Linger. Webster’s says (and yes, I had to put my reading glasses on to read that teeny tiny paperback dictionary print) that “linger” means “to remain long or be reluctant to go”. We like it when you linger at The Loopy Ewe! (You’ll linger even longer pretty soon, when our cool new search feature goes up. It’s fun to play with. But first, College Guy needs to finish up with Finals at school.) This is the time of year that we linger on our back porch, and I just love it. We eat dinner out here every night. Dinner in the wintertime consists of sitting at the kitchen table and eating, and then getting up and going on about our night. It’s a nice kitchen, but we don’t usually linger. Dinner on the back porch consists of eating and then sitting there and talking for quite awhile. The birds are singing, the cats are exploring, and we …. linger. It’s peaceful and relaxing, as any good lingering place must be. Of course it’s also good for knitting! I hope to be getting some good knitting done this weekend again.

Today’s recipe really is called “Yummy Salad”. That’s not a very creative title, but it is a good salad. You can also add in some cooked chicken to make it into a meal.

Yummy Salad

1 head lettuce (bite-sized pieces)
1 head cauliflower (bite-sized pieces)
2 cups Miracle Whip
1/2 to 1 lb. bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/2 med. purple onion, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup dried cranberries
(next time I think I’ll also add some sliced almonds. It would give this a good crunch. I’ll have to pick up a bag the next time I’m at the store use one of the seven bags in the pantry, FPS.)

Mix the Parmesan Cheese with the Miracle Whip. Layer the lettuce, cauliflower, Miracle Whip mix, bacon, onion and sugar. Cover and refrigerate. Toss just before serving.

Tonight we have “Senior Celebration” for Knitting Daughter. I can’t believe that she is graduating from high school in just over a week. That means that, come Fall, WH and I will be Empty Nesters. Boy, did those 18 years fly by. (I have to keep telling myself that it’s a good thing when they grow up and you’re proud of them and they move on to the next stage in their lives. Right?) I think I’ll head out to the porch and “linger” a bit with Zoe. She likes to linger out there, too.

Sheri
doyouhaveaplaceinyourhouse
thatisperfectforlingering?

This is my Q1-08 project, and I have a whole new respect for lace knitters. It’s just a scarf. Knit horizontally, 360-some stitches, 50-some rows. I love the Peppermint Mocha Silk that I used. But lace knitting just seems to take me forEVER. I liked the pattern and would probably do it again, but not right away. (It’s this pattern - currently out of stock but we’ll get more in.) I knit this scarf for Claudia, so it’s off to Germany now. (I did block it a little better.) I’m glad I had those two deadlines - the Q1-08 and Claudia’s visit. I need deadlines sometimes. My other lace shawl project has no deadline, so it’s sitting there 25% done. sigh.

I also started a couple of other scarves. Claudia showed us a beautiful scarf that her friend Dani knit up out of one skein of Wollmeise. (Hi Dani!) My friend Janice and I immediately had to cast it on. It’s a very simple Feather and Fan pattern. What’s funny is that when Claudia got home, she asked Dani where the pattern had come from and it’s from Wendy’s blog! (Small world.) So you can find Wendy’s pattern for this beautiful scarf right here. I really like how it’s knitting up and I have a few more of them that I now want to do. This one is the Am Kalten Polar colorway. But I also thought it might be cool to knit this pattern out of the Noro Sock yarn, so I started that over the weekend. (Color S184) I love the color blends and I already know that the Noro softens up when it gets washed, so I think this is going to be a wonderful scarf, too. (I have a deadline for finishing both of these scarves. Good thing.)

My DC-KAL sweater hasn’t been touched since I last photo-ed it for the blog. I’m mindful of the 6/1 deadline. I have some extended car time coming up, and I think I can pull it off just fine. It has been so fun to see all of your KAL photos coming in. Every time another photo comes in, it motivates me. And of course I have a whole bunch of new sweater patterns that I now want to do. Remember that if you finish and add your photo to The Loopy Ewe KAL photo gallery by 6/1, there is a reward for you! (I didn’t really tell you what the reward was, did I? I’ll tell you after June 1st!)

