PippiKneeSocks.com

My goodness!

Not so impressive… This is how it has pretty much looked all winter…
(But, what is rather impressive is, the temperature! We have double digits! After a week of solidly below zero 90% of the day. Whoo hooo!)

Note the wind damage to the tree on the left, the top is gone. This week a bunch of our trees took a beating.. Our apple trees were especially hard hit.
It has been almost an eternity since I’ve posted a Saturday Sky. I thank you Sandy, for not ruling your webring with an iron fist of doom. For not kicking me out for either my “extremist politics” or my lack of Saturday Sky shots.

I know I mentioned something about posting some shots of my finally finished Pinwheel blanket. But, I’ve been slacking. For a few reasons… Restless kiddos (5 has been on skool vay-cay for over TWO weeks now & 3, well, my sweet little boy won’t leave my side for longer than two minutes…) And well, the blanket, tho, I love it dearly, really isn’t pretty….. (If you have been reading this here blog since way back when I started it, you will remember the yarn was spun at random from all scrap/waste wool from the 200lb bag of scrap/waste I have sitting here.) So, the color combos may hurt the eyes …. Hey, I was trying to recycle my waste, not really make an heirloom. (And, yes, more and!!) It is choc-fulla glaring knitting errors! Riddled, I would say.) So, perhaps on a day when I’m feeling braver…

Speaking of being brave, I suppose it is time I say something publicly…. (Some of you know & I’ve dropped some hints here and there….)
I’ve been signed to write a fibery book.
That might explain my long absences from the blogosphere as of late. (My excuse from before that, laziness.)
Anyway, it’s a bunch of work, and I’m on a super tight deadline, but I’m up for the challenge.. It’s incredible to imagine I can write about what I love to do…
Speaking of my writing… The new Knitty is up, and with that brings the latest installment of “Get Spun” in Knittyspin.
It’s all about the hemp…. Hemp, hemp, hurrah!

I hope you enjoy it & find it useful in your fibery adventures! (If not, I’m apparently up a creek, no?)

whoppeee!
the new issue of knitty is up.
and i happen to have a coil spinning tutorial up.

so everyone who comes here looking for “how to make coiled yarn” “plying coils” “making coils” “spinning coils”; your search is no longer moot.

i hope you like it and pick up a trick or two.
♥

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!
♥