PippiKneeSocks.com

I’ve been really sparse on the intrawebs, my bloglines are telling me I have 3,780 new items. Holy crap.
No wonder why I feel like I’m outta the loop. I’ve really had my head down trying to concentrate on the things that need to be done in these parts. I know that is what I need to do, still, not fun. I don’t like feeling like a helium balloon that was let go by a toddler at the fair. There is a light at the end tho, one day, things will settle a bit; right? Right???

Yesterday I taught a dye class. It was oodles of fun.. (For me anyway, I hope everyone felt the same way!)
The yarn that everyone made was simply stunning!

From L to R:
Brigette, Jean, Jane, Sandra, & that Pinko commie Sarah

These ladies sure know how to liven up the joint.

(You gotta watch out when I am armed with a camera.)
& I put up a few more shots (not of groping, get your mind out of the gutter) over on the Flickr, in a neat little set.
I’m pretty sure there are one or two spots for the next class on June 9. (Saturday).
You can call the Knitting Studio for the details, 229.2444

Next weekend, NHSW! I peeked at the forecast & It looks like they are calling for rain. Heh. Big shocker, no?
I’m planning on hitching a ride with the aforementioned pinko commie, Sarah (in her pinko commie car) on Sunday. Sure all of the judged fleeces will be gone by then.. But, well, the forecast looks much better, and Amy can only make it Sunday. So, Sunday looks like the Very Bestest day to go!
Expect an update of Pippi sometime soon, to help finance the trip.

♥

Good morning!
Fist order of beeswax….
I spent all day yesterday fighting the children so I could slowly plug away at adding stuff to Pippi…
It seemed like every time I sat down, someone needed something, or someone was getting hurt, or something.
(I’m sure Mamas far and wide, you can relate with this, AssAlarm theroy; After giving birth, my midwife double crossed me and implanted an alarm in my tookas, assuring that every time I sat down, it would alert the family.)

Okay! So, Ta-dum!

The shop has been updated!
I’ve added:
A new handspun single, with plenty for those large type projects.
Three artier types, featuring mohair locks (& one with silk cocoons!)
&
One of new colorway of handpainted yarn!

The spinning fibers page has also been freshened up with 6 new wool tops
You can view everything in the shop using this link or you can see everything that is new

Second:
Happy Birthy-day Scout! (And Abbs, if you are reading!)
You both are important people in my life I hope each of you has a beautiful day!!

Third:
Wish me luck!
I am headed out to the DMV, right after I scrounge up my ID. I have no idea where I put it.

Okay, things are getting crazy around here already. Time to put out a fire.
XO!

First up, Saturday sky! (*get it sky, spy… Okay, that’s the best I could come up with…punning on demand is akin to the sex on demand….)
Hold your hats on, it’s….. it’s…
BLUE!

A smashing day. Currently 46f!

And now for some actual Spy work….
Fireside Footies in the wild
First up, Shelia’s enlightening near death experience.
(*oh and look, I made an unintentional pun in the comments)
& Amanda’s new floor to go with her new footies. (Amanda, If I were you, I’d put something grippy on the bottom.. Apparently, my footies are dangerous!)

Some of my less treacherous handpaints
Strange days from Maia. (I think I need to take a trip out west & steal visit them.)
Terrapin, coincidently from two of my fellow Deadhead Sisthren
Stella’s (scroll down to see those socks in action!!)
And one of Brenda’s (Who by the way gives much food for thought on the kitchener.)

If I’m missing anyone Hollah!

Also spied, is my spinning project for the day.

It’s called Spring kitchen (*only punny to me, I’m sure…)

One more thing, before it slips my mind, yet again…
Big Yarn Mama could use our knitting help!
Her & her students are making these comfort dolls. The goal is 100 by April First! (Pass it on! They have 40 right now!)
Help make a Orphan with AIDS smile a bit, won’t you??

It took my ego a good amount of time to recover from this disaster.
And I only managed to save the sport weight…. Oh well.
It might seem like I’ve been hoarding all of my handspun yarn for myself these days. All for a good cause, I assure you. But, I am willing to part with some of it today…

The shop has been updated!
I’ve added:
A few handspun singles, with plenty for those large type projects.
An artier type, featuring hand cleaned, Vermont grown Navajo churro
&
One of new colorway of handpainted yarn!

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

On the knitting front, I finally (after 2 years!!?!?) finished my pinwheel blanket. (alluding photos at the moment.)
Just in time for the arctic blast… When I woke up this morning it was -10f, with a -30 something wind chill… (currently -8f, no idea the wind chill!!) BURRR!

I was knee deep in the middle of updating the shop when Scout gave me a jingle to tell me that the Knitty surprise was up!

Looky looky!

My Mitts!

Remember these buttons?

Yeppers!

The shop has been updated!

I’ve added:

Bunches of new colorways of handpainted yarn!
Fingering and sport weights for your sockies.
AND!!!
New Worsted weights!!!
*For a limited time I will be taking orders for Custom Sweater Yarn.
The base of the worsted weight is the ultra lush Louet Gems, so, it is a bit spendy, but worth every cent.

Also today I’ve added some great hand painted spinning fibers
Including some Hot Merino/tencel!!

And I gave the 2 ply page a bit of attention, too.
With one 2 ply added.

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

Wow, alla that has taken me all day! Now I need to run and pick up Gurly Gurl from skool.

XO!

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’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.
♥