Friday, August 06, 2010

Handspun Friday - Rusty

As promised here's another handspun yarn. I really like this one myself, and you already saw it cast on for the shawl Larix. I've just finished the first ball of yarn.

This is FatCatKnits fiber, in the colorway "Rustica" short Rusty. It's 8oz of lovely BFL.

FCK Rustica 8oz-BFL
It's turned into 2 skeins of 2-ply yarn, a total of ~ 595yds.
Rustica-BFL
Here's a photo of the shawl from yesterday afternoon. Not the best picture, but there were clouds (no rain, and the wind blew them away), but I like it, because there's my Sam on it too!
Larix shawl 30%
I'm a little further along now. It's slow going, because I've not memorized the repeat yet, so I have to stick to the chart, but I'm getting better, and once I don't have to have the chart with me, it'll go faster. It's not hard to knit, but the increases are placed differently than usually. This shawl needs a good blocking once it's done. I like it very much.
But those two skeins will not be enough to make this shawl big enough, so I had to spin some other fiber to add to the shawl. I choose 4oz of BFL in oatmeal, since I had it on hand. It's 2-ply of course, roughly 292yds. That should do it.
-FCK-8oz- BFL- Rustica- 2-ply-total of 595yds-4oz oatmeal BFL-2ply-292yds

News from the construction site:
My kitchen is getting stripped to the bare bones:
August 5 -reno-2
There's not much of it left. There's just one other room, the future dining room, where the ceiling was also removed. All the others were only stripped of their floors.
Our ventilation hood over the old stove hasn't been working for years. Somehow we never got around to fixing it. Look what they found in the ventilation pipe:
August 5 -reno-3
Was it a birds nest? There's a birds feather in there, and many different grasses, and stuff. I'm afraid to pull it out. I'll leave it to the construction crew to deal with it. Such nice surprises! ;o)
***
The boys had a nice day of swimming, and sleeping. I took tons of outside photos, but more about them next time.

Have a nice weekend!
***

24 comments:

Freyalyn said...

Gorgeous yarn, as usual. And love Happy's photo on your desktop. Good luck with all the renovations - the end will come, really.

2paw said...

Your kitchen is really a shell and I agree, someone else should deal with that vent!!!
That's a lovely photo of Sam, so wonder it makes you happy!!

mhs said...

Könnte auch ein Eichhörnchen o.ä. gewesen sein, was da ein Nestversuch gestartet hat.
Superschönes Garn, was du da gesponnen hast.
LG Mhs

Mo said...

I LOVE pics of Sam because he has such a beautiful sweet face. I'm sure Biko and Sam are both quite amused keeping an eye on the antics of the new boys in the house. Of course, Biko may be saying, "Well they wouldn't let us get away with THAT behavior!"

Love the new test knit pattern and your orange handspun is beautiful. I love the colors in it.

Virginia G said...

Wow! So much to comment on.

1. The fiber and yarn is absolutely gorgeous.

2. I am experiencing a SERIOUS case of lust for that shawl you're knitting right now. I adore the color and the pattern looks awesome.

3. The kitchen! Holy moley. That's a lot of work you're having done in there. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed for you in the hopes that it will go smoothly.

knottygnome said...

i never get tired of looking at handspun knit up. those aren't colors i normally gravitate to but they are very pretty in the shawl!

Toby said...

There's nothing better than handspun for having gorgeous blends of color. Love how that Larix shawl is knitting up (and orange isn't usually my color).

Laurie said...

Beautiful yarn!!! My gosh...I have no words...

Posy Linda said...

Monika, you are a wonder! Fantastic yarn too! I'll be back to check the progress of the redo. Waiting for a happy ta-dah. Posy says hey to those boyz. Have a great weekend.

Linda said...

The yarn is beautiful and I love the way it knits up.

Kathy... said...

Rusty is just gorgeous! Totally colors that I love. I also really like the addition of the oatmeal bfl to the mix. I'm so anxious to see the finished shawl. Also anxious to see the finished remodel. (I'm jealous!)

Unknown said...

Love the colors in the shawl!

Walden said...

The yarn is beyond gorgeous! The shawl is looking super lovely! You are lucky you have Happy and Denny otherwise I would have to steal the shawl when you are done!

That is a wonderful picture of Sam.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Beautiful yarn - very autumn-like!

Susan said...

Your spinning and knitting are always so beautiful! I'm impressed that you are doing anything fiber-y what with the chaos in the house and the heat wave.

Sharon V said...

Lovely yarn you've spun up, as usual and your shawl is beautiful!

I hope your renovations go quickly and that you get your house back soon. It's going to be like living in a new house and won't that be wonderful!

Beverly said...

It's amazing what they find during renovations. We discovered that our hood wasn't vented to the outside. It stopped in the attic. We were very lucky because we had a kitchen fire many years ago and it could have easily set the house on fire.

SockPixie said...

The yarn is gorgeous! Youa re so talented. I am looking forward to seeing your remodel.

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

What a gorgeous photo of Sam ~ makes me a little sad to see him.

Love the yarn you are using and the contrast you picked. It's going to be a stunner. You have got me thinking about Fall knits :)

Don't feel bad about the birds. I'm convinced that a rat has moved into the back wall of our house. I hear things at night.....

Romi said...

Gorgeous spinning! And a great pic of Sam. :)

susannasplace said...

Also die Wolle hat ja wunderbare Herbstfarben. Und der Kuschelschal scheint was ganz besonderes zu werden.
Die Jungs finde ich wie immer einfach nur klasse. Wer keinen Hund hat, versäumt sehr, sehr viel tolle Dinge.

LG Susi, heute Socken strickend

Carrie #K said...

The shawl, handspun and reno look good! Well, the shawl & the handspun. The remodel looks like it has a ways to go....

MiA said...

Wow! That's a VERY beautiful yarn!

Thanks for joining my link party :)

Tomorrow I will have my own spinning wheel! I'm soo happy about it. A blog friend offered me to take over one of hers two - isn't that nice?!

Have a greatest weekend!
MiA

Gloria Patre said...

We reno'd our kitchen 4 years ago - I know exactly what you're going through! Just be glad it's not snowing or raining otherwise you'd have nowhere to escape to! LOL!! I am TOTALLY in love with this shawl!! When the pattern comes available for sale I want to buy it!!!