PippiKneeSocks.com

ahhh! brown.

i get a-lot! of compliments on my use of brown. (thank you!)
i also get alot of questions about how i do it. it’s a gift, i was just born this way.
no, seriously, it’s years of trial and error.
the other day amanda asked,
how do you get those gorgeous deep browns? I have lanaset straight
brown, but I can’t seem to get it dark enough. What’s your secret (if
you don’t mind sharing!)
i don’t mind sharing my knowledge on this subject. i do it at least once a month. so, i figured i’d make a post about it; i’m sure others want to know, besides the ones that actually ask… (and thusly, saving me at least 20 minutes per month; i can simply link to this post next time it comes up.) i don’t mind sparing anyone the pains of pounds and pounds of ‘ruined’ roving…

first.. are you using enough dye? some brands and colors you have to use 2 or 3 times the amount to achieve the full color (like some black and reds. and hummm, brown fits there too.) there is a fine line that you can indeed cross, the one that separates ‘full color’ and ‘over saturated’

second.. shop around. i think one of my “most favoritest browns” are made by cushings a bit pricer than most others (roughly $2.50 for 1/3 of an ounce)

third.. know your dye!
is it going to break red? is it going to break green? (not many break green, but sometimes, it happens.)

fourth… don’t be afraid to tweak.
i love tweaking. lemme say that again, cuz i do.. i looove tweaking.
nary does a good color come out of the jar all by it’s self.
a favorite brown ‘recipe’ is: (roughly) 9 parts brown out of the container, a dash of green and one quarter of a dash of black.
black is the great equalizer. a wonderful color tool. (except when it breaks to holy hell when trying to do a flat black… but, maybe i’ll save flat black for another day. talk about a PITA, flat black…. aye.)

i hope this helped amanda!

as for the shirt contest from yesterday, i suppose that little picture wasn’t too fair.

so there you go. and some added commentary that may provide some hints.
boogie said
I know the t-shirt. you attended the concert with Ann but the ticket
stub is lost and there is no recollection of it whatsoever except it’s
awesome.
this is close… i was not actually at this show. i traded SIL a carpenters LP for it. well, actually for a really old jerry shirt. but her x-bf made off with said shirt; and well, a deal is a deal…

neefer said
Chicago 1980.
right decade; and under 5 years off. but to the left of chicago.

mike said
Looks like the kind of Bundle you’d win on a dice roll in Vegas…
getting closer.. to the north and west of vegas.

apparently puppy momma wants a prize anyhow…
so, i’m going to have to make a new contest down the road and rig it make it easy, so she will wind up with a prize.

speaking of prizes… the prize has yet to be determined. why? well, if say boogie wins, and the prize was undyed fibers and a dye kit, well, that would be a bummer for her… and if mike guesses correctly, yarn would be a bummer… so, maybe nips of absolut.. humm, come to think of it, that is a great universal prize. ha.
when will this contest end? humm. not sure. i was going to say august first, but that is too far away. so, july 7?

stella won! congrats stella!

over and out;
happy fry-day!
♥

is it really the size of the boat, or the motion of the ocean?
is it girth or length?
apparently, to some breeds of knitter size counts!
when i first started selling my handspun yarn, i would answer the question ‘why aren’t your hanks bigger?” at least twice a week.
(well, my bobbins can only hold *so much*) to satisfy these requests, i bought myself a bulky spinner. now, i can get an entire dyelot on a bobbin. it has been a kind of mental challenge to try to fill it up.
and finally!! i did. (hey, i’m impressed; i have some girth and length happening here. very satisfying.)

i most likely could have squeezed maybe another ounce on there… maybe.

it is BIG!
458 yards, and one pound.
(ok, i need to say it again, because it is a major feat for me, 458 yards of bulky weight!!!)
and just for scale.. it is the size of a small baby.

i’m sure no one is as impressed as i am, but i don’t expect it. it is my own little milestone, or hurdle. so, it is cool for me.
and if anyone can guess the shirt i’m wearing venue and date(s) gets a prize. (hint: obviously a grateful dead shirt.)

♥

the rain does funny things to me. i’m convinced. especially after two glorious sunny days, it is like being taken by surprise. (in a bad way.)
and as it normally turns out, i start dyeing things really bright.

big bright orange pile of fiber. blinding in person. (it is pretty dim in here)

and i started spinning this up

pretty sunny…
and i have to play the game in my head… “will i fill it up” (think will it float except i don’t have a grinder girl.)
hummm

hummm, maybe?
about 4 or 5 more ounces to go

i’m going to work on finishing that bobbin up today, and *cough* do some cleaning.
my messy house prevented me from getting good sleep last night.
and when the mess keeps you up at night, it is time to clean. yes. yes, it is.

and now, something to file in the WTF? department.
Every.single.time.the.woman.opens.her.fucking.mouth. LIES.FALL.OUT.
ann, listen to hank. you need to shut the fuck up.
every ‘deadhead’ knows their favorite show. LIES, LIES, LIES. please close your mouth NOW ann. there is enough pollution in the world. need you desecrate the last sacred thing i have left? GO AWAY.

