A few people have asked me how long I make the cuffs on my socks, and whether or not a certain skein of yarn will make 2 socks. Here is my first String Theory sock, folded over (not yet washed or blocked. Just in case you’re looking that closely). I wear a size 11 shoe, so my socks are always a good test of yardage. That’s one positive, I guess. I like my cuffs to be the same length as the foot of the sock, when folded in half. Once in awhile I’ll make them a little longer if I’m having fun with the pattern and there is still plenty of yarn left, but normally, I double them. When knitting socks, I split the skein into 2 equal balls using a winder and a scale to measure the weight, and then I knit toe up. This way, I never have to worry about running out down by the toe, from having knit cuff down. You can see the little bit of yarn I had left from this first String Theory sock. Actually, I screwed up the two balls a little and I used the smaller ball first. So I can say with great confidence that there is PLENTY in that skein to make a pair of socks. I knit this one on size 1 needles with 60 stitches. I can also say with great confidence that whenever we wrap up a set of small sock blockers, I am totally jealous of that person with the small feet.

I also knit up a Spirit Trail Fiberworks sock out here. I love the colors (this one is Turkish Stone) and I used my default no-brainer pattern – the Baby Cable Rib. That’s the pattern I use when I don’t want to have to think while I knit. (3 rows of K2, P2, then one row of K2tog but leave on the left needle, knit the first stitch again and pop it both stitches off, then P2). It’s a very stretchy, comfortable sock. We’ll have a Spirit Trail re-stock again soon. I had a lot of fun meeting Jennifer in person at Maryland Sheep & Wool in May, and picking out colors for our next order in person.

So, are you mostly a toe-up sock knitter or a cuff-down sock knitter?  And how long do you like your cuffs?

Sheri enjoyingthealmostdailyafternoonthunderstormsthatlastabout20minutes

We’re working our way through two seasons of Numb3rs while we’re out here. Does anyone else watch that show? I want to move right in to Charlie’s Craftsman house. (Um, not for Charlie. Just for the decor. I’m a Craftsman/Mission Oak kind of person.) When the guys aren’t around, Knitting Daughter and I are knitting our way through the seasons of Seventh Heaven, this summer, too. Great show and it’s the longest running “family” show ever. It was on longer than The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie. I like to watch movies or series when I knit. Right now I’m working on something that takes a little more concentration (my Challenge Socks) so I’m kind of in and out of what is going on. It doesn’t matter too much with Seventh Heaven, but it does matter when you miss sections of a Numb3rs episode. Oh, well. I keep thinking that I’ll listen to books on tape sometime while I knit (or knitting podcasts), but that never seems to happen. Do you prefer to just sit and knit, or listen and knit, or watch and knit, or none of the above?

Back to the Challenge Socks, the challenge was technically over yesterday (June 30th), but until I make a “last call” on photos for the Challenge Gallery, keep knitting. Photos will probably be due by 7/15. It has been really fun to see the incredible socks you all are coming up with.

Have you heard about Knit Grafitti? Check out this website. My favorite is the abandoned gas station. The bus they ride around in is not very subtle, is it?

Sheri HappyCanadaDaytoallofourLoopyCanadians!

P.S. Namaste’s new Hermosa Bags, Mini Clutches, and XL/XXL Pouches are up – check them out!

I never take vacations that last longer than a week. It seems weird to still be out here this week. Weird, but very very good. (You know, I could never do this without Susan and the Elves back at Loopy Central. They are The Best.) Today was all about the “be”. Or – is there something even less than “be” on the scale of  “be” and “do”? Because that would be me. I read a little, had some coffee, trolled around online, read a little more ….. laziness.  Finally, we took about a mile walk over to Starbucks and back, just to get the blood moving. No one in my family particularly likes having their photo taken for the blog, but I made them, today. Don’t they look nice and relaxed? WH just got here last night. The kids and I drove out earlier. I think WH needs some Elves at his work, so that he can get a little more time off. Now I have to figure out what to fix for dinner. According to my carefully designed menu list for the week, I think I was supposed to put something in the crockpot this morning. But in all of my lazy-stupor, I didn’t think about it.  Now I might be in trouble.

In knitting news, I started a second sock out of the String Theory Bimini. You know what that means? I want to wear them on my feet this fall, not just have one on display at Loopy. I know that we have sold out of several colors already. We’ll have more as soon as possible. Right now they’re working on an order for me for The Sock Summit. (Who’s coming to that big event? We are looking forward to seeing you there!)

Sock Clubbers – it’s almost July, and you know what that means? Another Sock Club Kit coming out to you soon. Watch your emails for the invoice sometime later this week!

