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?
Me too as far as eclectic tastes in music. I’d recommend any of the following: Bob Marley (anything, especially “Legend”), Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers (“Joy and Blues” or others), any “old school” reggae; Bela Flek & The Flektones (upbeat jazz); Joe Bonamossa (blues); Jonny Lang (especially 1st CD) (blues); Taj Mahal (Dancin’ Blues); Average White Band (AWB – with “Pick Up The Pieces” and “Cut The Cake” – originally released in the the ’70’s). Also Afro-pop style, just about any artist or group! For quieter, slower pace, Andrea Bocelli or Josh Groban. I could go on but I’ll leave it at that!
During the Christmas season I listen to the soundtrack of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It’s lots of fun and has some real jazzy piano instrumentals.
Indigo Girls are a perennial fave, and I’ve been likng Carbon Leaf recently. Gotta find what you can listen to while focusing on other things. Good luck!
Dar Williams! She’s awesome. Her sound has evolved over the years to become a bit more polished but I love her old stuff maybe even more than the newer stuff. And Indigo Girls are always a huge favorite of mine…
picking two artist would be darn hard… so instead, I have a different suggestion for amazing music selection. if you have a computer at the Loopy Ewe, go to 913thesummit.com . they have live streaming audio.
they are an alternative/mix music station with daily Beatle breaks and World Cafe in the morning. and the best thing about them is: they technically are a public radio station – so no commercials!! just tons of great music.
the morning DJ (Bob Hall) is very knowledgeable and gives great facts about the artists. I love this channel so much, when I moved out of NE Ohio to Texas, I still listen to this channel at work, all day long.
alright, clearly I need more coffee. because you have a computer at the Loopy. I meant, if you have some great computer speakers to play music off the computer – check out 91.3 the summit web page.
wow! You have a lot of readers, look at those comments!
Thank you for the recipe, can’t wait to try it!
Well I was going to say the beatles, but I’m sure you’ve listened to them – but Paul’s new stuff is up beat – how about him?
If you’ve never come across them, you can’t beat the Three Weird Sisters for laugh-out-loud folk. (Think Appalachian folk music with wire harps and such titles as “My Karma Broke Down”.)
Hi!
I love to Michael Buble for incredible vocals! Another fav for quieter moments is chris botti for some beautiful instumnentals. I also love to pull out musicals for long car rides, so I would think for packing they would be perfect, I get to hear a story and the music moves from fast and peppy to slow and calm. Great to sing along with, but equally wonderful to listen to the wonderful singers tell their stories. Also, if you working with someone, or stuck in a car, I always find the songs tend to jumpstart conversations. Guys and Dolls, Rent, Phantom, and Whistle down the Wind are some of my favs.
Have fun checking out all the musical suggestions!
Believe or not, soundtracks to TV shows or movies help me when I’m working on something. My personal favorite is the soundtrack to Firefly. It is a blend of different types of music that really keeps you guessing and never gets boring. The movie Serenity (based on the show) also has a very good soundtrack. Have fun at the new location!
Congrats on the new wheel…..can’t wait for the painted rovings!!!! I have very ecclectic taste in music. For soothing kind of music I like Enya. Love the 60’s and 70’s rock!!! And I used to bellydance and fell in love with the music….especially the pop and techno tribal style music. One of my very favorite albums is Moroccan Spirit. Oh and B-Tribe is another good artist. I could go on and on!!!!!
My favorite CD lately is Costello Music by the Fratellis. You might have heard their song “Flathead” on an iPod commercial, and I think they had one in the third Shrek movie too (haven’t seen it yet). They’re not exactly calming instrumentalists – more like rockabilly w/ a little old-school Billy Idol – but I guarantee they’ll get you up and moving. It always works for me on long car rides 🙂
Hmm, if you like sort-of folky music, Dar Williams is good. I especially love some of her older stuff on the CD Mortal City. It’s her, an acoustic guitar, and witty lyrics.
I also love the Chieftans. My fav CD by them is The Long Black Veil, where they perform with a variety of other artists, like Mick Jagger, Mark Knopfler, Sinead O’Connor, Sting, etc.
I like Alison Krauss + Union Station. The live CD is especially great!
Have fun spinning. On to the music to work to: I love The guitar Trio: Paco DeLucia, John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola; Lorenna McKennit; Buena Vista Social club; Allison Krauss; The Pogues; Poco, Stones, White Stripes, Jack Johnson; Etta James; rock and blues; oh I could go on forever!!
I’m eclectic, I love all types of music (well, as long as it sounds good). My faves range from celtic, to classical to rock (not heavy metal, more Bon Jovi if anything). My suggestion to you is this: you listen to something soothing, but not boring to put you to sleep, I LOVE Josh Groban, I ADORE Celine Dion. Get a couple of rockin’ oldies to jig to. As long as the music is something fun and something you LOVE go with it, no matter how old it is.
