Yesterday I spent time visiting hotels for our Loopy’s Spring Fling Knitting Retreat. I have learned two things.

1. Most hotels are NOT set up with nice comfortable chairs and a well lit place for 50-60 knitters to hang out and knit. For pete’s sake. And those hard, uncomfortable folding chairs will not do.

2. Finding the right facility to provide that is pricey. (But then again, good concentrated knitting time, visiting Loopy Central, good food, new friends, and a get-away weekend is pretty priceless.)

I may have found a place, though. (Mmmm - cushy leather chairs, wonderful lighting, an abundance of snacks and beverages available all day, fun shops, restaurants and a Starbucks nearby, etc.) I’m checking out one more place in the next couple of days, and then I can finalize and get back to you with information, prices, details, etc. It will be April 24 - 27, 2008 (with an option to do April 25 - 27 if you can’t come in on a Thursday, but why would you want to miss out on Thursday??) More details when they come available.

I’m really having a lot of fun concentrating on RAK’s for the month. Your ideas have been inspiring and thank you again for sharing them. On Monday, you’ll want to leave your blog comments with the RAK’s that you did this week, so that we can do another drawing for another great gift basket.

I thought I’d share a salad recipe with you today that really can’t decide if it wants to be a salad or a dessert. Really, it looks like a salad. But it tastes like a dessert. So you can decide. (I say call it a salad and then have ANOTHER dessert at the end of your meal. ha!)

Strawberry Pretzel Salad Dessert Salad

3/4 cup margarine, melted
3 Tbl. brown sugar
2 1/4 cups crushed pretzels
1 lg. pkg. strawberry gelatin
2 cups boiling water
3 cups cold strawberries (I use sliced, frozen ones)
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Mix the margarine, 3 Tbl. brown sugar, and pretzels together, then press into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Dissolve the gelatin in 2 cups of boiling water; stir in the strawberries (no need to thaw them). Chill just until it begins to set. Blend together cream cheese and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on cooled pretzel crust. Pour strawberry gelatin mixture over the cheese blend and chill.

We just re-stocked our Knitspot patterns, Zephyr Stitchmarkers (including cute new holiday ones!), Zecca Accessories, and some ShibuiKnits yarn (more enroute). Coming up in next week’s Sneak Up: Hand Maiden’s new Swiss Mountain Silk Cashmere (65% cashmere, 35% Silk - incredibly wonderful), Hand Maiden Mini Maiden (50% Silk, 50% wool), Hill Country Sweet Feet, J. Knits, Schaefer Anne, Lola and Heather, and more Chewy Spaghetti Fingering colorways.

FYI because people keep asking: Noro Kureyon’s new sock yarn is on its way, the next Wollmeise Sock Yarn may be here in December if the post office cooperates, we’ll have more darning eggs in different woods as soon as we can get them, Dream in Color Classy will be back in again in December, along with all of their new colors and their entire new Lace line, Sheepaints, Duets and Yarn Pirate are all in transit, and we do have a lot of fun new lines and accessories on order, too - we’ll keep you posted. (Whew. I think that covers most of the commonly asked questions lately.)

On tap for me this weekend - finish my spinning homework for my spinning class on Saturday, finish a pair of socks that need to be in the mail to someone on Monday (ok, they were supposed to be in the mail this week), and work on projects with some new yarn line potentials. Kind of a knit-filled weekend, wouldn’t you say? I just subscribed to Netflix (they had a 2 week trial period) and have been watching the BBC comedy “Keeping Up Appearances“. It cracks me up! Great for knitting weekends like this one.

What’s on tap for you this weekend? Knitting?

