It has been awhile since we did a Three Things post, so here goes:

Three things you asked about or commented on in your blog comments on Monday:

1. “Are you and the Loopy Elves getting time off over the holidays?” Definitely! Pretty much everyone is working a half day or two so that we can get orders out, but no one is on a regular schedule or working normal hours. (And we know you’ll all completely understand if order shipping is a teeny bit slower than normal during this time. We do reserve the right to close shop during Spring Break, however, as it seems like most of us are going away that last week of March……..) And working here this week has been SO fun because you all keep sending us things! Today we had Venti Starbucks coffee all around, because some sweet St. Louis Loopy Friend anonymously send us a group Starbucks gift certificate (thank you!!), and we have been enjoying fudge, hand-dipped chocolates, cookies, Sees Lollipops and toffee, and chocolates from Switzerland. Does it get any better than this? You all are so wonderful. No wonder we love you so.

2. “My RAK this week was just a little thing.” There’s no such thing as a little RAK. Everything you do means something special to someone, and they all add up! Don’t ever feel “bad” of “guilty” posting a RAK. Everything is meaningful to the recipient. (Are you all reading some of these entries? Really, it’s just amazing.)  Winner of this week’s Loopy Loot Gift Package for the RAK contest is Kristi in OH!

3. “Are you doing a lot of holiday knitting?” Um, no. Although I had great plans up until a month or so ago.

Three things I don’t want for Christmas:

1. A Chia Pet.
2. Any appliances (unless they’re red).
3. A full time housekeeper. (Oh, ok. That’s a lie. I’d take one.)

Three things about Loopy’s Spring Fling:

1. Signups definitely close on Friday morning, as we had more people than spots by Monday evening already. Maybe we need to do a Fall Fling, too. We’ll see how the Spring one goes, first. We’ll email everyone Friday afternoon after the Lottery. (I know, I know. Lottery. Bummer. We really will think about doing a Fall Fling for another group of you.)

2. It has been so fun seeing so many Loopy Regulars sign up, and now we just wish ALL of you could come. We’re really looking forward to meeting you!

3. No, Zoe and Gracie won’t be visiting Loopy Central when you’re here to shop, but they do appreciate the fact that so many of you would like to meet them in person. This notoriety is kind of going to their heads.

Three things I’m tired of this holiday season:

1. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.
2. People trying to be politically correct with “Happy Holidays”. Can we just say “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hannukkah”?
3. Seeing “Write Christmas Letter” on my to-do list. FPS. I’m running out of time.

Three Six things that have arrived this week and will be up in our next Sneak Up (first week or so in January):

1. Roving by Sakina Needles
2. Casbah Sock yarn from Hand Maiden
3. Perchance to Knit Sock Yarn
4. Yarn Nerd Sock Yarn
5. Oceanwind Knits Sock Yarn
6. Hams Jams Bags

(and of course lots on order that will probably be in between now and then, too!)

Three fun things to end the post with:

1. Baby Monkey Socks and Monica’s Child-Sized Fingerless Mitts are finally up on the Free Patterns page.
2. Mountain Colors Bearfoot will be arriving here any day. I love this yarn! This is the one I hinted at a couple of weeks ago, where I said it was the yarn I used in my second ever pair of socks.
3. We have two cool new Loopy Ewe items for you in the next Sneak Up.

Anyone have three things to tell me?

Sheri goingtoknittonight.AfterIwriteourChristmasletterofcourse.

Three things I like about our new Loopy Central:

1. Both cats like it here and are happy to come often. (Never both at a time. I don’t want to push my luck. It’s still kind of something we don’t want to advertise too much.) And Gracie is settling down a bit. I know she looks sweet and innocent in this photo but she still has her moments.
2. Coffee tastes better out of a red coffeepot, and food tastes better out of a red microwave. Strange as that may seem, it’s totally true. I can’t explain it.
3. Red couches. While I can’t see having red couches in my house (but ok, maybe in the basement rec room), they are totally perfect for Loopy Central.

Three vegetables that I don’t like:

1. Lima beans
2. Beets
3. Creamed Corn
(This random “three things” entry has nothing to do with anything. But I really don’t like those vegetables.)

