Today I want to introduce you to Sharon, who is our official test knitter here at The Loopy Ewe. (Well, actually, she isn’t HERE at TLE, she’s in CA. And the photos she submitted are of her adorable kitties – aren’t they cute? That’s Bell, Tigger and Chelsey in order. But if you want to see what she looks like, you can see her photo on this blog post. And if you want to see some of her beautiful knitting, many of the socks on this page are done by Sharon.) 🙂 I hope you enjoy Loopy’s interview with Sharon today!
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Sharon: Hi Loopy! Thanks so much for inviting me into the Limelight. I’m a big fan of yours and I’m so pleased to be here!
Loopy: Well, we like you a lot here, too! How did you learn to knit and how many years have you been at it?
Sharon: I learned to knit as a kid, taught by my grandmother. I made doll and toy clothes and scarves but knitting gave way to sewing, embroidery, counted cross stitch, mosaics, and stained glass over the years. I would knit now and then but never stuck with it. Some years ago I decided I wanted to knit socks. I took a knitting refresher class to learn to knit in the round (my grandmother taught me to knit everything flat and seam it), and the rest, as they say, is history. Knitting is my primary craft now although I do sew a bit and I want to try making chainmaille jewelry.
Loopy: You’re the Loopy test knitter, but what other jobs have you had?
Sharon: I love being the Loopy test knitter! My first test knit was the last sock for the 2007 Sock Club (the yarn is divine and the pattern so fun) and now I’m working on the first sock for the 2008 Sock Club (also a great pattern and wonderful yarn). I also test/sample knit for a knitting book coming out next year. That is going to be some book! In addition to test knitting I am a freelance writer. I’ve written everything from highly technical installation guides for DSL routers to newsletters full of fluff pieces. Currently I write content for web sites for a web design company.
Loopy: We know you have some (ahem) stash. How do you like to store it?
Sharon: My stash is stored in sealed tubs and closed cupboards and drawers. We have
three project stealing, needle biting, yarn snipping fur children so I have to be vigilant in keeping everything put away, even if I’ll only be gone a minute. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten out of bed in the middle of the night, thinking I’ve left a piece of yarn on the end table or dropped a strand on the floor!
Loopy: You’ve been with us since almost the beginning of The Loopy Ewe. How did you hear about us?
Sharon: I found The Loopy Ewe doing a search for Schaefer Anne. Yes, TLE had been open
for only a few days at that point. I was so impressed with that first order – the speed it was shipped, the careful packing, the treats, everything – and I’m still impressed with every order. (And Loopy, that’s A LOT of orders!)
Loopy: Do you stockpile anything, like chicken br**sts or almonds?
Sharon: I’m a vegetarian so it isn’t likely I’d be stockpiling chicken br**sts but I do have a lot of nuts in my life! Actually I have a bag problem – knitting bags, purses, totes, accessory bags, etc., etc., etc! I buy them, sew them and knit them! My husband and I also collect plants. We have over hundreds and hundreds of plants in pots and in the ground. Fruit trees, flowers, shrubs, perennials, annuals, hanging baskets, roses, shade trees, evergreens, ornamentals, cactus, and tropical plants all have a place in our gardens. We even have a banana plant that produced two bunches of bananas last year! This year we will be growing vegetables in raised beds that my husband built. I can hardly wait for lush, ripe tomatoes on a hot summer day!
Loopy: Any recipes you’d like to share?
Sharon: We’ve gotten into fennel lately and here’s an easy and tasty way to try this vegetable. This serves 2 as a main dish or more as a side (you could even serve it with stockpiled chicken br**sts!) You’ll need 2 bulbs of fennel, a large white or yellow onion, 4 or 5 small red potatoes, high quality olive oil, salt and pepper, and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut off the stock parts of the fennel, leaving just the bulbs. Cut the bulbs in 6ths or 8ths, depending on size. Place on a sheet pan or in a roasting pan. Peel off the onion skin and cut the onion into large chunks and put in the pan. Scrub the potatoes and cut into chunks (no need to peel), adding those to the pan. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix the vegetables with clean hands to coat. Put in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the vegetables are easily pierced with a knife. Sprinkle with parmesan just before serving. Yum!
Loopy: How about your favorite movies?
Sharon: That would have to be National Treasure, Shakespeare in Love, and Blazing
Saddles. Well, Loopy, I think that’s enough about me. I’ve enjoyed our time together! Thanks so much!
Loopy: Thanks for being in the Loopy Limelight today – and for all of your wonderful knitting that benefits all of us, Sharon!
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Sheri y’allorderedatonovertheweekend-we’rebusybusybusytoday!
(andofcourseweloveyouforthat) 🙂
Hi Sharon! Thank you for being a Loopy Ewe Test Knitter! I’m was in the current sock club and the next one. Can I bribe you for the yarn and pattern? I have some bags I could send to sunny California. Just kIdding (well, maybe). Thank you for sharing your fennel recipe. I recently tried fennel, in a salad, for the first time and really like the slightly anise taste. I can’t wait to try it roasted…yum.
Hi Sharon! Glad to meet you!
Do you like curry? I’m not vegetarian myself, but if you like curry… I’ve not met a vegetable yet who doesn’t like to be in a curry. In fact, I can’t think of much of anything that doesn’t somehow belong in a curry.
