Handspun Friday - Shetland Humbug

This is the second finished skein of my Humbug project. This time Shetland Humbug instead of Jacobs Humbug.
From this fiber:


Fiber: Kettle Dyed Shetland Humbug by Shunklies, 3.5 oz
yarn: ~ 403 yds, navajo plied




I'm working on the next Humbug fiber, but I'm not getting anything done lately, not much spinning time.



They are not the same, but you can see that they are "related".



And of course a Happy picture: itchy.



More Happy photos here (scroll down).

Wish you all a wonderful weekend, with lots of crafting time!

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Goodies!

I have to thank my mom for sending me 10 x 100g Steinbach Wolle Maxi mercerized cotton. I'll be knitting a lace doily or two for her with the blue ones.



Also, once again, thank you Herta, for those lovely lace knitting pattern booklets and some vintage cotton to knit doilies with!

I've ordered some Trekking Flame sock yarn in The Netherlands for dyeing. Can't wait to get the dye pot out!


And since it took so long to receive this order, I've totally forgotten all about it. What a nice surprise when I got it in the mail! This is Sockpixie yarn and fiber. Lovely stuff. Now I need some quiet time to get my needles smoking again!



This is 8oz BFL.

Bloody Toes Socks!

It's about bloody time that I show you my bloody toes socks. Remember when back in April, I was dyeing some sock yarn? It's a messy technique, but I wanted to try it anyway.


I had to knit these toe up to see the full range of colors, so I've knit until I ran out of yarn, which made these knee high stockings.



That day, Biko felt it was her turn to be in the pictures. She played footsie with me.



I used a short row heel, don't remember which one. I thought plain simple stockinett stitch would be quite boring for long socks, so I made a baby cable in the middle front and back, knit the inside of the stocking in stockinett stitch, and a ribbing on the outside. I increased stitches as I got higher, as I saw fit. I could have increased a couple more stitches for the cuff, but they are O.K. like that, don't slip and slide.


I like how the rich red fades. Too bad the Key Lime color didn't take as well.



All in all I'm happy with the outcome. I've got one more sock yarn dyed this way, but different color combination.



Biko is happy, and Happy is happy too. That's how he likes to cuddle when he gets tired. Chewing on a chew toy, and getting his belly rubbed. In this picture he's 8 weeks old. He'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow.



Bloody Toes socks:
yarn: self dyed Opal sock yarn, 2 x 50g
needles: 2.25mm DP
start-finish: April 5-14 2009
size: large for me

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Happy Friday!

Sorry, no handspun Friday today. I didn't get to write up the post. I'll have some Humbug for next week to show you. I'll leave you with a video of Happy instead. Have a great weekend!



It wont let me embed it so here's the link to a Happy video.

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Happy Photos!

One more thing about the Miralda shawl from last post:

After I've read the Yarn Harlot's post about casting on HER Miralda shawl, I was a little worried I would encounter the same problems as she did. That's why I used a stitch marker every 20th stitch I've cast on and to my utter joy I only had to cast on ONCE!

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I might have picked up the energizer bunny by mistake!!!

For all of you who'd like to see some more Happy pictures, here's one of my favorites to date. There's a dried leave hanging out of his mouth. He's grown, but the collar is still very loose on the smallest setting.



Here are both ears up! One day they are up, when he gets tired they are down, but that's the way it is. His ears will stay up when he's older. And I've got to get that green dried color off his ear. The thing is, when it gets wet it's all over the place.



Not to forget Biko. Out of solidarity she's got her face green too (or so I'd like to think). She was playing, fetching her tennis ball (she started to play again, as well as swimming), when she made a face plant. I didn't actually see it, I just heard an UMPH sound, and then she appeared like that.



Some more photos of both of them. You should click on this mosaic and go see them full sized, they are just lovlier that way and not cut off.



We still have to work on a better sleeping pattern during the night. I'm quite exhausted from too little sleep. On the other hand I've never had a puppy which likes to cuddle in my arms, held like a baby. When he gets tired he comes to me and wants to be picked up. He fell asleep on my lap several times. Too bad he'll soon be too big for that. He sleeps a lot during the day, but when he's up he's like a little maniac. In the evenings he's so full of energy, I LOVE his puppy runs, he literally bounces of the walls. He can play wonderfully by himself. Biko mostly avoids him, but in the evenings, when he's the wildest, she trys to teach him some manners. Not easy, since he does not give up.

