Test Knit Revealed

I'm finally allowed to show my test knit for Stephen West. It was a Mystery KAL and today, everybody received the last clue, which was the border, and he allowed us to post pictures of our finished shawls.
I understand that this design is either liked or disliked, that's O.K. I loved knitting it so much, that I made two of them, both with handspun yarn of mine. So there will be lots of pictures today!

# 1 shawl made with handspun yarn from FatCatKnits fiber, the blue and red yarns, plus some undyed, natural Shetland fiber I had in my stash.


This photo shows the colors pretty well.







Stephen has two options for the border, but when we knit the test shawls, he only had one.
This shawl is big, and soft, and warm, I love it!

shawl # two was also made with my handspun yarn. The fiber for the greenish/yellow yarns came from SAG (Spinning Awesome Good), and the blue/purple one I dyed, and spun myself.



This shawl too, is very soft (has some silk in it), and I love this one also. I made both shawls size L. I was so happy to have enough yarn for this size with both shawls.









Little Miss Maggie was wondering what I was up to, usually I take pictures of her, not that weird thing standing there. BTW - she's got a doctors appointment today. She's got an infected pad on her front leg, which wont heal, since she's always ripping it open again, every time she's outside playing. Keep your fingers crossed for her, that everything goes smoothly. Thanks!



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Handspun Friday - Fluff-N-Stuff

Today I have Picperfic's Fluff-N-Stuff to show you. I've had this fiber in my stash for a very long time. I've spun this up right after I did that undyed bag of natural white fiber. I really needed some color after that, and my hand grabbed this braid. It doesn't get any more colorful than that!





The fiber is superwash Merino, and trilopal nylon (whatever that is).


I chain plied it and got 215yds.



I quite like this yarn.



The pups after a hot day.

Maggie: We are about to change her food to that of the boys. She stopped eating her breakfast, and her output of what she put in was too high. Who needs to go six times a day, and I'm not talking about pee?! She likes the boys food much better, and hopefully she can stomach it now that she's older.


Denny: He ate my grocery shopping list yesterday, and of course after I had to write it again, I forgot some things. That's why I write a list in the first place, so I don't forget!


Happy: He looked so ratty from all the chlorine water, so he got a shampoo bath the other day. He smells so good now, and is soft to the touch. Before the pool season is over, he'll get another one. We also have to tackle the other two, who don't like water THAT much. He got sniffed by the other two a lot.


Another week's gone by. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
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PS There's a new contest to win the pattern for lovely fingerless mittens over here at Wandering Cat Yarns. Good Luck!
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Fortnight I, II & III

As soon as I saw this beanie hat on Ravelry, I wanted to make one too, or more. Actually, I was going to make a whole gaggle of it, but after three I needed a break.



The pattern is Fortnight by Jared Flood.
The yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Shelter.
Needles used 5mm. I've knit the first one on a circular needle until I had to switch to DP's. But the next two were knit on DP's from the start. It was easier on my hands. The 16" circs are just so uncomfortable to hold.



This is a hat a day pattern, very easy, and fast to knit. It comes in three sizes, but size S is definitely for children. I needed to use 5mm needles, to get an adult size, but I would have been more happy with smaller needles. I might try this pattern again with a different yarn.



I love the contrasting cast on row, which is of course optional. The read one was the first one knit. It's size M but without the ear flap short rows. The color is Long Johns, but it's a little darker in real.
The second is size L, but with ear flap short rows, in the color Thistle.
The third is size L again, with ear flaps, in the color Faded Quilt.



I DO like the colors A LOT, but I don't like the yarn itself. I've knit with it before, and probably said so before, but I don't like woolen spun yarns. They are so airy. These hats are so light, and I'm afraid, if there's real cold, and windy weather, they'll be blown off your head. They are good for Fall and Spring though. The yarn is also not the softest, and has a lot of veggie matter in it.
I'm trying to get it all out of my stash, and will not be buying any more of it. I've got one whole skein left, and several left overs pieces.

