PippiKneeSocks.com

I’m my worst enemy, It’s true. I have oodles of excuses for myself, all the time.. I’m pretty great at them actually. “The kids are sick”, “I’m sick”, “It’s a crappy day for photos”
All of the above hold true today. But, as hard as I may wish, no one is going to come and do the details for me.
No one is going to come wash my dishes… No little elves are going to update my site. No one but me can take care of the kids, Santa is NOT coming to stock the fridge. And short of winning the lottery, no one is going to make it so Matt doesn’t have to work 14 hours a day, 6 (sometimes 7) days a week.
We can all have wishes, tho.
I finally sucked it up and got the site updated. I’m pretty mad at myself for being so lazy.
My arms didn’t fall off from winding my hanks.. (In fact, once I got going, it went pretty quick.)
The house didn’t fall down around me (tho, it IS very messy.)
No one died, no one was hurt, the world didn’t end because I finally got off my tookas and did something.
So, what is the big deal?
I’m not sure…

So, yes…the shop has been updated!

7 colorways of handpainted sock yarn!
Including NEW sport weights.

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

So, yes, the world did not end… I don’t know why I am the master of procrastination.
I suppose I should tend to the dishes and the kidletts, as they all have (not so) patiently waited for me.

♥

I don’t know about anyone else, but, I’m thinking of calling off the month of December next year. Or at the very least, I wish to be heavily sedated. (Hells, in the 1950’s the docs freely prescribed us mothers speed. Get with it, medical community, it’s a whole new century. This mama needs a clone!)
I am so exhausted from yesterday, my house looks like a bunch of Frat boys held a kegger in it, my children are still slightly bonkers & I have some unexplained green paint on my arm.
To spite our efforts in keeping things simple (ie: we only got the kids one gift each) They made quite a haul. Thanks to friends and family, they were still unwrapping gifts 45 minutes after they started.
Pony Attack!

I don’t think the Baby Jesus Had this sort of thing in mind when he was birthed.

I’ve managed to keep Barbie out of this house for over 5 years. This year Bella got one from the lovely Amy, so, I broke and let her keep it. Barbie is QUEEN of all she surveys, I tell ya. Bells thanks you from the bottom of her heart, Amy. Barbie is the end all and be all of the Xmas gig. Barbie rules that pony castle like the beotch she is.

Another interesting thing that showed up here, (amazing that I get anything any more, since my letter carrier has started to refuse to deliver to me any longer & lost a few insured packages on me this week. ~ more on that story later….) are these ‘Polly Pockets’ things. Who on earth came up with this shit?

That is a Polly Pocket shoe. I give them another 5 minutes of existence. Virtually indistinguishable from dried bits of play-dough. Speaking of dried play-dough, thanks Jess & Pat, the kids are so loving their favorite Aunt & Uncle. One year we can all have Xmas together. Jess and I can bake our famous cookies, Pat can mix some cocktails and tunes, & Brad and Matt can play vidiot games while alternating searching for p0rn on the intrawebs… A good time will be had by all!

As far as holiday knitting went, I gave up sometime a week ago. Then on Xmas eve, I felt a big twinge of guilt. So, I cast on a scarf for my MIL. (Who has been really very helpful the past few weeks!) I was washing and blocking it at one am.

I did a terrible job at the blocking, it will need to be reblocked, with out the pressure of December 25.
A simple YO pattern, but what makes it uber special is the yarn (duh!) and the kick ass glass buttons from Moving Mud.

Now that it is the 26th of December, I’m feeling a bit less stressed. The dry erase board has been hung over the desk with great care. I can get down to really focusing on the tasks that are ahead of me.
First up, getting the shop updated with all the new yarn I’ve made the past few weeks.
Second, getting my returned packages back out. (Sorry to those affected! I hope! hope! hope your Xmas wasn’t spoiled!)
Third, take some time for the Childabeasts. My son has donned a princess dress and is ramming his new RC monster truck head on into our Charlie Brown Xmas tree, all while wielding a light saber. He’s not so covertly trying to take the sucker down. I’m going to need in on this one.
♥

Festivus for the Rest of us!

Let the Airing of Grievances begin!