You should check out Rodrigo y Gabriela for acoustic guitar and Snow Patrol (indie rock). I also like Modest Mouse (idie rock-if you want to rock out more) and Brandi Carlile (pop/rock). I figure that we like our indie dyers, so you should listen to idie music while packing it!
By the way, the last two are both from Washington State!
Good luck on the spinning and have a great Thanksgiving!
Welcome to the slippery slope of Spinning!
Sheri,
Right now you should be listening to Christmas music. It’s ok as it is Thanksgiving week. A few of my favorites for Christmas music are Manheim Steamroller, Elvis, Transiberian Orchestra, and, of course, the Christmas album of the Muppets with John Denver. That one is really good. !!
Have a good Thanksgiving!
Melissa
What a great question for the blog! Now I have a bunch of new music to check out! I love groups like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, but I’ve been on a major Bob Marley kick for awhile now. And the other day I was channel surfing and caught a spanish guitar song on the classical station so I’ve been googling that and found Gabreil Estarellas. It was so funny when I saw ‘Sharon’ say that Hall and Oates was her favorite. My name is Sharon, too, and when I was in junior high/high school, my they were mine and my friend’s absolute favorite. I’m checking out Jack Johnson right now on Napster, since I saw his name a few times here. Oh, and I love how Connie referred to Josh Groban’s voice as ‘chocolate coffee’.
For getting a good rythm to pack stuff –
Give a little respect (Erasure?)
A lot of cheezy 80s music is good like that – you can really get into a groove.
WOOOOO! YIPPPEEEEE! And all for selfish reasons of course 😉 Because if you’re a spinner, then you’ll certainly stock rovings and tops and batts, OH MY! Just watch my account rack up the orders.. chaching!
No really, You will be hooked. Its so relaxing and soothing. I love spinning!
As for music. I have much much different tastes in music, but I generally recommend Damien Rice. Very beautiful vocals, incredible songwriter. Relaxing, sometimes jazzy, a bit of instrumental. I.love.him 🙂
I also highly suggest the soundtrack to the movie “Once”. I love the band the Frames (lead singer of the Frames is in that movie) but the soundtrack is much different, more mellow.. and absolutely beautiful.
I’d play Dave Grisman as I worked if I worked in the Loopy Room. http://www.dawgnet.com/ He’s mostly a mandolin picker and composer who does Bluegrass and bosa nova based pieces, but that’s sort of like saying Mozart mostly wrote for orchestras. He’s worked with Jerry Garcia, Stephan Grapelli, and many other well known artists.
Stephan Grapelli and also Django Reinhart would make me happy. They usually get classified as jazz violin and gyspsy guitar, but they both were kind of their own category.
http://www.answers.com/topic/stephane-grappelli
Oh boy – I love music, but if I were stuffing orders, I’d want something light and nice and something I might even sing along to a bit. Simon and Garfunkel or James Taylor. Happy, mellow, fun – enough to keep up the energy and the spirit!
May I suggest The Arcade Fire, they are a Montreal Indie group, their latest CD is Neon Bible, and I just love them.
Danielle
I highly recommend Sara Bareilles. You can stream some of her music at her website http://www.sarabmusic.com/
I am totally the wrong person to give out musical recommendations because I listen to everything. However, my husband likes to point out that the music I listen to most tends to match up with the tastes of my teenaged nephew. I am not sure that is a good thing! With the season, though, we have started digging out the piles of Christmas cds — everything from the Nutcracker to the Big 80’s Christmas compilation. For background music, the Celtic Women, Enya, or Clannad are also nice.
Just two. That’s hard. It changes from day to day, but right now it’s probably Lifehouse and Todd Agnew. I like guys with deep gravelly voices. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe – anything pumpkin is great! It’s fun reading everyone’s music choices (I’ve written down some names I want to check out.) I like Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Selah, Lynda Randle, Darlene Zschech (Hillsong music) – to name a few Christian contemporary artists. Also enjoy Alison Krause, Brad Paisley, Norah Jones……I love music, too — for working, relaxing or knitting, of course! 🙂
Ricky Tims is a quilter/musician, and he has nice piano pieces. For packaging, though, I’d prefer some old time funk, like “Brick House,” or “Play that Funky Music”!
Oooh, this is easy – my all time favorite band for *happy* music is Foutains of Wayne, their music always makes me bounce & brings my spirits up.
Ottmar Liebert (anything) soothing guitar
George Winston (anything) relaxation music
Norah Jones (anything) for piano-bar-sultry
U-2 (Rattle and Hum) for rock
Johnny Lang (Lie to Me) blues and guitar
Susan Tedeschi (Just Won’t Burn) female blues/rock
Michael Buble (Come Fly with Me) uptown sound
Van Morrison (Best of) all around
A favorite Christmas CD: Carpenters ‘Christmas Portrait’
Oh for me….while knitting and quilting it has to be Josh Groban or Linda Eder! I love Linda’s self titled album…and the song Vienna makes me knit faster!!!!