Did you like the Sneak Up this week? We’re working hard to get all of the rest of the Sneak Up orders out today. I have to admit to adding to my own stash this week. Normally, I have already gotten a skein of anything that is going up (for the testing stage of things) and I usually am very good about letting all of you have the rest. Usually. This week I had to take some Creatively Dyed Roving (it’s Seacell, FPS. I spun the sample that Dianne sent me way back a couple of months ago and loved it, so how could I not take a whole braid of this lovely stuff?) I took Forest Path. I really wanted Rosewood, but I seem to be in a Roving Rut and am trying to break into new colors. I also had to get a Pattern Tamer (In my defense, I let all of you buy out the first batch without touching it.) And then there was the Perchance to Knit Pamper Me Sock Yarn. One touch and … I kept one. The Roses, Roses colorway. (But Irises and Glory of the Snow were equally tempting to me.) I also took a braid of The Sanguine Gryphon’s roving (which will go up next week) and more of Josette’s Enchanted Knoll Farm yarn (even though I have a sample from awhile back.) And a couple more water bottles, because I love those water bottles and one can never have too many of them, right? (And didn’t you love the fun Loopy Necklace? I’ve been wearing mine a lot.) So I think I did very well in my shopping spree this week. It was fun. There might be yarn and roving popping out from all areas of my office and home, but I’m happy. I just think it’s important to confess to all of you every once in awhile, so you know that I do almost as much Loopy Ewe shopping as you do. Almost.

It has been wonderful to read about all of the RAKs that you have been doing this month. You’re all so generous, and I know that many of the people you showed kindnesses to, probably went and passed it on to someone else that week. That’s a whole lot of good stuff going on out there! I decided to draw two names to win Goody Bags from The Spring Fling. The randomly drawn winners of this contest were: Tracey in Michigan and Joanne in Pennsylvania. The Goody Bags are on the way! And thanks to ALL of you for participating in our RAK contest in April.

And by the way, Brian and Tina over at GudonyaToo think you all are the BEST. (I agree.) It sounds like a lot of you found some great bath stuff in their shop!

Sheri tryingnottoeatthethreebarsofCadburychocolatethatLBsentme.
Okshesentmefour.Iateonelastweekalready.sigh

Today I wanted to introduce you to one of my favorite etsy shops - GudonyaToo. Many of you have received their fun Loopy Bath Kiss in a recent Sock Club (or “Don’t Be Blue”) kit. Some of you tried to eat it because it smelled and looked so good! I have loved their products for quite awhile, and they have been wonderful to work with for our kits. I thought you might like learning a little more about Tina and Brian, the couple behind the shop, today.

Loopy: We’re big fans of your wonderful products over here at Loopy. Everyone loved the Loopy Bath Kisses you did for us! Can you tell us how you got into the business and how long you’ve been doing it?
GudonyaToo: We had such a great opportunity back in July of 2007 when we were glancing through the etsy forums and saw a great B&B shop was for sale. I believe that was on a Friday, and by the next day we were making a 12 hour car trip to buy our new baby. We opened our shop, GudonyaToo, in August, and the rest is history!

Loopy: What a fun business to buy into. What is your favorite product and scent?
GudonyaToo: Oh my gosh!!! Make me choose. My shower would tell you the whole story! But if I had to narrow it down it would be my Cotton Candy Salty Dawg Shapoo. Then of course I have to use my Cotton Candy Whipped Clean, and my Cotton Candy sMOOchie (the new and improved Loopy Kiss product) ….

