “foot high pie” billboards for Blue Springs Cafe in Highland, IL. And now the billboards read “as seen on The Food Network”, but I have no idea when that aired. They make 20-40 pies per day (way more at Thanksgiving and the waiter said “of course she’s cranky as can be back there in the kitchen during the Thanksgiving pie making” and I’m assuming he was talking about grandma, the baker.) They truly are a sight to behold, so if you’re ever in the area, pop by and have a slice. They have lots of flavors to choose from.

We have Fifth Anniversary Contest Winners to announce! Thank you to everyone who participated in our blog contest, and thank you for your anniversary wishes, comments and emails. It’s fun to celebrate with you! I’ve emailed all of the winners. Each one of these people won a $50 gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe. Congratulations to Deborah from MI, Sue from IL, Loraine from MI, Caitie from VA and Traci from NV.

I’m back in St. Louis working in the shop for a few days. I promised myself I would work all day long before walking around the shop and filling up a basket of yarn to take back to Colorado. I’ve missed being surrounded by yarn every day! If you haven’t been here to shop in person, you just need to pop in. (Road trip, anyone?) I overheard a shopper today tell her friend, “It’s just like fantasyland in here, isn’t it?” It’s good to be back here in the midst of the yarn fumes.

Sheri lorna’ssolemate,madtoshpashminaandmadtoshsport
areallonmyshoppinglisttoday

I’ve officially started my Project Three – a throw. You might remember that Camp Loopy’s Project Three needs to be an 800 yd. project (or more).  I made another throw last summer, in a striping pattern. This time I’m going round and round to make one big square (although I jiggered it so that it is rectangular, not square.) I’m using Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes and I know it will be as soft and comfortable to use as last summer’s throw turned out to be (made in Rowan’s Amy Butler Belle Organic.) Someday maybe I’ll be able to do something more exciting with crochet than go round and round in lines, but for now, this is it. I do, however, love the blankets/throws when they are done.

This month we’ve been celebrating our Fifth Anniversary by sharing different exclusive colorways with you. Our first one was from The Sanguine Gryphon on their Bugga base, and this week’s was from Lorna’s Laces on their Solemate base. (We have a few skeins left, if you missed it.) We’ll have one more for you in next Monday’s Update.

In the meantime, we wanted to share our anniversary blog contest with you. We will be randomly drawing five winners from all of today’s blog comments and each winner will receive a $50 Loopy Ewe Gift Certificate! To enter, just answer this question in the comments below (or email us the answer, if you’re shy …). We’ll draw the winners at the end of next week. So here is the question to answer:

What is your favorite vegetable?

You thought we were going to make you say “Happy Anniversary”, right? Or “Tell us your favorite thing about the shop”? Or “How long have you been hanging out with us at The Loopy Ewe”? Nope. We want to know your favorite vegetable. We don’t always like to be predictable.

Sheri thatalsomeansfiveyearsofbloggingandrun-on-sentenceclosings.Jeesh.