He figured out how to climb the stairs, but then falls off, like a satiated tick. I told you he keeps me on my toes. I don't want him locked up in the kitchen all the time. I want him to learn and explore his new home, and he does. But we are all happy when he's tired and sleeps like an angel. He still uses my Birkenstocks to snuggle up. He has both of them in his crate during the night, and he does not chew them. He relocates them, and draggs them where he wants them, but not chewing. He chews everything else. During the day they are still mine though. No other shoe will do. He goes looking for them when he gets tired. Soooooo cute!

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Miralda

This is my favorite shot.

I haven't forgotten that this is a knitting blog. Thank god I still have some finished projects to show you. I have not finished a thing since we brought Happy home, even though I still knit a little every day.



Back in March I started a mini knit-a-long with Angelika to knit the Miralda shawl from Nancy Bush's book "Knitted Lace of Estonia". This is my favorite pattern from this book. A sweet little shawl, started from the outside edge for a change.


This is my second favorite shot.

I was very happy to find yarn in my stash which was used for this shawl in the book. A couple of years ago I bought 2 skeins of Rovings Polworth Wool a 2-ply fingering weight yarn. One skein is 832yds, which was enough for this shawl. In fact I had 37g left over from the 150g skein. Unfortunately it was natural white, which I don't like very much. It had to be dyed, either before or after knitting. Since I couldn't decided which color right away, I opted for dyeing it later.



specs:
pattern: Miralda by Nancy Bush
yarn: Rovings Polworth Wool, 2-ply fingering weight, 1 skein 832yds; I actually needed only 627yds
needle: 4mm
size after blocking: 30" x 55"
start-finish: March 3-April 27



This shawl took me way longer than it should have. I don't know why. I worked on other projects during knitting it, but I enjoyed it very much. Knitting it from the outside in was a first for me, and I was glad that it was a small shawl. I like it better the other way around.



My favorite stitch in this shawl was this cross stitch. It was great fun to do.


The part after the diamond border, and after the cross stitch looks lovely, but it was a bit boring to knit. Had trouble keeping my eyes open.



I've already cast on for another scarf from this book. This is another book where I found several, if not all patterns are wonderful, lovely, and want to do them all eventually.

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California Fun!

Happy got a present from Claudia. There was also some wonderful delicious tea for me. Thank you very much!


I've never laughed so hard before, as when I unwrapped the toy rubber duck/chicken for Happy! Everybody loves chicken and duck breast! Look at those huge - anyway .... It's supposed to be Grandma.



What a funky chew toy! It squacks (it's not squeaking, more like a quack) too, when you squeeze it.







Happy was very interested in it, but thought a little distance could not hurt.



A couple of days later, he had no problem wringing the duck/chicken's neck. When he makes it quack, he barks at it, and shakes it. It's one of his favorite toys right now, together with my seat cushion, the turquoise dog, and a tennis ball.

Handspun Friday - Fallen Leaves

Some time ago I've got this mohair/merino fiber as a gift from Chawne (Thanks again!). I love mohair blends. I try to work with gifted yarns and fiber rather sooner than later, and I needed a little more color, after spinning the dark but beautiful humbug fibers.



I've spun this pre-Happy of course. The day we picked him up, this was hanging to dry.



Orange being one of my favorite colors makes this finished skein something soothing to my eyes. I love it.

fiber: 4.2oz 70/30 merino/mohair dyed by travelingrhinos, a gift from Chawne
yarn: navajo plied, ~ 348yds

This goes into my handspun stash for now.



Even with Happy around I get to spin for a few minutes a day, which is very good!

Speaking of gifted fiber. Sharon sent me this lovely Falkland fiber. Thank you, Sharon!



Wish you all a wonderful weekend!

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Hard at work ...

Happy is hard at work at growing! Here's the magic shoes with him totally zonked out.



Where my Birkis are, there's a sleeping dog. With or without human foot in it.



Happy is wearing Biko's first collar, to get used to it, just a few hours a day. It's on the smallest setting and it's still too big for him.



I could watch him sleep all day, but of course, that's not all he does. He plays rough, eats and poops too.

I go lick my wounds now. But first I've got to get my shoes back.



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And Biko? She's just glad I'm his keeper and not her. She's slowly reverting to be a puppy herself, instead of teaching him some manners. She's laughing at me!

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Welcome, Happy!

The reason for my silence last Friday was this: Furrari's Edelweiss Happy!