Loopy: So the “kiss” now comes in the new sMOOchie Bar? We like the looks of those, too. Of course The Loopy Lady’s personal favorite is your Whipped Clean. She says that one fingertip of the stuff on a scrubby makes enough suds for the whole shower. So how do you come up with new products?
GudonyaToo: Customer requests and market demands. Plus Brian comes up with some great stuff for me. That’s how Salty Dawg came to be. We had a big mishap with a shampoo bar, and let’s just say I had the best oil treatment ever for my hair. But I couldn’t get it clean! It was horrible. I used my shampoo twice, Dawn Dish Soap twice, and I still looked like I hadn’t washed my hair in a week! LOL! So Brian came up with the Dawg in hopes that I could one day leave the house again. Thank goodness it worked.

Loopy: I don’t think us ewes can use “Dawg” shampoo, but The Loopy Lady might need to try that. What are some challenges you have had in building your business?
GudonyaToo: Not having enough time in the day. We usually work 12-16 hours a day, shipping, producing, customer service, and sometimes to experiment with the new guudies! I always joke and say it’s a good thing we don’t have toddlers because I’m afraid they wouldn’t get fed.

Loopy: Never enough time in the day to get everything done. Boy, we can relate to that! What is your favorite thing about the business?
GudonyaToo: Being my own boss and setting my own hours. It is so cool to also dream about how far we can take GudonyaToo.

Loopy: Do you have help, or is it just the two of you? And is this a full-time job, or do you also do other things?
GudonyaToo: Just the two of us. And it is my full time job and it’s Brian’s second job. He is an electronic engineer by day, and a B&B guru by night.

Loopy: Of course we need to know if you knit?? Or do you have other fun things that you like to do to relax?
GudonyaToo: I chose to learn how to crochet, due to the simple fact that I’m SCARED to death of knitting needles! There is something about long pointy sharp sticks that gives me the heebie jeebies!

Loopy: Awww. They’re fairly harmless. I think you’d like it! We’re always looking for good book and movie recommendations to knit (or crochet) to - do you have any for us?
GudonyaToo: I would love to recommend something, but we don’t have much time for that. I did see Alvin and the Chipmunks on Christmas Day and I loved it! I guess we never really grow up.

Loopy: Will we ever see GudonyaToo in stores near us?
GudonyaToo: Hopefully in the future, if we dream big enough!

Loopy: Well we’ll watch for that. In the meantime, we’ll catch you in your etsy shop. Anything else you’d like to add today?
GudonyaToo: Don’t ever be afraid to live your dreams. Like my sister likes to say, “Life isn’t a dress rehearsal, you only get one chance to live it.”

———————
I hope you had fun learning more about Tina and Brian and their shop. (Seriously - check out my personal favorite, Whipped Clean, and the new sMOOchie Bar. They have figured out a way to ship sMOOchie Bars in the hot summer temperatures. I wish we could do the same for Loopy Kisses….)

Sheri scarfphotosonWednesdayandfunstuffgoingupintheshopthisweek-woohoo!

For one brief moment last week (about the time everyone was jetting in for The Spring Fling) our weather seemed to have gone from winter (flurries the weekend before) to summer (hot hot hot and humid) in one week. Now we’re back in the cool temperatures, but we have flowers inside! Check out the gorgeous tulips that arrived this week - aren’t they beautiful? (Megann - you’re the best!) It feels like we have brought the sunshine inside. They make us smile every time we walk by them.

Those aren’t the only flowers cheering us up here at The Loopy Ewe. This amazing “Edible Arrangement” arrived yesterday, along with a jar of chocolate for the cute strawberry dish that came with it. We have tried everything and it is wonderful. (We keep eating fruit from the back so that the front stays cute. There is a lot of fruit in there, including the “daisy” pineapple slices on the front!) Some people (and I’m not mentioning names) have the idea that chocolate lathered fruit slices make a perfectly acceptable lunch. This arrived with a note that it was a RAK for all of us here at Loopy Central. Wow!! We don’t know who to thank, but YOU know who you are and we just want to send you big hugs and kisses because we are totally enjoying it and it was an awfully nice thing to do. (Also keeping us smiling, but not in the “flower” category, are the basket of cookies from Sharon that arrived yesterday afternoon. This is a fun place to be this week!)