Three yarns that I’m anxious to put up for you:

1. The Wollmeise Lace. This is so pretty and just as addicting as Wollmeise Sock Yarn. Unfortunately we’re still waiting for the rest of our order. I have a feeling that someone in the post office realized what was in there and hijacked it. Not that anyone in the post office would do that. (Oh, come on – if they were a knitter?)
2. Sknitches kettle-dyed semi-solids in some wonderful colors. They arrived today, so we’ll see how the photo schedule holds up for inclusion in next week’s Sneak Up. I love knitting with semi-solids because they show pattern and stitch definition so well.
3. Colinette Jitterbug, which also arrived this week. This yarn base is wonderful and the colors are gorgeous. We have all of the colors on order, and about half have arrived. We’ll put these up next week and the rest when they come in. Have you heard that some of us with larger feet might need more yardage than is available in one skein? (317 yds. in one skein). We’ll also be letting you buy half skeins, because that’s what I need myself.

Three things that aren’t getting done at my house:

1. Laundry (and it doesn’t help that I don’t like doing it.)
2. Knitting (but I’m going to change that this weekend. I have MUCH on my “want to knit” list and it doesn’t get done by itself, FPS.)
3. Raking leaves. (Do you know that if you wait for enough windy days all of the leaves blow into the neighbor’s yard then you have a mess on your hands and it takes twice as long to rake them up?

Three people who came to shop Loopy Central in person today (and all are Loopy Groupies):

1. Lisa from Illinois, who showed me a new yarn we need to look into.
2. Dr. Jackie, who brought me cute sheep slippers.
3. Arlene, who spent a couple of days helping us move in last month because she’s so nice.

Three things that made me happy this week:

1. I discovered Bite-Sized Mint Three Muskateers bars. They taste like a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie. I put the bowl out by our order wrapping area so that I wouldn’t eat them all.
2. Zappos – can you beat their customer service? I ordered shoes last night at 5:30 pm and they were delivered this afternoon at 3 pm. How DO they do that? They’re amazing.
3. I just got the cutest new thing in the mail today that we need to carry here at The Loopy Ewe. I’ll keep you posted on that one!

Three things that I’m going to do this weekend:

1. Not laundry.
2. Not leaf raking.
3. Knitting and drinking peppermint lattes. How’s that for being irresponsible?

How about you? What are you doing or not doing this weekend?

Sheri Zoeissittinginthewindowwatchingthepostmanloadupallofyourordersfromtoday
somuchforbeinghereincognitobecauseofthe”nopets”thing…

Three things that I have been doing today instead of blogging:

1. Admiring my adorable “Loopy goes Trick or Treating” Woolpet that the amazing Laurie sent me as a gift. (Zoe thoughtfully gave him a little poke for good measure.)
2. Shopping for necessities for the new Loopy Office.
3. Setting up deliveries, making appointments, and scheduling moving help.

Three things that the Loopy Elves did today:

1. Packed up all your orders and got them out without me.
2. Set up an obstacle course of boxes for me to dodge in the Loopy Room. I’m sure they did all of that arranging on purpose.
3. Stacked 10 newly arrived cases of yarn in my front entry (because why carry them down to the Loopy room when we’ll be carrying them back out on Monday?)

Three decisions I made today:

1. The little kitchenette in the new Loopy office needed a Loopy red microwave. (Who knew there were red microwaves??)
2. The sign for the new building needs Loopy on there. You’re right.
3. I “needed” a pumpkin scone to go with my latte today. Big errand day.

So you can see that things are a bit one-tracked around here – all revolving around the big move next week. Thanks so much for your fun and encouraging emails, phone calls, and blog comments about it! We’ll work hard to get things back up and running asap, because I know you’re going to love all of this new yarn that keeps arriving. In the meantime, here is my first recipe from my Colorado weekend of good food.

Dawn’s Dressing

1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
3 3/4 cups cubed white bread
1 lb. ground sage turkey sausage
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Golden Delicious apple, chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 Tbl. unsalted butter, melted

Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake 5-7 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven until toasted. Put in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

Cook sausage and onions over medium heat. Add celery and seasonings and stir for 2 minutes.

Pour sausage mix over bread. Add apples, cranberries and parsley. Drizzle with chicken broth and melted butter and mix lightly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Three things I will have to show you next week:

1. The socks that I finished in Colorado that I forgot to photo for you.
2. A peek at the mess we’re sure to make in the new Loopy room.
3. An unbelievably wonderful pumpkin dessert recipe from my friend Christy.