I put this handy dandy printable version up. (Feel free to distribute at will.)
Watch out! I may be challenging YOU to some Feats of Strength, later on.

♥

Where do the days go? I woke up to find that it was Saturday!
*WHOOSH*
That was this year, flying past me!
Holiday knitting? You ask… HAHAHAHA.
Did you hear that sound of thunderous laughter from deep within the thicket?
It was me.
Hand things….
The devil may care attitude I spoke of, did come back to bite me right in the tookas.

They are being frogged. They will do much better as mittens. Or a yarn cake to be gently lobbed into the stash.
Grinch 1
Holiday knitting 0

It is on line ordering crunch time.
Some groovy things I got in the mail this week.
From RideYourBicycle
Stickers! I scream, you scream, we all scream for stickers!

I have good word that these

are gracing some company vehicles of a local ski resort. Not that I have any first hand knowledge of how they happened to get there, mind you.
Tee shits… Again, I scream, you scream, we all scream for tee shirts.. Well, in all reality, I squeal with delight when I have clean clothes… Especially clean clothes that conceal dye.(Yay, black!)

(And you thought you might see a full picture of me? Fat chance on a Saturday morning!)
For once, American Apparel is cut too big for me. This is a Medium, perhaps it is a bit big because it is a mens?
They also have these kick ass tees.
So, go get your shop on! & In the interest of full disclosure, I should add that I went to High Skool with the owner of the shop. I bet if you ask real nice like, he will throw in an embarrassing tale or two about me, for free.

Even tho the calender on the wall says it is December 16, you wouldn’t be able to tell that, here in Vermont.
It’s beginning to look NOT like X-mass.
Some Saturday sky

Dark & gray as far as the eye can see. No snow & a balmy 42f.

Today, I’ll be winding up yarn (to get the shop updated ASAP), getting some shipping done, frogging the rest of the doomed hand things, keeping the kids entertained, frying up some latkes, spinning some yarn, perhaps having a cocktail and a partridge in a pear tree.
♥

My life is governed by Newton’s laws of motion (specifically, the third law….. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.) When good things happen in my life, something not so good happens in return. I accept this, as the universe’s way of balancing itself out. (The universe still has some ’splainin to do for last year. I’ll let that slide for now & chalk that one up to some past life redemption stuff…)
So, here I find myself, good thing, good thing, great thing, good thing…. BAM! My weekend was ruled by stress, chaos and possible life altering decisions. The least of which, I picked up my Duval Street sock, only to find that there were only 2 needles sticking in it. After picking up the dangling 32 stitches, my yarn felt weird…. Some young boy child, who shall remain nameless, drooled or tried to eat, or otherwise got too close to my yarn… Word to the wise (or young.) Please keep your candy cane laced boldly fluids out of Mama’s yarn. If you desire to knit, Mama has plenty of suitable supplies just for you, no need to touch hers. Hear that, NO need.
It turned out to only be a few rounds worth of sticky, I pushed thru. (Still: EW!)
Here is how it looks this morning.

The yarn is eluding good photography. Irritating.
And, if you know me at all, you know that I can’t handle project monogamy. Nope.

Some hand things.
Yes, I sad things… At this late in the game, one would think that I would know if they were going to be mittens, gloves, fingerless gloves, or hand warmers. One day, my devil may care attitude is going to get me in some real hot water.

The new Knitty went up on Friday, and I’m having a hard time deciding on what to make first from it. (Perhaps Monkey or Lauren or Piggle or Antifreeze) I haven’t even been thru the whole issue yet. Is it just me, or does Knitty get better and better with each new issue? Seriously.
Speaking of the new Knitty, My column “Get Spun” is launched in this issue of KnittySpin. This time, I tackle bulky thick and thin yarn. This marks my third go at this writing about spinning, and I think I am finding my voice with it. (Compared to the first one which was as cut and dry as it could possibly get.) I would like to publicly shout out to the wonderful women who put it all together. Thank you for asking me to do this, it is a real privilege.
Also, I’d like to thank Bev, who interviewed me for her article The magic of handpainted yarn. (Along with some other beautiful web faces.) Thanks Bev! Great article! Last but not least, my favorite article this issue has to be Knitting in the Indian Himalaya. So rich, it makes me crave to be there.