Sheri justhadtodeletetwowholelinesoftextinherebecauseGracie
stoodonthekeyboardanddecidedtoaddalittlegobbeldygookhello

Yesterday, Adrienne visited The Loopy Room. She lives in Chicago and was on her way to a spinning workshop (how cool is that?) in LaMars. We were talking about spinning wheels when she came in, and she graciously offered to get her Lendrum that was in the car, so that I could try it out. (Knitters and spinners - aren’t they just the best?) She gave me some great spinning tips and it was very fun trying out her wheel. The Lendrum and the Schacht were the two that I most wanted to try out. We made her pose for a photo so that we can start the Loopy Wall of Fame. (Of course I totally forgot to take pictures of the fun people who stopped by today. I must leave the camera out so that I remember….) After shopping hours today, I left Loopy Central in the very capable hands of Susan-the-awesome-assistant and The Elves, and went to my favorite LYS - The Weaving Department. If you live in St. Louis, you know why that’s my favorite local shop. We have some great shops here, but Nancy and her gang have an awesome selection of yarns, always make you feel welcome and appreciated, and are just lovely to deal with. She also sells wheels and looms, and she had a Schacht for me to try. I never should’ve tried it. I was sold on it pretty quickly. It helps that Kay - who works there - was an expert teacher and had me spinning away in just 10 minutes. I think I finally “get” it. It just so happens that they have a spinning class going on, so tomorrow I will go to the class (with my second class on 12/1) and at the end of the class tomorrow, I’ll take my new Schacht home. I’m excited!! (And now I’m in the poorhouse. But I’ll be spinning in that poorhouse, so all is well.) I’ll keep you posted on things as I progress. I have also started talking to some roving dyers, and am excited to have that coming here in the new year!

As promised, here is the decadent Pumpkin Dessert recipe that I promised you. Pay no attention to the 2 sticks of butter on the top. (Well, I mean YES, you do need to add those to the top, but NO, you do not need to obsess about how many calories it might add in to your dessert.)

Christy’s Pumpkin Dessert

1 large can of pumpkin (28 - 30 oz)
1 can evaporated milk (10 - 12 oz)
3 eggs
2 sticks of butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 cup of nuts (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon.

Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and grease it. Pour the pumpkin mixture in the pan and sprinkle the dry cake mix on top. Pat the cake mix down with a spoon. Sprinkle with nuts (if desired) and drizzle the melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (check it at 45 minutes and put a piece of foil over the top if it’s getting a little brown.) Let stand 10 minutes and turn out on a board to cut into pieces, or refrigerate. Great served with whipped topping or ice cream.

And now the November Loopy Loot contest (where you answer my question in the blog comments and I draw a name next Friday to win a gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe!) We love having music going here at Loopy Central, and I think we need some new tunes. Tell me your favorite one or two musical artists. (I know it’s hard to narrow it down. Ok, go ahead and tell me however many you want.) For instrumental music, I really like Matt Bachrach and Michael Faircloth. Matt was an artist that I ran across at our mall, of all places. They had him playing on a stage one day during the holiday season a couple of years ago. Michael has played at our church a couple of times. Both are amazing pianists and I think I have collected all of their albums over time. So suggest some new names - instrumental or otherwise, and I’ll check into them! (Note - this isn’t for playing while people shop here, since we’re not “open” most of the time - it’s just music for us to pack orders to!)

Sheri doanyofyouhavedaughterswhospin?IwonderifKnittingDaughterwouldlikethis?

I can’t stop thinking about the wildfires in California. I have so many friends out there (at last count, all are safe so far). There was a sad photo on the front page of our newspaper yesterday. It showed an entire neighborhood burned to the ground, except for one house left standing in the middle of it all. (They didn’t mention how that one house was safe. My thought is - of course you want your house to be safe, but how sad to be there when all of your neighbors houses are gone.) I’m hoping that all of you Loopy Friends out there are safe and sound as well. You Californians (and those who have loved ones there) are certainly in our thoughts and prayers.

So today, I’m focusing on happy things, because there’s enough sadness on the news. So:

Happy Thing #1: Knitting Daughter and College Guy are both hanging out at Loopy Central today, and I love seeing them here.

Happy Thing #2: Fun things going up next week: Numma Numma, Chewy Spaghetti, Sheepaints, Seacoast Merino, Perchance to Knit Cashmere Sock, Plucky Knitter Lace, Mrs. Kwitty’s bags, and Ham’s Jams Yarn Cruisers.