We call him Happy! He's out of Ice Man and Abby, which makes him a nephew to Biko. (Abby and Biko have the same Sire Ryder. He was the most beautiful dog, also Sam's Sire). I was not thinking of getting a new puppy so soon, but when Marion offered me a boy from her last litter, I did not have to think to long to make a decision. Thank you Marion, for this wonderful boy!



Isn't he cute? Well, all puppies are cute, but he's MY new cute boy. We picked him up Friday morning. This is what we saw when we arrived.



puppies are 6 1/2 weeks old


One pup has already been picked up, so eight were left. In this shot our Happy is the furthest left. We had four male pups to choose from. I didn't choose him, DS David did. I could not decide.



We thought we were prepared for a new pup, but as it turned out, Happy's personality is different from Biko's and Sam's. He is very adventurous, does not fear anything. Sounds, no matter of what kind make him go check it out (he only runs to hide when Biko gives warning barks), everything else needs to be explored right away. He's also very fast. We could take out Biko and Sam without a leash to potty for quite some time, before they ventured away from us too far, not Happy! He'll soon needs to be leashed out front for his own safety. That means we have to put a collar on real soon. He'll be 7 weeks coming Tuesday. His neck is so thin, even the puppy collar we have for him is way too big.



Out back he can run free as much as he likes, but there are many places I don't want him to go, especially near the swimming pool. The other thing is, I have to shuffle now, feel quite stupid doing it, but he's always around and between my feet, and I'm worried that I'm going to step on him one day.



By the way, I LOVE my Birkis! They gave me back my sleeping hours during the night. Happy loves to snuggle up to my Birkis, don't ask me why, because it's just them, no other old shoes will do. After the first almost sleepless night, I didn't care and was prepared to sacrifice my shoes. Thank God, he just snuggles up with them, so I can wear them during the day. :o)



Everything else is not safe from his teeth. Even the tile floor needed to be tasted. He's worn down his first nylabone already, took him only one and a half days. The Vet was very impressed with his long canine teeth. :o)



Oh, yeah, we went to the Vet's with him on Friday as well. He seems to be in very good health, and while there he sat on the Vet's lap on the floor, chewing on a healthy treat (no other dog likes them, must be VERY healthy). He was quite fine on his back, sitting there like a little Buddha.



Of course I've got about 100 photos of him, and him and Biko within the first two days. There are more on flickr if you like to see them.



Right now, as I write this, he's sleeping in his crate in the kitchen. He likes it in there, as long as the door stays open. But if I dare to close it, he'll scream bloody murder. Still, he has to learn to stay in there eventually. He sleeps in another crate in my bedroom, if he sleeps. As I said, I was at my wits end the first night, when he snuggled up beside my shoes, which I took and put both, him and a shoe in the crate, and we all could sleep for a while.



Happy was wiggling so hard, that he's just a blurr here.

Biko was very careful sniffing him from tip of the nose to his tail. When Happy's obnoxious loud, she goes her ways, as far away as possible. But if he's silently running around, she wants to sniff him some more. She does not seem to have motherly instincts. We have to tell her to play with him, and slowly more and more each day (this is day 3), she warms up to him. Her kind of playing is throwing him a bone, and daring him to take it. She told him off a few times, i.e. when she was eating, he wanted to look into her bowl, or in the bedroom, when he wanted to curl up besides her, she said, no way, that's my place. Since she's officially a senior dog, getting close to 8 years of age, and besides, he's a puppy and has to learn his place in his new pack, she gets to tell him off.



For as long as they are not equal of weight (or Happy is not able to defend himself), we don't leave them alone together.



I don't get anything done right now. I did however spend a lot of time with him on the kitchen floor. Me knitting on a scarf, and him eventually sleeping.



Did I mention he learned his name the second day (which was yesterday). He's so smart! It's amazing. When I call him and say, "Happy, lets go pee!" he runs to the front door already! Well I'm amazed by that.



We already had a fight over a yarn ball. I think he hasn't heard of number one rule in this house yet, "Don't mess with mom's fiber and fiber equipment!!!" Which makes it rule number two and three as well, since this is very important.

I'm writing this on Sunday morning. We were outside, and now everybody is sleeping. Biko is under my desk, warming my feet, while the little devil is in his crate, bliss!

I might have called him Sam several times, but I'll get used to this new guy in my life soon. I'm glad that he's nothing like Sam so far. I want him to be different and all his own personality. As the Vet said, "He's got big shoes to fill." (and he also said, that Happy won the lottery, and doesn't even know it. ) :o)

I guess that's enough for now. And peaceful time's running out, I can feel it.

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PS His green ear comes from the tattoo he's got there.