Friday, September 23, 2011

Handspun Friday - Farmer Phil BFL & Special Blue BFL

This fiber/color was a little hard to photograph, but it's blue, that much is obvious. It's Blue Faced Leicester, which I like to work with.

FCK-Blue special-4oz-BFL-2
It turned into two of those skeins. One I used for mittens. The second one is still in my stash. I wanted to start the mittens, so did only half of the fiber, and the other half later.

special blue on BFL
1. skein, chain plied, 195yds. 2. skein, chain plied 174yds.

I wanted to pair it with some Farmer Phil yarn I made earlier. Also BFL fiber, and chain plied.


FCK-8oz BFL-Farmer Phil



TdF - day 22-Farmer Phil- chain plied-304yds
I spun this one during Tour de Fleece this year. Chain plied, 304yds. Lots of left over after the mittens were finished.


FCK-special blue BFL-2oz-chain plied-195yds

I took the stitch pattern from the book "The Mitten Book" page 62. I didn't have a pattern, just put it together as I went. I should have taken notes. Because after the first mitt was done, I did some test knitting, and later, when I continued knitting the second mitt, I couldn't quite remember what I did the first time around.
So, stop laughing, because, yes, the second mitt is a bit larger. I find it very hard to rip out color work, and knits with cables. It's not that it's hard to do, just imagining doing it, after I'd slaved over it, makes me overlook some minor errors.

I still like them though. In my mind I didn't see the blue as dominant color, and was really surprised when they came out like this.

rose pattern mittens

Even with being not perfect mittens, I like them, especially when looking at the details.

cuff detail

I was proud of myself, when I did the braid right from memory, and the first time around as well! I like the leaf pattern on the cuff, and how the yarn made it multicolored.

thumb detail

The thumb is a little tight. Next time I'll add more stitches, but I like the ribbing.

close up stitch pattern

The rose stitch pattern is easy, but lovely. It didn't pop as much as I wanted it, but there's always room for improvement. When I squint at it, I can see the blue grid, or just the rose pattern. I have yet to knit something without an error somewhere in my projects.

***
The other day, Maggie was under my desk, sleeping, when Denny came, and pushed her over, and made himself comfortable. I don't think she approved.

Help me!

It doesn't look like it, but it was too dark in the room for the camera to focus. I still love this photo, because it's not often that the boys sleep so close together. They must have been quite tired.

the boys, snoozing

I'm happy to say that Denny continues to run like a little locomotive after the balls I throw. But there are rules, and he made them up. First he looks at my hands. When I have only one ball I throw it once, and he will not give that up, until I can show him a second ball in my left hand (that's somehow important to him). Only then I can throw the ball, and he will run after that one.

Meanwhile I pick up the ball he brought back. If I throw the ball he just brought back, and pick it up right in front of him, he wont run after it, bark at me until I throw the ball in my left hand.
That's just how picky he is. He loves it, when I have more than two balls in my hands, somehow that makes it more fun for him. I don't care as long as he keeps running.

Yesterday, I threw the Frisbee for Happy, one ball for Maggie, and the rest of the balls as described above for Denny. At one point near the end, Happy was bringing back a ball too, so everybody got balls thrown, I was quite busy, as they kept coming back one after the other. I have no idea where the Frisbee vanished to. Everybody was happy, including me, and once their tongues hit the ground, we called it a night.

***

Have a wonderful weekend!

***

22 comments:

Freyalyn said...

I'm smiling now at the description of the ball games. Doesn't Maggie have such a long, sensitive face now she's maturing a bit.

I think with the mittens your mind must have visualised it with the blue and the browns reversed - that would have had the effect you expected. Still lovely though.

cauchy09 said...

wow, your yarn is beautiful! and you never cease to amaze me with how you use it to make even more gorgeous knits.

2paw said...

I had a little laugh at your uneven mittens, even though I couldn't knit them in a year of Sundays!! I love the thumbs and the braids.
Maggie is looking so beautiful and I love the expression on her face as Denny slowly squashes here. Those boys must have been tired out form all the ball games.
Denny has such strict playing rules, he's very goal oriented, and so smart!! He's been hiding his light under a bushel. You'll need Play Assistants at this rate with all the fun you're all having!!

Dreams of Yarn said...

Your spinning is so amazing. And your mitts, WOW. You always have such lovely projects to show :) And the doggie pictures are always a bonus. Your furry babies are so adorable.

knottygnome said...

i would not have thought to put those 2 yarns together, but the mittens look very nice!

Michelle said...

Oh Denny. You're so cute!

The mittens look good. And yes, that blue definitely ended up popping most.

Rhonda said...

Love the mitts. I'm picturing them with a nice dark blue too.
A tired dog is a good dog.

Anonymous said...

The mittens look awesome! I love those colors together even though I never would have done it personally. You have a great eye! As always, cute pup pictures!

Susan said...

Denny's not playing fetch - he's teaching you to juggle!

Beverly said...

One of these thing is not like the other but they are both beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Monika, those mittens are great. I like the different colored leaves also.
margieinmaryland

Sharon said...

BFL is my favorite, too. It just always spins up right for me. Your mittens are lovely and I can only hope to design a pair of mittens for myself. One day maybe I'll have time to sit and think something up.

Your Denny is quite a character! I guess that means he's the leader. LOL He must be a herder.

Lifesastitch said...

Such magic that a pile of fluff can turn into such beautiful yarn and again into wonderful knitted items!

Virginia G said...

I'm really glad that Denny is still playing ball, although the "rules" really crack me up. :)

Love the mittens! They're really pretty, with those colors. And the thumbs are just awesome.

The Dreamer said...

Love your work! And very lovely photographs. Your handspun combo came out beautiful. I would've never imagined putting those 2 colorways together.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Great mitts!

I love Denny being pushy! Rocky does the same thing to Tux all the time!

monica said...

I love the mittens!! I think we all have one hand that is bigger than the other, one leg that is longer that the other. That's what I tell myself when I knit one mitten or sock bigger than the other. :)

I wonder if you might need a tennis ball throwing machine for Denny?

Claudia Bugh said...

Lovely mittens! I wouldn't have ripped either ~ it adds to the charm of wearing hand knits :) Beautiful detailing ~ love the braid.

So nice to see the pups together ~ and Denny I think has a smile ~ maybe he's more contented now that he's taught you how to play ball? LOL

Chery said...

Beautiful mittens!

PixelatedMushroom said...

Lovely :)

Ann said...

Oh my goodness, those mittens are beautiful. Way to nail the braid from memory! So special to have handspun become something so glorious.

hakucho said...

Very pretty mittens...great color combo :)