Happy Thing #3: We have more Loopy Groupies to welcome to the fold! Congratulations to the following people: Jennifer in TN, Pat in OH, Troy in NJ, Jari in IN, Kathy in IA, Erin in WA, Elizabeth in NY, Katrina in IL, Debbie in MN, Jenna in Canada, Sarah in CA, Jo Anne in HI, Susan in IL, Cindy in KS, Sue in WA, Risa in NJ, Pamela in NY, Christine in NC, Anne in LA, Claire in CA, Erica in Germany, Terri in WA, Suna in TX, Kathy in MO, Kara in MO, Pia in MD, Vicky in GA, Rachel in the military, Sarah in AK, Terri in WA, Annette in AZ, Deborah in MN, Melissa in OH, Ruth in Canada, Megan in TX, Sheila in IL, Natalie in AZ, Katie in IA, Barbara in CT, Mary in TX, Lisa in AK, Elizabeth in WI, Kaylee in CO, Tracie in PA, Christine in MI, Angelina in TX, Lisa in IL, Phoebe in FL, Laura in CA, Ginni in MO, Megan in MA, Barbara in MO, Debra in MA, Jennifer in MD, Sherry in AK, Virginia in TN, Jocelyn in CA, Dee in CA, Allison in MO, Gail in OR, Elizabeth in GA, Sandy in CA, Teresa in TX, Sarah in ID, Nancy in MN, Barbara in GA, Chenoa in CO, Melissa in MA, Victoria in NY, Kristin in MO, Heather in WA, Jennifer in IL, Jennifer in TN, Heather in WA, Emily in TN, Stephanie in CA, Brenna in CA, Amanda in IN, Toni in CA, Karen in FL, Ena in MA, Jewel in CA, Jessica in WA, Ada in VA, Sarah in NE, Mary in MO, Merry Gay in MO, Jordi in NY, Elizabeth in NC, Sue in NE, Ruth in CO, Deawn in NE, Gayle in MA, Rochelle in NC, Amy in NV, Dawn in MO, Angela in the UK, Patricia in IL, Anne in KY, Vanessa in Australia, Greta in OK, Bonnie in CA, Julia in MN, MJ in CO, Renea in OK, Tanis in NJ, Jean in CA, Christy in FL, Gina in NC and Angela in IN. (How do you become a Loopy Groupie? When we have sent out six packages to you, we will be sending you a Loopy Groupie gift bag! You’ll get an email when we have posted the Sneak Up from week to week, along with Loopy Groupie Appreciation gifts a couple of times a year. Watch for another one of those coming in the next few weeks - we have something fun on order for you!)

Happy Thing #4: We’re finally Loopified! I’ll do a Loopy Central tour in Monday’s blog post.

Happy Thing #5: I have loved reading all of your blog comments for our October contest. But I’m not through them all yet and I want to get through them before I announce the winner. (The winner is random - but I still want to finish reading all of those 443 comments before I end the contest!) Really, it has made me wonder what my kids will remember as their “favorite recipes” that I made in their growing up years.

Happy Thing #6: Peanut Butter Brownies. Oh-my-gosh good.

Peanut Butter Brownies

2 eggs
1 stick of margarine, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 box Duncan Hines butter recipe cake mix
bag of peanut butter chips (about 10 oz)
(can also add chopped nuts if you like nuts)

Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbl. milk
4 Tbl. margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup peanut butter

Mix eggs, 1 stick of margarine, brown sugar and cake mix in a bowl. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape bowl and then mix on low for 2 more minutes. Fold in peanut butter chips by hand. Spread evenly in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely, frost and cut.

Frosting: Put powdered sugar, salt, milk, 4 Tbl. margarine, vanilla and peanut butter in bowl and mix well. (Add more milk if the frosting isn’t creamy enough.) Frost brownies when they are cool. (Note - this frosting is so good, and would be excellent on a regular box mix of chocolate brownies, too!)

(Kristin - you’re right - I did forget to share the great pumpkin recipe from my friend Christy! I’ll make it up and share that soon. Thanks for the reminder.)

Happy Thing #7: It’s the weekend!

Sheri haveanyhappythingstosharetoday?