I guess my Fall/Christmas knitting has begun.

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Handspun Friday - Tentrils & Charred

Yesterday morning, after the pups had their breakfast, I made myself some banana oatmeal and the usual tea, and enjoyed it out on the deck. The temperatures have come down a bit, and it's lovely to sit in the morning sun for a while.



It's so annoying when all the bananas are ripe at the same time, and I have to come up with ways to eat them before they are too mushy. The other day I made a banana sauce, to go with banana pan cakes. I don't know if anybody had made that before, but here it is, and I'm telling you because it tasted so good! But it's to be eaten right away, as you know all the banana stuff gets brown fast. So, I threw a banana in the blender, added a splash of Maple Syrup, a splash of whip cream, and a handful of mixed, salted nuts, and gave it a good blend. It was thick, creamy and delicious on the pan cakes.
Anyway, every time I try and watch my weight, I love to cook, and experiment in the kitchen. :o)


While I had breakfast, the pups watched the neighbor watering her plants.
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Today's handspun yarn was made with Southern Cross Fiber fiber club April 2011, Jacobs Humbug fiber in the colorways Tentrils and Charred. It's been done for quite a while now. This is not soft fiber, but even though it was dyed, it still was wonderfully easy to spin. David has a soft touch with his fiber, and it makes it a pleasure to spin all the time.

Here's Charred:


Charred -2ply-375yd



And here's Tentrils:






For now, they are marinating in the handspun bin, until I know what to do with them. Too bad the Jacobs fiber is so scratchy, and hairy.
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Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
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Keep me searching for a heart of gold ....

I've finished my August socks! I love them. They are just plain cute.



pattern: Keep me searching for a heart of gold by Melanie Starke
yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids, sock yarn. Love to knit with this yarn.
needles: 2.25mm and 2.5mm





And here's another cuteness: Denny looking like an abandoned dog, after swimming, on a pile of towels.



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Summer

I've never been swimming as much, in the past several years, as I did this summer. It was just so warm, that the water in the pool was warmed up nicely. I also discovered, that I can swim after dark as well, if I don't get to swim earlier. I'm a water rat, I love being in water, swimming, diving, or just fooling around. It's a nice feeling.
We've heard about Denny, who's trying to rescue his humans, by pulling on the straps of my swim suit, in my case, but what does he do, when there's somebody in the pool, to be "rescued" with no straps, and short hair?
Denny is smart, he found two ways to solve this problem for him, there's for instance the ear lope to grab, or the nose would do nicely too. A little painful for the one to be rescued for sure. :o)
Denny is really distressed when we are in the pool, the other two are puzzled at best.



Here are all three pulling on the same rubber bone, having their daily watery fun.

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I wanted to show you a prize I've won. I've got this braid from Ginny at FatCatKnits. I was on her Tour de Fleece team, and she gave out prizes randomly. My number wasn't a lucky one, but she gave me this prize for endurance, since I'd spun the most during that time. I picked the fiber - BFL - and the color myself. I need a solid color for color work. It's very pretty.


These two photos show the same fiber, imagine the color somewhat in the middle of both.



And I wanted to mention, that Rhonda is having a give away. You only have to leave a comment to get a chance of winning her latest beautiful sock pattern plus yarn to knit it in. I think there's also going to be a pattern by her daughter Valerie, fingerless mittens, she designed for a good cause. You've got until noon Friday, August 12th. Good Luck!

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Handspun Friday - What I did with Acapulco!

There will be more to see than to read today. Lots of pictures! I'm tired, but want to get this blog post done anyway.

I've enjoyed spinning this yarn, and even more knitting with it. This is Shaelyn by Leila Raabe. It's a very pretty shawl, and you can make it as big as you like. It get's a bit long in the tooth, but this time, the yarn dictated how big it got. I ran out of yarn with half the bind off row done, so I got out the second skein and wound the orange color, and broke it off. I later used the blueish parts for the second color for the mittens down below.