I love reading all of your RAK comments on Wednesday’s blog. Keep adding to them - you have until next Wednesday before I draw for the doorprize. It’s so inspiring to see how many people are being helped, and I’m getting lots of great ideas for future RAKs that I can do.

Today’s recipe is so quick and easy, and loved by all. (What’s not to love about any recipe that has the word “pizza” in it?) I hope you and your families enjoy it.

Pizza Casserole

2 cups spiral noodles
1 lb. ground beef
1 jar pizza sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella
Sliced pepperoni

Cook and drain the noodles, according to package directions. Brown the ground beef and drain. Stir the jar of pizza sauce into the beef. Spread the noodles out in the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish. Add in layers: beef, cheese and pepperoni. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

(Sheri’s note: I’m not very good at following quantities in recipes. If I think there should be more of something, I just drop it in. Therefore, I’m sure that my photo has more noodles than the required amount above. I also like it fairly moist, so I used a big jar of pizza sauce, and topped it all with cheese. Someday I’ll learn to follow directions and leave things alone. Maybe.)

So glad it’s the weekend. I’m working on my Wollmeise Scarf (started during the Fling) and will show photos next week. It’s a bit addictive and very very simple, and I have already decided on my next three colorways that I will knit up into this same pattern. What fun things are you doing this weekend? Any knitting going on?

Sheri nowgoingtohaveanotherchocolatecoveredstrawberry.Forlunch,youknow.

One of the fun things that we did at the Fling was to have everyone sign a 6 ft. tall Sock Blocker for Loopy Central. (I did get some funny looks as I was carrying this big “sock” through the hotel. Some guy accused me of being a Red Sox fan, FPS!) I found the perfect place to hang it in our foyer, so that we can remember all of the fun people who were here for our first Spring Fling. (I photoed it with the door in the picture so that you Flingers would be able to picture where it is, now that you’ve been here in person.) I wonder how many of these will fit on the walls here? I guess when we’re out of wall space, we’ll stop having Flings? (Or move. Yeah, that’s a better idea. We’ll move and get more wall space.) Now I get to walk by the Big Blocker every morning, and think of all of you as I start work! It’s very handy to have a hubby who can make such things.

Here is a picture of the Goody Bags that we gave to everyone when they checked in. It includes the red/black backpack (which I liked a lot because it has pockets and straps and is designed vertically instead of being a horizontal carrying bag). Inside was a skein of Wollmeise which Claudia dyed up for me just for the Spring Fling. (This is the first time she has done more muted colors - it almost looks like a watercolor painting of meadows and sea - which makes it a very special colorway, indeed.) We also included a pattern and samples from Cherry Tree Hill and Claudia Hand Painted (enough to make some sock blocker keychains or mini socks), some wonderful “Everything Balm” from Goodies Unlimited, a brand new pattern from Wendy and one from Cookie A (along with my favorite new heavy vinyl “pattern holder” - I use these all the time when I knit), a Loopy Ewe coffee mug (no, we can’t sell them because we don’t want to ship them, but they were perfect for giving away in person!) and of course some Loopy Kisses. We had a great time putting these together for everyone. And now, you have a chance to win one! Remember when I told you about April’s blog contest and gave you all month to do three random acts of kindness? Today is the day to report in and leave your comments as to what you found to do for others this month! You need to have done three RAKs to be entered into the random drawing, and I will draw the name a week from today. If we have a lot of entries, I’m happy to draw for 2 or 3 Goodie Bags. We love giving away prizes. So leave a comment with your RAKs and inspire all the rest of us to get out there and do the same!

No Sneak Up this week, but we have wonderful things in store for you next week. All of the shirts, hats, and sweatshirts will go up. (Don’t worry - we ordered a lot and still have multiplies in all sizes. The Flingers didn’t clear us out!) We also have more Pattern Tamers, a fun Loopy Necklace, Lawre’s Laine BigBags (ohsogorgeous), Duets, Schaefer Anne, Yarn Love, Seawool Fiber Roving from Creatively Dyed, Cashmere Sock Yarn from Perchance to Knit, and possibly (depending on how much time we have to get photos done) two new indie dyers - Beyond Basic Knits and Enchanted Knoll Farms.