♥

I was actually out in the sub zero temps this am, getting picturey pictures. Go me. Hopefully my acute case of the lazies has run it’s course.

The shop has been updated!
I’ve added:
4 handspun Bulky thick and thin yarns
6 colorways of handpainted sock yarn!

Here comes that broken record……..
You can view everything in the shop using this link or you can see everything that is new
And, just for some sock and awe (heh.) I finally finished my Sebelia socks. (Sheesh, that tool long enough, no?)

Stay warm!

♥

I love Amy Boogie this many times around the world

She must have gotten tired of hearing me complain so freaking much felt sorry for me.
If you can’t guess what on earth that is, folx, it is a Brandy spankin new Fricke skein winder.~
Well, in reality that is the counting mechanism. It counts for me! I’m so totally IN AWE of this thing. No more niddy noddy hell for me. Much less room for error all around. I’m also so in AWE of her generosity. And you should be too.
She updated her site late yesterday. So, go! Go, buy! Do it early and often. And, call your credit card company & have them up your limit, as I am (YES!) updating tomorrow. (See, now I have NO excuses about not getting my yarn wound.)

Onto some serious stuff….
I’m sure everyone has heard about James Kim by now. It is a heart wrenching thing.
Susie from Boy Girl Party is putting together a gift basket.

Sometimes I loathe this online stuff… I meet great people, yes… But when something bad happens, I feel so powerless. It isn’t like I can run over with some fresh bread and soup. (One day, the transporter will work… yes.) Sometimes I feel so crazy for loving people I’ve never met in the fleshes… Then I realize, I wouldn’t have it any other way, as I look much more attractive online than I do in 3d.
I love you all, my life is richer for knowing you. Be well.
♥

I’ve been pretty quiet. In more ways than one, it seems. Yesterday, I woke up with little to no voice coming out of my mouth! For those of you that know me, you know what a travesty it is. I like me some talkin’! I like to talk so much, I talk to myself often, perhaps a little too often. For those of you that have kids, you can imagine not being able to speak to your children? I don’t know how to say, “Don’t impale your sister with that dump truck” in sign. More over, the young wouldn’t understand. I was a terrible mother and gave up on teaching sign when the first one was 9 months old. Now that is out in the open, I fully expect Dr. Sears to show up and take my Mother Card away. (Yes, I’m a card carrying member. Not unlike the Bleeding Heart card that I carry. The Mother Card affords such benefits including, but not limited to; endless sleepless nights, being able to utter phrases such as “take that spoon out of your butt” with great authority, and the acquisition of the entire my little pony collection, on your desk)
I digress, I’ve been sick for nearly the entire month of November. I think there were about 4 days where I’ve felt well. And they haven’t been consecutive. I’m looking forward to December being much better. Perhaps more on the insane side, but better. The chaos around here never ends, it seems. I’d take a picture of it, but I’m terribly embarrassed. (I am in dire need of some Ikea help.) The studio and abutting living room are over run with boxes; things going in, things coming out. More things coming in it seems, lol.
One thing that did come in

My cards from The Yarn Museum
What’s that??? You haven’t submitted to The Yarn Museum yet?
What are you waiting for????

Since I’m on the subject of The Crazies. Something that I didn’t think was possible. Something so absurd it’s disturbing me….. I’ve been working the toe decreases on my Sebelia socks for about four (yes 4) days. Any self respecting knit blogger would have finished the remaining 5 rounds for the sake of the so called fiber blog, no?

Clearly, I don’t fall into that category.

I was planning a shop update for today. But, I don’t have my act together. Not in the least. Winding a few thousand yards of yarn on a niddy noddy was something that I haven’t been able to bring myself to do. (Plus, it is terribly dreary, and raniy, so pictures would have stressed me out to no end.) I hope to have the shop freshed up soon. Possibly as early as tomorrow. One day I’ll be on it again. Remember the days when the shop was updated Monday morning by 9 am sharp? Ahhh, the good old days, back when at least one of the offspring would take a nap.

As I said, December is going to be active. There are balls rolling, wheels in motion. Stay tuned, it should be quite amusing to watch me loose my mind completely.
♥