PippiKneeSocks.com

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!

For once, I would love for our usual morning chaos, not to happen. I dream of quiet mornings, where everything runs smoothly, no one gets hurt, everyone is healthy, & no one yells.
A snippet of this morning’s yelling:
3: It’s a pineapple
5: No!! It’s a house!
3: It’s a pineapple
5: No!! It’s a house!
3: It’s a pineapple
5: No!! It’s a house!
(Wash, Rinse, Repeat until mom interjects)
34: It is a pineapple AND a house!
3&5 (in rebellious unison) NOOOOOOOO!

They do good work, turning it on me. (never fails.)

I have no doubt that if I was not a slob better at housekeeping, and was more organized, things would be smoother, because as much as I need to be by the seat of my pants, I loathe it too.
This is what happens when I run out of post-it notes.

(Gasp! I lost my pen, too!)

And, speaking of my less than stellar housekeeping.

Our tree, still standing (even tho 3 keeps trying to change that.) Lookit all of those needles!
I have started to refuse to vac them up. It is principle. It’s going to keep dropping those little effers. Why waste good vacuum effort? (You will be happy to know Sue, that all Polly Pocket shoes have been swallowed up by the sucker machine, in a stealth move, per your “advice”. Although, I did feel some guilt. I suspect that the makers of Polly Pockets anticipate such a scenario, and earn their living from that: Using MotherGuilt against us, inspiring us to buy yet more of those little buggers, only to be vacuumed up, thus inspiring more MotherGuilt. Vicious cycle.) I digress, that tree should come down already….

I fear, I’ll never get the hang of our mornings. It has been four months since 5 has started started skool & I’m still not running the show in any type of smooth & effective manner. In fact, I suspect 5 has developed some deep resentment with my apparent shortcomings.
Again with morning snippet:
5: Not that shirt, I want the kitty shirt
34: No, you just wore the kitty shirt.
5: grumbles in protest.
34: Thank you, now get your socks on…
5: NOOOOO! Not those socks!
34: Why not?
5: They AREN’T glitter sparkle socks!!
34: Sorry, just put them on please, we are going to be late.
5: MOM! YOU ARE RUINING MY LIFE
34: Well, sweets, it was bound to happen sooner or later, get used to it.

(note: She is 5, not 15. & this happens to be the second time I have been told I was “ruing her life.” The first time was over some pigtails that weren’t up to her exacting standards. Sheesh.)

I suspect I’ll miss these times in 16 or so years. Until then, I suppose I will have to rework my schedule & start to get up at 4:30, just so I can have some quiet time with my coffee and my sticks & string.
Speaking of my sticks & string, you surely didn’t just come here for the parenting rant, no?
Formerly known as Hand Things
Now Mitts in Progress

Much better.

& My yarn from the other day

Has turned into a scarf,

I was going for “dramatic” but I wound up with “Muppet”.
It told me the other day that it should have been a wrap, not a scarf. I told it to go screw, the only thing worse than frogging plain mohair yarn, is frogging mohair locks. yup. Perhaps, I’ll be sorry down the road… Can’t win ‘em all.

And on that note, I am being summonsed by 3, to go build a snowperson. (Yes! Colorado & New Mexico have decided to stop hogging all of Vermont’s snow.) So, I best get out there before I’m accused of ruining his life, too.

♥

Occasionally, I do have FO’s… (Yes, for real!)
This is one of those rare events. (Or rarer as of late.)
Some socks, since it is Socktoberfest

They look pretty wonky, lying there on the floor.

They look pretty wonky from this angle, too. Hard to get a good photo of one’s feet with children underfoot.
But, that’s the best I could muster. I have a terrible rash on my feet. (NO! Not from the socks, from the Lupus.) And putting anything on my feet irritates them. Too bad, because my tootsies are cold! (I wonder if sea silk socks would be good?)

Any hoo, the details. You may remember I started knitting them way back here.. (yikes, That was July!)
US size 2 & 3 DPNs
The yarn

Which, you may (or may not) recall me spinning way back here.

• 18 WPI
• hand washed/dyed Vermont rare breed wool
• hand dyed top
• hand dyed nylons
• hand dyed European hemp
• angora (raised by Chris)
• hand dyed silk noils
• recycled silk sari

Sheesh! That is A-lot of hands.. Last I checked, I still only had 2.
Here, is where you can insert a long winded monologue about the pleasure I (we) get from making things with my (our) hands. But today isn’t that day; as i fear it will take me to a place where I am unwilling to go at the moment.
So, use your imagination. Why bother spinning yarn, when you can go to your LYS? Why bother knitting socks, where there is wallfart? Well, you and I know better, now don’t we?