This shawl turned out rather small, but I love it. The colorway is called "Acapulco".

size: 24inch x 54inch
needle size: 4mm
I've knit it in three days, because I could not put it down. I wanted to see the yarn unfold.









So, here are the finished mittens. The right one is the one I knit last. The tip is a bit better, more rounded. I don't like the mouse ears on the left one. I still like the mittens though, they are soft, and warm, and fit my hands very well.


For these mittens I've used my own handspun yarn, Henry (like the socks), and Acapulco, both on Falkland fiber.



I've cast on for my August socks. The choice was very hard this time. I've already finished the first sock, no pictures yet, but I think they are cute. Should be Valentines socks, you'll see what I mean soon.
Alright, another weekend is ahead of us. Have a great one!

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Mmmmm, lemony!

Have you noticed that it's getting dark a little earlier already? I have, and I've hidden my smile, lest I get struck with another heatwave! I can't wait for Fall! And then SNOW! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Meanwhile I do enjoy swimming a lot, the only good thing I enjoy during summer time, when going outside means feeling like a roast pig under the broiler. I can feel the sizzle on my skin.

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I've been knitting mittens with my handspun yarn for a FatCatKnits mitten KAL. I've wound the second Henry skein, which was spun a little thicker than the one I used for socks, added some Acapulco yarn both from FatCatKnits (fiber), and cast on. The yarns don't match in thickness, but I used it anyway, and it worked out O.K.
I didn't use a pattern, and had to rip back to the cuff a couple of times. I saw the Pole stitch pattern on Ravelry, two of my friends there made mittens with it from a book I don't have. But it's easy to copy. I'm not quite happy with the tip, but I don't like the pointy ones, and this one's got mouse ears. I'll have to do better on the second one, and think about it for future mittens. The fit is good though. I've finished both mitten last night, just have to get them steam blocked and some pictures taken.


It's time to choose my August socks. Right now I have no idea what it will be. I've finished my shawls, well except the Sothia one, which I've forgotten about, put away in a corner. It deserves to be worked on, and soon I will.
I also want to spin again, I think the break is over. I've pre-drafted my River Rock fiber, and hopefully I'll get started on it today.
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The other day, I felt like cup cakes, and found a recipe for Lemon cup cakes, with cream cheese frosting. This was VERY lemony, but tasty. I totally kept to the recipe, but I still have to work on my frosting making skills. It was too runny. I don't know what I did wrong, but since they didn't leave the house, it was not a big deal. Now all the evidence is gone anyway.



Maggie, Margaret, Miss Thatcher, Magpie or Googlie, whatever you want to call her, is waiting to go outside. She just sits and stares as long as it takes, for somebody to notice (mostly me). It's not that she always HAS to go, but she wants too.



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Henry socks - July socks

Quickly a few photos of the finished Henry socks. They are called that way, because the fiber was called Henry, don't know why. Here's the fiber:



Here's the yarn: one of the two skeins, I'll be making mittens with the other one.



And here are the finished socks:







I used Fleegle's toe-up no-flap no-hassle sock pattern, which is my go to pattern for very well fitting toe-up socks. I only do toe-ups with handspun yarn, and prefer cuff down with all the others. I've tried many toe-up recipes, and this one I liked best.





A day after we got that mat, the boys settled down on it together. They needed a day to get used to it first. Now it's all combinations of all of them down there, or just one at a time, but I never have space to stretch out my legs. Once, all three of them fit on it, but not for long.



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I've enjoyed reading Preita's blog for some time now. July was Preita's Birthday month, and she celebrated with her readers by giving away goodies from her Etsy shop. I was lucky to get this lovely fiber:



It's 100% Polwarth, 4oz, colorway River Rock. I picked it out myself. Before I knew the name, I thought of pebbles on the beach. I also got one (Channel Island shawl) of her lovely shawl patterns , and I'm waiting just for the right yarn and time to cast it on.
Thank you very much, Preita!


Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

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