Sheri I’lltrytokeepyoupostedonthingsviatheblognextweek.IpredictI’llneedalatteaday
don’tyouthink?(butnoscones.Mustnoteatsconesagainanytimesoon.)
Whatthreethingsdoyouhavetotellmetoday?Weekendplans?Sconeeating?

Time for another Three Things post. Why?

3 reasons for the Three Things post:

- I’m still packing orders today from the Dream in Color re-stocking session over the weekend.
- Susan-the-Awesome-Assistant is on vacation this week and is of no help whatsoever. (Oh, but she’s happy to have a break.)
- Nothing else on my mind to blog about today.

Three things I did this weekend:

- photo-ed my stash for Ravelry. Well, most of it. There are a few skeins I kept underwraps, because I’m still deciding on whether or not to add them in here. They’re a secret!
- worked on my Sockapalooza Pal’s socks. I have one 95% done and the other 50% done. They must be mailed 8/2. yikes.
- Fought College Guy over the Harry Potter book which arrived in the mail on Saturday. I lost. He read it in one (long) sitting. I still have not read it.

Three reasons why there may not be a Sneak Up this week:

- WH is still working on all of those photos. Lots of new yarn here.
- I’m not sure I’m ready for another Sneak Up yet, after last week.
- I must read Harry Potter. Right?

Three (groups of three) yarns that will be going up when we DO put one up:

- Yarntini, Yarn Love, The Knittery
- Urban GypZ’s Twisted, Gypsy Knits, Perchance to Knit Laceweights
- Hand Maiden Mini Maiden, Hand Maiden Cashmere, Hand Maiden Sea Silk

Three more yarns that will go up right after that:

- Fleece Artist Somoko
- sKNITches Self- Striping (wait til you see “Loopy’s Red Socks” that Sam did for us!)
- Duets Skinny

Three re-stocks that will be going up whenever we get them in (due soon):

- Interlacements
- Lorna’s Laces
- Apple Laine

Three fun things you should know:

- Wendy gave us her new sock pattern to offer as a free download here. (Is she awesome, or what? It’s gorgeous. Print it out! That’s the link, but it’s also here on the blog by going to “Free Patterns”.) We’ll have some more free patterns from other designers for you eventually, too.
- Sock Club invoices will go out this week and the packages will go out the first or second week in August.
- Loopy is having a great summer vacation. Have you seen her photos lately? SHE met Harry Potter. She has probably already read the book, too. Lucky.

Three annoyances right at the moment:

- there is a fly buzzing in the window that Zoe feels she must take care of
- it’s still hot and humid here in St. Louis
- dinner is in the crockpot and the smell is making me hungry

Three things I must now go do:

- take the international packages to the post office
- go to Sams to buy more peppermints (you know, the chocolate will return when the weather gets cooler)
- read Harry Potter I mean, finish the rest of today’s orders.

So, what three things can you tell me about your day?

Sheri Imadeourfavoriteblueberrypierecipeyesterday-I’llsharethatwithyouonFriday.
Therecipe,thatis.Notthepie.Unlessyouwanttocomeandsitonthebackporchandknitwithme.
ThenImightgiveyouapieceofblueberrypie.

Time for a Three Things post. Why? Because it means that I have too many random things to say today.

Three questions you have asked recently:

1. “What pattern were you using in your lace knitting?” It’s Heartstrings Scotch Thistle Shawl which I have sitting here, waiting to put up on the website for sale, as soon as I get a second, along with Miriam Felton’s amazing lace designs.

2. “What pattern were you using on that sock in Monday’s post?” It’s Little Arrowhead Lace – pg. 93 of Charlotte Schurch’s new More Sensational Socks book (which, by the way, I like a lot.) The yarn? Gotta wait on that one. It’s on order.

3. “I received so many pretty yarns in my last order from you, which one should I start first?” Umm… I have no idea. I have the same problem, because I added too many to my own stash from last week’s Sneak Up.

Three things that went up in last night’s Sneak Up at midnight:

1. Cider Moon – new colors, and repeat colors that flew out of here the last time.

2. Interlacements Tiny Toes – re-stocked in all of the colors.

3. Claudia Hand Painted – all 30 of her brand new colors.

Three more things that went up last night:

1. The Loopy Ewe felting kit (and just as we were about to sell out today, the mailman arrived with a big box of our next order from them – so they are still in stock!)