So technically, it’s still Friday. At least here in the midwest. What a busy week! I don’t have Loopy pictures today, because now I’ll wait and show you when we’re all done. I will say that that set of shelves along the green wall from Wednesday’s post is full of Cherry Tree Hill and Apple Laine, and it looks beautiful! All of the bags and cases of yarn are put away …. and all of the shelves are completely full. So, we have more shelves coming on Monday. (Because we have more yarn arriving daily around here.) Things are almost feeling Loopy over there. I’m thinking about another week and we’ll have it completely Loopified. I’ll keep you posted. (You all have been so nice about wanting to see photos!) Monday, it’s back to business as usual here at The Loopy Ewe - yay!

Have you ever been completely frustrated with automated phone systems? I had to call AT&T this week. We had our phones switched over, and had to get new phone numbers. The gal taking the order assured me that the toll-free number would stay the same, as it’s a “forwarding number”. However, when I tried it out after the technician left, there was a recording that stated that number had been disconnected and giving our new (local - so not toll-free) number. All I needed to do was call someone at AT&T to tell them that the forwarding wasn’t working. I spent 45 minutes on the phone. What was I doing? Oh, entering my “account number” 9 different times, picking “the option that best describes the problem” about 15 times, finally reaching someone and then being put on hold because she was “residential” and I needed “business”. (Although I picked the “business” option several times before reaching her.) When she told me she’d have to transfer me, I said, “Don’t put me on hold! I can’t get out of that endless loop to get a real person!” She said, “I understand. I won’t.” And then proceeded to do just that and I was then disconnected and had to start all over again. (Yes, I do know about hitting “O” for Operator, or pushing the # or the * buttons. I tried it all. I guess the phone company is wise to all of those tricks.) Needless to say, I was completely frustrated with that phone company at the end of all of this. Today, I had to call back. But, this time I had a real number and got a real person who quickly solved the next phone problem that had come up, went the extra mile with her customer service, sent out an extremely helpful techinician within 2 hours, and restored my faith in the phone company. Or at least restored my faith in her part of the phone company. I really really can’t stand automated phone systems, though.

Today’s recipe is from my Grandma Bass (from Germany) and was probably my very favorite thing that she made. She used to have one ready for me every time I visited, and every time I came home for a break from college. My mom brought this one over to us this week, knowing that we needed a little extra TLC in the midst of moving-mayhem.

Grandma’s Hefekranz

5 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten + 1 egg white
4 Tbl. shortening, melted and cooled
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup raisins
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbl. yeast
powdered sugar

- Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add a pinch of sugar to it and let it rise for 5 minutes.
- Mix dry ingredients. Add in raisins.
- Add in yeast mixture, vanilla, 3 beaten eggs and shortening. Mix and knead well.
- Let rise until double. Punch down and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Divide into 3 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a long tube shape and braid the 3 of them together. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until double.
- Brush top with egg white.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Let cool and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

(One time my mom made this for me for my birthday and dropped it off while it was still warm. I took the towel off the top and there were strings poked down into the top at regular intervals. I asked what the strings were for and found out that she had put birthday candles in the top and the warmth from the Hefenkranz had melted the skinny little candles into puddles and left the wicks hanging there!)

So this month’s contest is simple - what is your favorite recipe that you remember someone special making for you or for family gatherings in your childhood? (Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle, etc.) You don’t have to share the recipe - but tell us what it was in the comments. (Of course if it’s really good, you’re always welcome to share the recipe!) I’ll use the random number generator to draw a winner from all of the comments during this next week, and the winner will receive $25 in Loopy Bucks!

Sheri foundacuteredKitchenaidcoffeemakerfortheLoopyofficebutitwas$99forpete’ssake!
Needlesstosay,Ididn’tgetit.($99,areyoukiddingme?)

Knitting Daughter and I have snuck away for a couple of days of knitting and movies and hanging out. Yay! We used to do this on long weekends pre-Loopy, and I promised her we’d make a point to still do it. So while the Loopy Elves are hard at work getting your orders out, we’re slacking. And having a great time! Actually, I pre-wrote this because we’re not taking the computer with us, so I hope we’re having a good time. I suppose that I also need to admit that I will be out of town next weekend, too. (I know, I know. Two weekends in a row. Slacker, slacker, slacker.) Next weekend is my Girlfriend Weekend in Colorado. You might remember that I went in March for my annual trip. We’re hoping the husbands are overlooking the fact that we did this twice this year. We used the excuse that we wanted to move the timing for the trip to Fall. Of course it made much more sense to schedule two this year than to wait 18 months in between them. You know how that goes. So next week I’ll blog Monday and Wednesday and then will be gone until Sunday. I’m leaving Loopy in very capable hands, so your orders will still go out - I just won’t be emailing or blogging!