Rock on with your bad selves
♥

for the past few days, i’ve been thinking about that phrase when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and how it applies, or doesn’t apply to me. i used to think i was a tough cookie; but it seems that i am not doing well under pressure lately. (i used to do really well with deadlines; and in fact, excel.) but, me, the un-tough version, i’ve just been running around here like a decapitated chicken.
amy boogie said the other day; “My gardens are as ignored as the housework. Makes me wonder what I do all day long.” ~ this pretty much sums up the scenario here. i swear, months have gone by and i’ve wondered what on earth i’ve accomplished. i really don’t know where my time goes. i do know that i should have better use of it. (i swear, i’ve tried to whip myself into submission; but it doesn’t work. i think i need to swipe mike e’s ADD medication from his medicine cabinet. (just kidding, dad, you can start breathing again.) but, you know, when i get thinking like this, it does no good. yesterday i didn’t think about it. i didn’t dwell in unproductive guilt. and i got a bunch done.

~
some handpaints

both sport and lace weight. ~ i’m going to keep that one on the far right for myself.

~
some washed carded & dyed churro (with corresponding tinkles~ black tinkle!!?!)

i don’t have plans for any of these yet. i just got motivated to dye them up.
~
and some washed churro fleece

~
i had no intention whatsoever to wash up any fleece yesterday.
but, once again, i was forced to.
while i was on the front porch flick carding some wool, my son, went around back, truned on the garden hose and decided it would be a good day to clean out the mudroom. i found his “cleaning event” fairly quickly; but the damage was already done. two inches of water on the floor of the mudroom. the above fleece was stored in the mudroom in a burlap sack. on the upside; the mudroom floor got mopped, and another pound of this churro is washed. on the down side, last night, i totally collapsed.
if i could only be this productive every day.
but then again, i think my body would rebel. i have a fever and i’m feeling ‘flare-y’ and my arms and ears appear to be sprouting some new rashes. a total downer to be a slave to not only my mental limitations, but my physical ones as well. ha.

now, who wants to come over and help me clean the house? i’ll send you home with some washed rare breed wool. (and possibly one very spirited 2.5 year old boy; in ‘like new’ condition.)
♥

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!
♥

sometimes you gotta do it.
every once in a while, you have to spin something so incredibly labor intensive; just because.
the yarn that i’m about to show you is just that type of yarn.
it took me upwards of 14 hours to create. (and i use the word create here instead of make, for a reason…)

i took the rest of these batts

and spun them into this yarn

then i dyed some of my churro, blended it with copious amounts of green and silver tinkle, then blended that with some blue hemp noil batts that i swiped from my page.

i really love love love spinning my batts. i rarley toot my own horn (maybe i should?) but, i do honestly believe my batts kick some serious ass.

then i took these parts, which, were delicious enough on their own

out of many one

a labor of love; happy yarn
316 yards lace wt
(apx 18 WPI)

now, this yarn isn’t what one would call “special” and could not “retail” for upwards of $140 (but how does one put a retail value on love?)
it has no bells or whistles, no coils or bobbs, it won’t self stripe.. like i said not anything really “special” about it.
well, that is unless you are me. (hah)
the sum of it’s parts is what impresses me.

• hand washed & hand dyed fleece
• hand dyed commercial top
• hand dyed nylons
• hand dyed hemp (and dyeing hemp takes just a wee bit more effort than dyeing wools..)
• hand dyed silk noils
• angora
• recycled silk sari

i think it is the perfect union of art and craft. (tho, it clearly isn’t an “art yarn” type)
that is the beauty in all handspun yarns. weather they be pushing thresholds for the outside world, or pushing thresholds in our inner realms. what a great gift bestowed on us fiber artists.

i’m not sure if i pushed anything inside myself with this yarn (maybe i did… just how many different types of unlikley fibers could i jam into one yarn? ha). i did fulfill some desires tho. the desire to grow my stash, perhaps? the moral of the story….. every once in a while, you gots to do for you….