Great recipe, thanks, Sharon; I love roasted veggies! I’m envious of all of your plants. Our current house doesn’t have enough natural light for me to indulge in that many any more. I’m glad you’re doing your part to increase the oxygen level in the atmosphere!
Thanks for getting things shipped, Sheri, my mom will enjoy her new socks….and I will enjoy my new wrap…and some more socks…and…….
Lovely companions, Sharon. I do so enjoy the fur babies. 🙂
Hi Sharon! What a fun job you have for Loopy Ewe! How fun to be able to knit patterns and with yarn before it is introduced to all of us! Your fur babies are just gorgeous!
Sharon is a lucky lady! I want to be a Loopy Ewe test knitter:o)
That’s really cool, Sharon. I’m a test knitter, too. Socks are my specialty. It works as I suffer from SSS and usually you only knit one sock 🙂
Nice to meet you, Sharon. thanks for the yummy sounding receipe! I only have one cat, but find I also must be super-vigilant if I want yarn to safely co-exist in my apartment with my guy. He takes the cocept “test knitter” in a totally new direction, if given the chance.
Ooh, that recipe sounds yummy!
Test knitter for TLE, what a kick ass job you have, Sharon! I love National Treasure too 😉
I think we are all envious of the test knitter job : ) Nice to meet you Sharon, and your 4 legged friends.
Thanks, again, for this feature. Sharon, I do envy you and your husband all those great plants. It’s very fun to read about folks working with and for TLE. My two kitties love to lie down right on top of my pattern or yarn and suck on the working length and tug yarn off the needle. Cute, but only the first 3 or four times! Being a test knitter must be fun. You must be a great knitter!
Test knitting is one of my dream jobs. What fun that would be. I guess I will stick with my current test knitting for my family. I have never cared for fennel, at least raw. Does it keep it’ anisy flavor when it is cooked? The anise of licorice flavor is what I don’t care for. It makes my tongue numb.
Thanks for sharing all about your life with your cats, socks and plants, Sharon. And thenks for all those socks you knit, whose pictures are so helpful in choosing yarn. I really appreciate it when I can see the yarn knit up; it often looks so different from in the skein, and sometimes it’s hard to imagine without seeing the real thing. Thanks, too, for sharing a recipe this week which tempts me to eat something healthy, which I don’t have to feel guilty about making and eating!
Nice to meet you, Sharon! Have fun with your new vegetable garden. Fresh tomatoes and basil are the whole reason I grow vegetables, but here in Maine, it takes a lot of fortitude as you never know what will win, the tomatoes or the fog!
Test knitting is definitely a dream job! Love your kitty pics – I can see every whisker!
I like seeing the Loopy profiles! But, I really wish you would add some news to the blog posts, as well, pretty please, Sheri! Some of both in one blog post would be really nice! Many thanks!
Hmmmm, cant see the pic of the kitties this time like the knitting room. Oh well. That job sounds like a dream job to me Sharon! I knit to slow however to be a test knitter so will just dream 🙂
Love this feature SHeri. Welcome SHaron and thank you for letting us know about you. Love your kitties, they’re knitting likes was too funny. Yes i have one of those two also tigerstriped, he is hilarious. I have used feenel seed alot and have tasted fennel as a veggie in N. Italy. WHen i have some feenel grown this summer i must try your reipe. Sounds so yummy. Love tomatoes andd basil, but in SOuth DAkota you really need to watch the frost dates carefully. CAnt wait to garden. WIsh i could have all those plants. ANd be a test knitter would be so much fun too.
Now i wonder why there were so many orders on the weeken, hmmmm, SHeri? ANy idea? Or was there a sneakup we didnt know about? No just joking. THanks to the elves and you for sending out my order so quickly.
loveya
Wow, look at all the competition Sharon is getting. Everybody wants to join her in her job. Yeah, test knitting is fun. I just finished a piece for Fiber Dreams and am working on another one for Knit Picks. It sure keeps a knitter busy and out of trouble. Sharon, good luck on the gardening.
Hmmm…I was curious if Sharon knits BOTH socks when she test knits, or if she has SSS like a well-known, online sock & lace yarn retailer we all know and love 😉
I loved the pictures of Sharon’s cats and I’ll bet they will love hanging out in the garden when the sun is out. Thanks for the fennel recipe too!
Test knitter? Well! Some people just have the best jobs in the world! 🙂 Thanks for introducing Sharon to us, Loopy.
I accidentally deleted your reply, sorry. That shawl is the one for Laura and the pattern should be headed your way soon. I’m glad you like it. If you ever need any help, you know where to find me. 🙂
Sharon, cute cats! Sheri introduced our family to the world for kittens in August. We love and spoil “Lily”.
It is great fun to read about Loopy customers. Sharon, thank you for allll your orders, your kind words, and your fun surprises 🙂
Nice to meet you, Sharon! I’m also envious that you’re a test knitter, but I’m too slow (even if it’s only one sock!) so there’s no competition. Thank you for the recipe, those are all vegetables I can get hold of year round!
Roasted Fennel with Red/Blue onions, Carrots, Red potatoes are fantabulous.. drizzle with good olive oil, lightly, toss, sprinlkle with s & p ..Place in a preheated 350 degree oven until fork tender Sprinkle with cheese, place under the broiler for about 1-3 minutes to get that nice crunch!! “Yummo,” like Rachel Ray says..
Or in Ratatouille, for a little surprise..another Yummo!!
Enjoy ! :-)))