2. Schaefer Lola – did any of you see your colorway names used from last week’s blog contest?

3. Perchance to Knit’s laceweight yarn in her exclusive Midnight Rainbow/Harlot’s Peacock colorway.

Three people who helped in the Loopy Room today:

1. Susan-the-awesome-assistant (who helps almost every day)

2. My mom (who was working on something for the sock club)

3. My dad (who put together 150 boxes for sock club shipping)

Three things I have to do today:

1. Laundry. Big time.

2. Yarn order unpacking. Big time.

3. Sneak Up order packing. Big time.

Three things I’m happy about in May:

1. College Boy comes home on the 17th!!

2. Knitting Daughter finishes up her Junior year of high school!!

3. New yarn lines are coming in!

So what three things do you have to tell me? Three things you bought from The Loopy Ewe today? Three things that are on your wish list? Three things you’re happy about in May? Three things you need to do? Three things you’re knitting on this week? ………….

Sheri it’spouringrainandIlovethesekindsofdays!Doesthatmakemeweird?

Three things that I didn’t do enough of this week:

1. Knitting (but I tried). Here is my Meida Sock from Favorite Socks. I used the Louet Gems Sport Sage on a #1 needle, and added two lace repeats on the cuff to make it a bit taller. This was a very easy pattern to knit and memorize and I do love how it turned out. I started another that I will work on this weekend (another, meaning another yarn – of course not the twin to Meida) and I already have my next TWO socks yarns picked out. One is another brand new indie-dyer that I’m really excited about, and the other is Scarlet Fleece in Red Velvet Waters. But – I didn’t do enough knitting this week.
2. Movie watching (but I tried). We did watch some fun ones, and regardless of the number of Loopy orders waiting to be packed up, we quit packing in time to watch at least one movie a night. Sometimes late. But – we didn’t do enough movie watching this week.
3. Shopping (but I tried). Knitting Daughter and I only went shopping one day, but we had a good time. We added lunch into the mix and that was fun. She has put in a lot of hours packing Loopy orders after the shop update on Wednesday night. I was so glad for the help! But – we didn’t do enough shopping this week.

Three things that made me smile this week:

1. This package of chocolate arrived from Loopy Friend Josiane in Switzerland. Can you believe it? Totally out of the blue, someone sends me chocolate in the mail. It arrived yesterday which was perfect timing. We had several (ahem) chocolate breaks in our day yesterday. The hazelnut was my favorite.
2. Watching the mailman pick up your orders today from the front porch. (Pssst – we beat the record again. Cool!)
3. College Boy is coming home tonight and staying for 10 whole days. We can’t wait!! He hasn’t been home since the end of January – two long months. That means next week is “Spring Break” again – WOOT!

Three things that I need to do:

1. Update the Loopy Groupie list and welcome all of the new people in a blog entry. There have been SO many of you since I last blogged a Loopy Welcome last month. I haven’t forgotten about you, you know!
2. Finish answering all of my emails. There are …. a lot …. waiting to be answered. If you’re one of them, I’m working on it today and tomorrow – I promise!
3. Go grocery shopping. How can you have a hungry college student come home without plenty of food in the house? Impossible. I need to go this afternoon.

This recipe comes from my dad’s mom and is a family favorite. Why would you make your own sauce when you can buy it by the jar? Because it smells heavenly while it cooks, it makes a bunch and freezes well, and it’s better for you. I hope you try it and like it!

Grandma’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

1 large can of tomato juice
1 large can of tomatoes
1 large can tomato paste
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick of margarine
2 Tbl. chili powder
4 Tbl. flour
1 Tbl. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
4 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Combine in large pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn to low heat and simmer for 3 hours. Keep a constant watch so sauce doesn’t stick to bottom. (Or – put it in a crockpot for the day.) Add meatballs (uncooked) to the mix for the last 2 hours.

Meatballs:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup bread or cracker crumbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
salt and pepper

Mix well and form into small meatballs.

Three yarns that will be in the next shop update (maybe next week, if we can get them photo-ed … or the week after)

1. Fleece Artist (big huge boxes and boxes of it)
2. Cider Moon Glacier (I snuck up a few repeat colors this week, but there are about 15 more new colors to go up)
3. Regia Silk and Bamboo (in new colors)

(plus J-Knits, more Yarn Pirate … and possibly more. The yarn arrives almost as fast as it leaves!)

So – what three things do you want to tell me today?

Sheri don’tforgetyourFranksandMarthasaredueupinthegallerythisweekend!