but now i gots to get back to the business of making handspun yarn.
♥

monday mornings are always difficult. coming off the high energy family centered weekend. back to ‘work’ or whatever. not that i ever stop, i’m like a perpetual motion machine, even if my cogs are broken and my sprockets split. even if i can’t settle and focus on one project or dream up another one; i’m constantally runing about this wee house like a chicken who just got decapitated.
what makes things harder this am, i had one of those dreams.. you know the ones; they burn a hole in your heart. even after you wake up, you are still taking those feeling with you. wondering what it all means. this one involved homemade blue berry jam, levitation, knitting, a play, and of course, love. i chock it up to getting too much sleep. i went to bed at 11.

some interesting things happened this weekend. i managed to wash and proceess (and spin) some more of my churro fleece.

navajo-churro
merino
falklands
tinkle
~super dooper!
and then i took these

hand-dyed falklands
hand-dyed tinkle

and created these:

baby face
about 250 yards, bulky + wt.
i think it would make a excellent baby sweater or pinwheel blanket

i know a few couples who are TTC, and a few preggo ladies now; so it was like a prayer, mantra, or what have you; for all of them. *sticky vibes*… i’m very tempted to put it in the stash specifically for a knit item for one of those babies. it also helps me come to terms with wanting yet another baby! (OMG! i can not believe i just admitted that outloud! someone, please slap some sense into me. my logic tells me that it is all because bells is going off to school in the fall & bird boy is finally weaned. three children would insure my spot in some institution, that would be definite. haha.)

moving on….
clearly i have a new obsession with raw wool.
i scored this, on saturday.

it is the greasiest thing i’ve ever encountered. full of hay and burrs too.
although, not as dunged up as my churro. (but dung you can pick out and wash out, those pesky bits of hay, AYE!)
i think i’ll pick the burrs out, wash it once to get the pounds of lanolin out, and send it off someplace to get processed.
not having a picker is the main reason i don’t want to do this one. plus a professional washing is really needed.
since our mill has been sold to a maine company, and it will be at least a good 6 months until the new one opens; i might send it off to still river mill. i’ve heard great things about them from many people.

i’ve also had bitchin mittens on the brain this past weekend. living in the frozen tundra of vermont, making ‘art’ mittens seems almost blasphemous. but, i’ll try. i’ve narrowed it down to 10 ideas. hah.
speaking of the weathers, (well, i really wasn’t now was i?) but, the sun, the sun! where are you sun!??? it isn’t raining today,(the sun isn’t out, either…) but to the west there is this big patch of black clouds. why, why all this rain??? and cold? i had to cave and turn on some heat last night! it is driving me crazy, plus it really puts a damper on my tag sale addiction……

ass alarm has been ringing!
love and blueberry jam,
♥

as dead tired as i have been, i managed to finally put up a wee small shop update. (all handspun yarns.)
next time, there will be more to go ’round, i promise! (or at least that is what i keep telling myself.) amazing, i’m not doing nearly as much as i was last year. i can’t help but feel ‘lazy’, even tho my intellect tells me otherwise. *see the bottom of this post for update detalis.

i’ve got fiber on the brain this friday.

first, this weekend is the maine fiber frolic. boogie has a booth there. so if you are going be sure to stop by to say hello to her and adrian.. you will know their booth from the mob scene out front. (i suspect it will look much like the wedding dress sale at filene’s basement.)

secondly, i’m wickedly excited about dave’s killer *along bitchin mittens. i have a few ideas already, narrowing it down may be tough. do i go for function, fashion or total art? humm. hard choice.

third, this week’s fiber friday kicks tookass! the theme is chaos everything that has been posted thus far is stunning. i love the intellectual aspects of the topic that everyone touched on. i ran out of steam this week, so, i didn’t post a yarn. but it is a fun place and i suggest you go! join! post! there is also a flickr group/photo pool.

~ thanks to everyone for the great rhubarb suggestions!
i’m totally going to make the preserves that the mafia mentioned.
and the sauce that jammin recommended. we have 5 or 6 apple trees too, so i suspect they would be a good combo. (now i’m wondering when rhubarb expires, if it will still be “good” by the time we have apples…i guess i should look that one up.)

*shop-y news for those of you who stuck out this wordy post.
i’ve added 4 handspun bulky thick and thin singles
1 extra special 2 ply blend
and 1arty type yarn

i’ve been a terrible hollar back gurl, please forgive my lapse; some days it is all i can do to read my bloglines, let alone comment on everything i want to. between the kids dragging me off the puter, and being so tired lately; it’s hard to spread the love! so big XXOO!
♥