Sheri reallyneedingtoworkonmysweater,butcan’tputthesocksdown
Evenonvacation,theredoesn’tseemtobeenoughtimetokniteverything

I am having plenty of time to knit and relax on this trip. (And I continue to photo the flowers.) A few of you have mentioned my numerous blog posts while vacationing and I think you’re worried that I’m not enjoying my vacation. (Or else you’re tired of me blogging. Could be either one.) The funny thing is that it’s easier to blog on vacation, because:

1. We’re doing things that I can talk about and photo. In a typical week, my life is pretty much LoopyLoopyLoopy. Not a whole lot of new and interesting things to blog about. (That doesn’t mean we don’t do anything else, but I don’t think you all need to hear that WH and I went to a movie, or I found an old friend on Facebook, or church was great on Sunday, or we got together for dinner with friends, or I cleaned the house.)

2. I have more time to blog. As I said above, a typical week includes a lot of LoopyLoopyLoopy work.

3. I like keeping in touch with you.

When I’m back in St. Louis, the regular blog schedule will come back. (Hopefully I’ll have yarn news for you that first week back. Lots of yarn enroute.)

Here is the sock that I finished a few days ago. This is one of our new indie dyer lines – String Theory. Someone brought me two skeins of this amazing yarn to the Spring Fling in April, and that’s about all it took for me to get in touch with them. It’s one of those merino/cashmere/nylon yarn bases that we all love, and the colors are just gorgeous. In fact, I carried 4 different colors around with me the afternoon they arrived, because I couldn’t decide which one to use first. I’m in a teal-y mode these days, so this one (Bimini) won. (I left the rest for all of you from this first batch, but I do plan to add to my stash as we get more orders from them. It was beautiful to work with and the sock is so comfortable to wear.) I used the Celebratory Chevrons pattern that Debbie O’Neill designed for our very first anniversary. You can find it in the Free Patterns section of the blog, here. This is the second time that I’ve knit this pattern and it continues to be one of my favorites. (Speaking of the anniversary of The Loopy Ewe – we will again have a fun kit to celebrate our THIRD anniversary, which is in August. We’ll have details of that after we get back from having a booth at  The Sock Summit, the first weekend in August.)

The Sneak Up just went up for the week – did you catch it yet? In addition to String Theory, we also added in new colors in Noro Silk Garden Worsted and Kureyon Sock, new colors in Araucania Multi and Semi-Solid, Ella Rae Lace Merino line (which is actually perfect for socks, as well as lace knitting), plus re-stocks in Gale’s Art Black BFL Roving, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock and Wooltop, Dream in Color Smooshy, and Araucania Itata. We also re-stocked The Loopy Ewe clear bags and the GoKnit bags over the weekend. Next week, I’ll tell you about more new lines that are coming soon!

Sheri workingonasweater,Girasole,sockandshawl.
Whatareyouworkingonrightnow?

I’m still doing an excellent job of  “Be-ing”, and boy is it nice. Cool mountain breezes. Time for extra knitting.  And did I mention the cool breezes?  The flowers here are always so pretty, due to the cooler temperatures at night. I end up taking lots of flower photos while we’re here. It almost makes me think that I’d like to be a gardener, but then I get back to St. Louis and face the reality of weeding in the heat. The gardening thought goes right down the drain, pretty fast.

I tried a new recipe for Father’s Day. We had my parents and brother over for lunch that day and my dad likes Peanut Butter Pie. This one came from the Pioneer Woman blog, which I love.

Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:
25 Oreos
1/4 cup butter, melted.

Crush Oreos in blender or food processor until fine. Add melted butter, mix well, and press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Let cool. (Need this recipe to be even easier? Buy one of the prepared Oreo Pie Crusts at the grocery store. That also saves you from having to eat the rest of the Oreos in the package you had to buy to make this.)

Filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whip together peanut butter and cream cheese. Add in the powdered sugar and mix well. Add in the Cool Whip, mixing until light and fluffy. Spoon the filling into the cooled crust and refrigerate for a few hours or over night. (Lick the beaters – it’s delicious.)

Cut into 8 pieces and enjoy!

Sheri wholikesrecipesthatarethiseasy&thisgood

It’s always fun to shop here, whether it’s window shopping (on the days you’re trying not to spend money) or bargain shopping (on the days when you hit the Silverthorne Outlet Stores because the deals are too good to pass up.) One of my favorite places to hang out and wander around is Breckenridge. I have been going to Joy of Sox since before The Loopy Ewe.  I used to buy socks there, but now I just look at their cute earrings and other accessories.  I still like the name of the shop. (And so does Loopy, who wanted to be in the photo.) I also love going to Creatures Great and Small. They have fun things in there, but I spend most of my time looking at the Trollbeads and Chamilia beads. Plus, the owners are wonderful. The little yellow house is 111 years old, and they’ve been there for 23 years.

We always finish the day here by having pizza at Downstairs at Erics. (Yes, you do have to go down the stairs to get to the restaurant.) The only thing I don’t like about being up here in the mountains is the altitude. After a few days, you find that you don’t get so out of breath climbing a flight of stairs (FPS), but this t-shirt seemed really appropriate today.

Sheri notmuchknittingdonetodaybutmoviesareontheschedulefortonight,
whichmeansknitting,too!