Once the week of Thanksgiving hits- it’s Handel’s Messiah! I love IT! I was lucky enought to sing in a production of it for five years during college and beyond until we moved away.
I have a wide range of musical taste. I like the 80’s because it is fun mucic. Love Rick Springfield!!! You need that whe nthe shop is open or you are by yourself so you can sing and dance.
Then for mellow music I like Harry Connick Jr., Dave matthews and John Mayer.
I do have a rocker side to me but we wont tell anyone about that!!! :0)
Nothing makes it a day better then listening to the Rolling Stones. I can’t get enough of Mick.
I love Damian Rice…his music is so haunting…also Kate Bush. I find that whenever I watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy I invariably like a song that they play during the hour and then I hunt for it on iTunes. Happy Thanksgiving in advance to Sheri and all!
Lately I’ve been very fond of Corinne Bailey Rae. It’s not my normal kind of music (Evanescence is a favorite of mine) but she’s just very comfortable. I can’t think of another way of describing it.
Enjoy your spinning! I’ve yet to go that route…I’m afraid of fueling yet another addiction. lol
Hmm, All different music can be great to knit by, Have you tried Puccini? Opera can be surprising conducive to happy stitching! I don’t have spinning daughters, but my 2 oldest, (22 & 20), do knit and i’m just tickled that they’ll do a project now and then between classes! And the youngest DD, 4, says she wants to knit when she’s 5!
I just love Paul Simon for some nice listening, kind of snappy music – otherwise, Oceans of Peace – great for yoga practice, waking up and just hanging out:)
Spinning! I’ll have to live vicariously through you for a while… Maybe when all of my kids are in HS…
Music! I’ve loved reading all of these suggestions! Try some:
*Nickel Creek — folksy, bluegrass, fun — especially love their first album
*The Duhks — folksy, Canadian, bluegrassy, instrumental and vocal — I painted much of my house while listening to them!
*Check out Anoushka Shankar — great instrumental
*And for singing along… who can resist James Taylor? Love the Indigo Girls, too!
This may be a repeat i didn’t tak the time to scan but right now i am loving
Lucia Micarelli & Leigh Nash-She is like the Swallow. The 2 of them together in this song are so beautiful.
The Way I Am -Ingrid Michaelson
Hi Sheri,
The Pumpkin Dessert Looks Great!
No spinning for me. I am lucky to knit at all these days with my new little baby:)
I love Josh Groban and just bought his new Christmas CD. I also always listen to the Amy Grant Christmas CD’s during the holidays.
Another great artist is Eva Cassidy. I first heard her when I was in getting a haircut and really enjoy her music.
Happy Spinning!
I searched through my iTunes and my recommendations are: Mat Kearney- Nothing Left to Lose, Corinne Bailey Rae (self-titled) and Arcade Fire- Neon Bible. They’re all records I can listen to from first track to last. Mat Kearney is pop, but he does a lot of acoustic guitar and piano stuff. Corinne Bailey Rae has a great voice, very soulful, and Arcade Fire is a really interesting indie band, that may take awhile to get used to, but they grow on you exponentially.
Sheri! – Am so excited for you that you decided on your wheel. Sorry you didn’t go with the Lendrum, but I know you will love your Schacht!! Congratulations 🙂
Music . . . Hmmmmm currently listening to a CD that’s sort of tough to get but well worth it – by Irish artist Maire Breatnach. It’s called “The Voyage of Bran.” And now, since Christmas is coming, I’m listening to the the first Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD, “Christmas.” It’s still my favorite after all these year – I never tire of it.
Adrienne 🙂
Woo, 340 comments!
A very fun singer/songwriter for all ages is Billy Jonas — literate, funny one-man band, songs with a beat you can’t help but move your feet to. Very engaging! Distributes his own music, or maybe CD Baby has it. His website has sound clips.
Instrumental? I like Lorie Line when I’m in the mood for piano music, no vocals. Lots of great CDs, and she also has several really good Christmas CDs. (Almost said albums and betrayed my age.)
Another Christmas CD which my children fell asleep to (but it’s not just a kid’s album) is Shawn Colvin’s Holiday Songs and Lullabies; sweet, simple, beautiful arrangements of Christmas and winter songs, plus a couple lullabies. I really love this CD.
Right now? I’m loving Neko Case’s album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. It’s very ethereal sounding and she’s got a great voice. Also, I’m rediscovering Springsteen. Some days you just need to rock out!
Looks like my Friday post was gobbled up by the blog! Congrats on the wheel. I’ve managed to stay off that slippery slope, so far. My top 5, in random order are: Bruce Springsteen, Michael Tolcher, The Eagles, Garth Brooks, Jimmy Buffett. Christmas CDs are nice this time of year. I have one by Lorrie Morgan and a philharmonic orchestra that is nice. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got up your sleeve! Happy Turkey Day1!!
Some of my favorite knitting music is from Spyro Gyra. In fact, most any of the “smooth jazz” performers are great to knit along with. David Benoit, Euge Groove, George Benson – all great!!