Guess what? It’s time to Take Loopy on Vacation again! He had such a wonderful mix of adventures last summer and he has been bugging us about it all winter long. He’s ready to go again! Beginning with orders placed on May 1st, we’ll be including a Loopy Postcard in your order while supplies last. (We will plan to send one postcard with your first order in May. If for some reason you need a second postcard with your next May order, just leave us an order note.) I know that a lot of you have your very own Little Loopy, and it’s perfectly acceptable to pose and photo Little Loopy on your vacation, instead of the postcards. We’ll leave it up to you as to which you prefer. We’ll start a new ‘08 edition of Loopy’s Summer Photo Gallery next week so that you can start sharing his adventures. We will have prizes at the end of the summer again, and will have you vote in several categories, so get photo-ing. Last year we had prizes for: Best faraway place that Loopy visited, most famous person that he met, most creative photo with Loopy, and most unusual place he visited. If you have any more fun ideas for additional categories, email me and I’ll share them on a future blog post.

Winners of the Q1-08 Challenge - for “randomly drawn from all entries” the winner is: Juli’s skirt. For the Reader’s Choice award from those who voted: Jennifer’s Venezia. Each wins a $25 gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe. Congratulations to you both! Don’t forget our Q2-08 Challenge that runs between now and the end of June.

I had an email from Claudia this morning and she has arrived safely back in Germany. Her family is glad to have her back, but I miss her!

Sheri stillwaaaaybehindonemailsbutIpromiseI’mpluggingawayonthem!

Wow - what a fun weekend we had with all of the Spring Flingers! The best part for me was getting to meet so many of the people that we have come to know and love over the past 18 months at The Loopy Ewe. What a fun group of women. Here is our group shot (missing a few people who were …. ahem …. busy rolling in the yarn that they had just purchased on their Loopy Central Trip….) By the time they arrived here for the weekend, they had all become great friends through the Ravelry Loopy Spring Fling group and it was like a reunion of sorts. We had fun knitting, taking classes with Wendy and Cookie A, eating great food, making Starbucks and Coldstone runs, and having everyone over to Loopy Central. They have already informed me that they want a spot at next year’s Fling. Of course there are soooo many others of you that we want to come, too! So we’re working on how we’re going to make that all happen. We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, here’s a photo-summary of some of the highlights!

We started on Thursday afternoon with registrations and goody bag handouts. (I’ll photo the goody bag for Wednesday’s blog. Remember, I’m giving one away to the randomly selected winner of the April Blog contest. Did you do your 3 random acts of kindness this month? I’ll have you post them on Wednesday’s blog for a chance to win.) We had knitters knitting all over the hotel lobby, confounding the other hotel guests as they wandered by and wondered about all of the people laughing and talking with sticks in their hands.

Then Leslie arrived with cupcakes from an amazing cupcake place here in St. Louis and pandemonium broke out. Don’t mess with knitters trying to get at their cupcakes.

That night, we started with a Dessert Reception and there were many wonderful choices to select from. (Because, you know, the cupcakes didn’t fully meet our “dessert quota” for the day. And besides, that was hours ago.) Here you see Claudia talking with Adrienne. Claudia doesn’t like to be in pictures (that was her in the group photo behind the Spring Fling sign) but she’s ok with people taking her backside.

We had a large room with comfy chairs, tables and room to spread out and knit. One of the things I loved was that most people moved from table to table at different times of the day, so that everyone got to know everyone else.

Capi brought Crocs for Claudia. I think Claudia has worn them every day since then, and we’re off to shop for more today. (I asked her if she’d rather do some sightseeing or some shopping and she quickly voted for shopping!) Remember Capi’s Limelight Interview where we had a photo of her Croc collection?