I had a hard time deciding what to take and knit this weekend. We have so many fun new lines coming in and there is so much knitting to be done. (It’s a difficult problem to have.) Our next Sneak Up will be the second week in October (after I return from my second Slacker Girlfriends Weekend), and we will have Yarn Love, 15 colors of the new Heather Sock Yarn from Schaefer (it came in today - so pretty. 55% Merino, 30% Silk and 15% Nylon), more Schaefer Anne and Lola, more Trekking, and …. the things that are on their way as I type. An update on Wollmeise - I had a very fun phone call with Claudia from Germany this week (Hi Claudia!) and our next order will ship in 3 weeks and will include Lace AND Sock yarn. Apparently it’s the rainy season in Germany, and the yarn doesn’t dry as fast as she can dye. At any rate, we’ll keep getting that in and I know you will love the lace as much as you have loved the sock yarn. I have one skein of it and keep trying to find “the perfect” pattern for it. Or maybe I’m scared to use something that nice until I have more lace experience.

Today’s recipe is a quick and easy dessert for your family or friends.

Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
(Am I the only one who thinks of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” every time I hear the word “bundt cake”?)

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding (3 oz)
5 large eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Mix well. Bake in greased and floured bundt pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven slightly before done - it will finish baking in the pan. Cool a little and invert on plate to finish cooling before adding glaze.

1/2 tsp. butter extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar

Heat until sugar dissolves. Cool until thickened and drizzle over cake.

Sheri hopeyouhaveagreatweekendwithlotsofknittingtime!

What big hearts you all have. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, through the “upset and mad people”. From now on when I get one of those emails, I’m coming back to this post and re-reading your sweet comments. I know that will take care of any cranky feelings that the email might start to foster in me. (And just to clarify - I totally understand “disappointed” and “sad” - and do feel free to vent that to me any time. It’s the mad and nasty that I’d prefer to avoid.)

Yesterday was WH’s birthday! Yay! We celebrated with take-out on the back porch - and it was a beautiful night, so that was fun. I can’t say that he took the day off to do something fun, but dinner was nice. He has been so supportive of the endeavors that I have gotten us into over the years (and, as he likes to point out, most of them have been my “fault” - although I think he means that in the nicest of ways. I think.) I couldn’t do any of this without him and am so lucky to have him here. (Thanks, Honey!) He will love seeing himself in an apron. This is probably the only time I’ve ever seen him in an apron, and we’ve been married for 23 years! But it’s a cute picture of him and his mom, and she gets credit on his birthday, too. (Thanks, Mumbee!)

College Guy comes home tonight - woohoo! I think he’s mostly coming home to see Zoe, but I’m pretending that he wants to see us, too. I did promise him I would keep him out of the Loopy room and he could just relax and enjoy the weekend without any work. (I want him to come back, you know?) So we’ll have a great weekend.

Here’s a quick and easy “throw it in the crockpot and knit your afternoon away” recipe for you. The only drawback is that it smells way too good cooking away during the day, and your stomach will rumble with hunger. But that’s a small price to pay, I’m thinkin’.

Italian Shredded Beef

3 lb. rump roast
2 pcks. Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1 pck. brown gravy mix
1 cup water
BBQ sauce (optional)

Put 1 package Good Seasons mix, gravy mix, and water in crockpot. Add roast.

Cook on low for 8 hours or longer.

Remove meat from cooker and shred (I use 2 forks to pull the meat apart.) Return meat to cooker and add second package of Good Seasons, plus barbeque sauce, if desired. Cook another 1/2 hour. Serves 8-10. Great with Frito-Pea Salad!

Have a wonderful weekend - and thank you again for all of the Loopy love. We love you right back.

Sheri Iamtotallygrossedout-Zoejustcaughtandateaflyrightinfrontofme.FPS.