FatCatKnits Rippit Party Shawl

Earlier this year some of the members of FatCatKnits group on Ravelry decided to do a spinning fiber swap. One very brave member, Daniela in France, agreed to collect them all, rip the fiber into pieces, and pack them up again into 4oz or 8oz packages (depending on how much you've sent in). That sounded like fun! Of course I was IN!

To make it even harder for Daniela, I told her I didn't want anything back from the fiber I sent in, but I didn't care if I didn't get a piece from ALL the others.

Here's what I've got:

Many pieces of different FCK colorways, on different fiber bases. Hmmm. What to do with it? I opted for a shawl (yeah, very imaginativ).

Here's the yarn:  2-ply, 716yds



 





And here's the shawl I made from it. I've been using it all summer, protecting my shoulders from the evil A/C (I didn't mean it, I love you A/C).











I've used Carol Feller's Dangan shawl pattern, but modified it to a triangular shawl, with the help of Fiddleflower on Ravelry. Can I just tell you again how much fun I had with this project? I did, don't think otherwise. I also increased at the edges on every row, to make it longer in the wings, and made the last cable pointy by decreasing stitches, replacing them with double YO's.

We'll be doing this kind of swap again. If you are interested to join us, you should check FatCatKnits group in October, when Daniela is going to post specifics about the next swap. I'm definitely IN again.

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Back in May ...

This was actually in Mid May, which was really warm this year. I thought the ground was so pretty, and so did Denny.



A little sniff there.


Happy was in his element, when I rolled out the pool hose. He's the best pool boy EVER!



See Denny in the background? He hates to get wet like that.





That's why he was backing up slowly. Happy rather enjoys it.





He's really hard at work ...



... and very pleased with himself for detouring the water, where it shouldn't go.



A job well done.
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It's not Friday, but here's some handspun yarn!

I had so much fun with this project, from start to finish. Hmm, I usually do with my spinning projects.
So, I took this fiber from FatCatKnits Day's End Fire on the Water, Polwarth:



and spun this yarn with it: 3.6oz, 2-ply, 400yds



It was so bouncy, that it would not stay in place for a photo, when I rolled it up.





I was so happy with this yarn, and that's why I decided to knit it up right away.
I found the Norby hat by Gudrun Johnston. I've been wanting to knit it for a while now. Love the design, and the finished hat too. Polwarth is such a lovely fiber.









I've knit the prim back and forth, instead of in the round, and closed it after the garter section, sewing the little gab shut, with the cast on end. I didn't increase after the prim, because I thought it was wide enough, but other than that I've knit it as written. I don't like to do tassels or pom poms although I love to have them on the hat(s). I started out working after the instructions in the pattern, but veered off soon enough. In the end I had one tassel, but attached with two strings. Well, lets just say I was glad it was attached, and didn't fall off.

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Summer Desserts

Throughout this summer I've enjoyed desserts with fruit, and some without. Here are a few examples:


Rasperries with banana and plain Greek yoghurt.


Pureed strawberries sauce with maple syrup and plain Greek Yoghurt. It really had this extreme color.


Strawberries and whip cream without the whip.



Almond/Coconut-Chocolate Chips Cookies, gluten free. Just something I threw together, and was surprised how well they held up and even tasted good.


Rasperries, bananas, shredded coconut, and unsweetened (as all my yoghurt is) plain Greek yoghurt.

And last but not least, a cream cheese cake, gluten free, with an almond crust (which got a little soggy over night, have to work on that one).



Now I'm hungry. I think I'm getting myself a bowl of yoghurt, berries and enjoy it out on the deck. Have to think hard who's turn it is to lick the bowl when I'm finished.

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Barndom - a test knit

At the end of May Stephen asked if I wanted to test knit another shawl. Do I ever! The pattern was released just recently, so now I can show my version of it here.











pattern: Barndom by Stephen West

yarn: Madeline Tosh Merino Light in Flashdance (420yds) and Amber Trinket (324yds): it was the first time for me using this yarn. It's wonderful to work with, and I loved both colorways. Even though they are not "my" colors, I like it, but it's going to be gifted anyway.

needles: 3.5mm

size: 25"deep x 75" wing span

start-finish: May 30 - June 4, 2021

mods: not really anything, except the edge is garter stitch and I made stripes with the CC color to use up most of the yarn

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I DO listen to Country Music, but ...