*sheesh*

yippie tuesday.
♥

monday and rain. apropos, really. the weekend was sun-sun-sunny; and warm. a few degrees warmer than i would like, but hell, that is what oak trees and Ac’s are for. i feel fortunate. on thursday, the last time i looked at the weather; ‘they’ (yes, the weather folx are some of “them”) called for rain the next ten days. it seems we were in a pocket of beautiful weather; as my neighbors to the east had rain, and my neighbors to the south did as well. now we are playing catch up. the garden can use a good watering, tho, right? let’s just hope it doesn’t last a week, or i’ll be flirting with being mental again. (*cough*)
all in all, a good weekend. to spite some PMS outbursts. (*cough*) i got a small amount of fiber stuffs done.
more processing my churro fleece. i carded and dyed some up.

to the right is some mohair that i also processed this week, the churro is to the left.
looks really pretty close up too!

it was intended to be part of my project spectrum, june blue but, i’m running way out of time for what i had in mind. maybe i should start on purple NOW.

the weekend was also ripe with church tag sales.
i scored a metric but-ton of broadcloth, some notions, and some old skool fisher price accessories. (!!!)
a ethernet hub. (which, sadly, i can’t use because it has an in-line for cable, and not dsl.. and i can’t hook it up to either or my modems.)
we did have to scale down our normal weekend tag sale rituals; lately finchly the younger has been, how do i put this, very unhappy at said events. he has taken to biting me and leaving big bruises. bells the elder never really bit, so, i just don’t know how to deal. but that shit hurts. i swear i thought he was going to take a chunk out of me a few weeks ago.

last night as i was out doing the dusk garden cruise; examining my baby peppers,encouraging my ‘maters, pulling out offending weeds, etc. i thought it would be a good idea to check the mailbox, since i didn’t do it since thursday… i’m so HAPPY that i did! inside was a bounty!
my dye-o-rama swap.

my dyer was Monica from Two Left Needles. Sher really did her homework, to the left, pink + black sock yarn!! (she calls it pink panther… go see how she made it!)! i feel so lucky, she really put ALOT into my yarn. i hope i can get some new kicks made soon. she also sent some freaking lovely silk roving from interlacements (!!!) and further proof she really did her homework; bunny note cards!
soon, i hope to spoil my swappee just the same. i ordered some new dyes on thursday, and kicked for the fast shipping.. so hopefully today.
thank maude my swappee is understanding; or else i would feel like an even bigger heal.

i took so long typing and taking coffee breaks that the kids are now awake, and in full force. whoopee!

happy monday!
♥

i’m so very excited! we have peas! (or pea blossoms)

seeds from amy boogie

yippie!
we also have some ‘mater blossoms and some mini peppers, but my camera won’t reach that far… (the internal battery charger is fried.)

another jumbotronic hank of yarn, 286 yards. (bulky)
this one won’t go up on pippi until after the first week in july.
(oh! is the suspense killing anyone yet?)

ok! hate to post and run, but we are off to dip our fannies in the mad river. (sorry to be vulgar, for those whom are across the pond.)
have a splendid weekend! i’m going to chill out and watch season 2 of soap.

the shop has been updated!
i’ve added 4 handspun bulky thick and thin singles
1 extra special 2 ply blend set

3 soft two plys

1 lovley single blend
and 1arty type yarn



you can view everything in the shop using this link or you can see everything that is new

now off to get those cukes in the earth!

♥

i had a big monkey wrench thrown in my morning.
i woke up to no internet! oh the horrors! (and it wasn’t even for a lack of payment!!) what a way to spoil my morning rituals!
i called after i re-booted everything; spent 45 minutes on hold, to be told that there were some “issues” and they had no idea when they would be back up. they told me that they would call me when it was resolved. well, they didn’t. good thing i’m impatient and checked for myself. shame on you GMA with your over priced services, and slow ass DSL speeds. did i mention they are a monopoly? yes! if you want a telephone where i live, you have to use them. if you want cable, you have to use them. if you want DSL; you have to use them. i’m sure it has something to do with no other company wanting to do infrastructure work.. but still, they run the show.

anyway, so, i’m running way behind in getting pippi updated.
i hope to get these handspun yarns up in the next few hours.

after that; if the rains hold out, i’m going to try to get these cukes in the ground.

mere sent me the seeds! her garden is FAB, i hope some of her green thumb rubs off!

ok! enough procrastinating from me. i should get on working on my update.
♥

i had no idea that my post yesterday was even going to be read by anyone; let alone, strike any cords with anyone. (so, yay! i love you all even more!)
i also had no idea that some consider list making the work of the debil.. ok, i’m exaggerating on that one.. but it never occurred to me that some would view lists as too constrictive… to me, they have become freeing.. not to mention; i can not remember a dayum thing. my creative ideas normally come in tidal waves; hitting me all at once.. normally when i’m spinning. sometimes i think “oh! i’ll remember that no problem; since it is so freaking *fabulous!*” but as quick as it comes, my brain has moved on to something else. lists provide many functions. one being that i have some type of record of such things. two, it stops me from thinking, and helps me focus on being present. (which, these days is my main goal.)
so, as a tribute to my lists, i present you with the note book that lives in my back pocket.

it was a gift from PaintedBookLady, a while back.
and yes! that is an orange crayon… more often than not, the crayon is the only thing i can find to write with. i have 1 pen for work, and i hide it from the kids, and i can never seem to find it on the fly.
i offer proof that i do scribe with it.

i digress, for those of you with crayons in the house, why *is* it the orange crayon? why are the orange crayons the sole survivors? are children repelled by the orange crayon? maybe orange is an acquired taste. i know for the longest time, it wasn’t on my list of preferred colors.. but, i have seen the light!

and just so this post isn’t completely void of fibery stuff..
i thought for a minute, last night, i was going to possibly fill my bulky bobbin…

but no such luck..but, it did wind up being a whopping 320 yards.

and some two ply.

these look like they could be related. i dyed the red one (love me two times; 210 yards) this week, and the one on the right, the blue one (freezer pop; 150 yards) a bit over a month ago. (i had no idea until yesterday that it is considered uncouth to link to your own posts, will i stop doing it? um, most likely not.. cuz i’m a rule breaker like that.. and not one known for my “couth-ness” har, har.)

hum, well, it is starting to get loud in here; we should get out in the garden while it is still cool. tons and tons of weeding to do.
life’s a garden, dig it!

♥