There were classes going on all day Friday and Saturday, as well as scheduled trips to Loopy Central. I went on the trips to Loopy with the shuttle bus and it was so fun having everyone here in person! The last group in on Saturday afternoon was so worried that there would be nothing left for them to shop from and they soon discovered that the shop stays well-stocked, even after lots of dedicated Loopy Groupies have been there in person.

After they finished shopping, people sat on the red couches or in our entryway, knitting while everyone else checked out. One thing about knitters, you can always count on them to entertain themselves with their knitting if there is ever wait-time.

Everyone had a great time shopping and went back to the hotel with full bags at the end of their trip. They all wanted to know which group spent the most money at Loopy - are they competitive, or what? I’m not telling!

Even though we have switched to Loopy Peppermints for orders now that the weather is warm again, we still keep a full bowl of chocolate kisses at the shop. (In fact, Little Loopy likes to swim in them.) I thought you might also like to see Claudia’s socks. She likes to wear mis-matched pairs. With this pair, she carried over a little color from one to the other. We loved her socks!

On Saturday’s Loopy Central visits, we had these cute cupcakes for the shoppers! Susan-the-awesome-assistant’s sister and niece made these for us.

One evening, a few of us went to the Japanese Steak House for dinner and were entertained by the waiters/chefs who prepare your meal at your table. Here you see (left to right) Kelli who was here all the way from New Zealand, Cookie A from CA, Capi from AZ, Wendy from VA and Sharon from CA. (Claudia and Janice are hiding….)

Because knitters are all alike, we wondered what size needle the chopsticks might be, so Wendy got out a needle gauge to check it out. There was a gal at the next table who noticed this odd behaviour, and said, “Hey are you knitters? I am too!”

Back at the Knitting Lounge, there was lots of fun going on. Adrienne shared spinning with several people. Here she’s giving a demo to Kelli. Stacy, of Tempted Yarns, also brought her wheel and inspired us with her spinning.(I didn’t take nearly enough photos this weekend. I missed several opportunities. Next year I must do better.)

Leslie got a group of knitters together before the Fling and 16 of them made squares for an afghan for Claudia. It turned out beautifully and Claudia was so touched. I have offered to ship it to her, but she won’t give it up. I’m not sure she trusts me not to keep it …..

Another group, led by Tammy’s beautiful voice, wrote a song and sang it the last night we were there. Guess what? You can hear it on Flickr right here. It was so funny!

All too soon our long week-end was over and we had to say our good-byes. (Kelli and Claudia were roomies, so you get another backside photo of Claudia in her very cute Wicked Sweater made from her own Peppermint Prince colorway.) We left with fuller suitcases, more projects on our “must knit” list, more yarn for our stashes, less sleep, more food, and more friends than when we arrived. And we all want to do it again. Next year, y’all have to join us. (Allen - it ought to be “all y’all”, right? I had some southern-speaking lessons from Allen of Numma Numma this weekend.)

Special thanks go out to Janice, my dear friend from Iowa who held down the fort at the hotel while I was back and forth to Loopy, to Cookie A and Wendy for classes that everyone raved about, to Claudia for making her first trip to the US, to Web Guy for driving down from college to help out and meet everyone, to Wonder Husband who made a gigantic sock blocker for everyone to sign (I’ll show you on Wednesday), to Knitting Daughter who helped here at Loopy Central, to the Elves who put in a lot of overtime last week and over the weekend, to my mom for making brownies for us, and to all of the rest of you for such a fun weekend. We miss you already!

(And Claudia wanted to add a few sentences - see below.)

Sheri nowheadingofftoshopbecauseClaudia’ssuitcaseisn’tquiteover-stuffedenough,apparently

From Claudia: Hi Ladies it was a pleasure and great honour to meet you all. Next year, same place, same fun, wouldn’t that be cool? Thanks for all and I didn’t expect to get such a warm welcome. Love you all, American knitters, American beef and your comfy beds (not your swimming pool toilets with too much water, it scares me)

Claudia