The last time I left the pups home alone, while I went shopping, I left he Country music channel on by accident.
That's what I found when I got back. ;o)




Can dogs cry? I think I saw tears in their eyes. Normally they watch the Space channel. I promise to not do this again, guys!
~
By the way, it looks like Fall is just around the corner!



Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
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Of course there's always an exception ....

As I said before, our dogs don't jump into the pool from the side, but use the stairs instead. That was true throughout the summer, until one evening, when I was swimming, and the pups, namely Denny, were not banned from being outside during that time. Because of course, he could not stand seeing me in the water, so he teetered for a while, before he made an ungraceful plunge to come and rescue me, whether I wanted it or not.

He is not the most confident swimmer, and does not enjoy it as much as the other two, but he likes to cool down, and has to retrieve his toys, when they are unlucky enough to be in that situation. Usually his first response is to look at me, and then look at the net, urging me with his high pitched barks to get it OUT, get it OUT already. If I don't, he has to jump in himself.

The funny thing is, that he would only jump in from the very same spot he did the first time, no other spot ever, and I have to encourage him to get his toy, to do it. Have a look. I had to through in his beloved squeeky toy several times to get the pictures, and after the last time, he gave me the evil eye, so I stopped. :o)


Still depating with himself if he should or shouldn't jump.




See how high the water splashed? It's like throwing in a sack of potatoes. Not very graceful, Denny!


Still klinging to the edge with curled toes. Hard to let go sometimes ... the landing looked like a painful belly flop. Happy is all excited about the whole thing, running in circles around the pool. He must have thought Deny to be so daring, and cool. ;o)


But he's got it!



He's had enough.

Hand carders!

Earlier this year I bought myself some Clemens cotton hand carders. I choose these for the fine teeth, even though I will only be using it with wool. I'm not interested in spinning cotton at the moment. I'm having so much FUN! I originally thought it would be tedious, and I might not like it, always having a drum carder in the back of my mind, but I was wrong! Besides, drum carders cost more than a spinning wheel, at least the one I would buy.


(Clemens curved cotton hand carders with FCK Sid & Nancy fiber club fiber.)

I love working with these. It doesn't take as long as I though it would, and I like spinning my little Rollags much more than I like the big batts. With these I also had to learn how to spin woolen, modified long draw, compared to my normal short forward draw with the commercial prepared tops I'm using. It's nice to know both now, and the resulting yarn is quite different. It's more bouncy, and fluffy, has more "air" in it. I am loving this so much.
This was one of my first handcarded finished yarn. I used a gifted batt from Shelby of Spinning Awesome Good, which was just over one ounce.

It turned into this little skein. It's only ~ 50 yds, worsted weight yarn, and it sparkles!

 

Next was some FatCatKnits fiber club fiber, from the famous couples, here is Sid & Nancy. Normally I love FatCatKnits fiber, but these two were not my favorites. So I didn't feel so bad using them to practice hand carding, which was a lot of fun. I know you get it, it's fun alright!



I especially didn't like Nancy, the pinkish/yellow one from this combo, so I used her first.
I made my little Rollags:


this is Sid though:


the resulting yarn:
darker Nancy:


lighter Nancy:


really dark Nancy:


and Sid:


Here they are all together: I chain plied them all. It's enough for a hat for sure. Hand carding does muddle up the colors, but I love the heathered look of them. Close up you'll find so many shades it's a joy to look for them. The yarn itself is a little bumpy, and uneven, and I can't get it thin yet. It's always around worsted weight, but that's O.K. for now.


I still have a lot of Sid fiber left over, since I only did about one ounce.
That's it for now. I've got more hand carded yarn to show, but I don't want to overload your brains! ;o)

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