the Soxophone Player

Over, but not out

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:19:00 +0000

This is post #449 on my blog, and is my last (methinks) on blogspot. Look for me now at:

www.soxophoneplayer.com

I've had one too many battles with blogspot and am going to give wordpress a try.

I actually USE my own blog a lot, and I wish I had set it to better access specific archived content. So if I want to refresh my memory on what I did with a particular yarn, I don't have to sift through pictures of the dog and tales of assorted craft shows to find it.

So....I'm going to try a method I've seen on other blogs where each bit of information is set as its own post. That should make looking things up a more efficient exercise.

As part of that system, I'll try to use post headings that specify the content. (I swear, I can't come up with even ONE more blog title!)

Anyway.... please visit me over at the new digs....

More Anne

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:29:00 +0000

Alas.

I have emptied my stash of Schaeffer Anne ;o(

Here are is a pair of size Small, knit with the 54 needle cylinder on the Legare 400:

I don't knit a lot of Small socks - Ladies' CAN/US shoe size 3 - 5 or kids 11 - 2 - but I do try to keep a few on hand. They are 10 rows shorter in the leg and in the foot than my size Medium. And depending on the yarn I will tension a wee bit tighter than Medium.

And here are two pairs of size Large, knit with the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47:

Well that's it for my stash of Anne, unless there is another secret hiding place I've forgotten about.

Of course I do have a drawer full of Anne Ends, so here we go for another wild ride of eco knitting (keeping those leftovers out of the landfill!).

Sock Scarf

This is a handy project if you happened to just knit 28 balls of Anne. I used a bigger leftover for the hem top, heel and toe, and then 27 other colourways for the stripes, each one at 25 rows. This gave me an overall length of 64 inches.

But wait, there's more!

This honkin' long Sock Scarf measures in at 84 inches, using 30 different colourways and making the stripes 30 rows each.

Perfect for a dude with a footballer's neck.

Or no neck.

Or a Soxophone Player with a 17 1/2 inch collar....

Deer Me

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:23:00 +0000

Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that it wasn't raining.

So Jesse and I went for a walk to check out the fall colours.

The colours are very late this year. We're only at about 30%. Most years in the past decade the colours have peaked the week before Thanksgiving (the real Thanksgiving ;o) ) and the trees have been bare for the long weekend. Not so this year.

Here we are nearing the crest of the knoll out back, and Jesse pauses for a photo op by the bright red dogwood.

From here we went to the top of the rise and turned right. I still had my camera turned on from the Jesse shot when,

I realize its not a great shot, but rare is the chance I get to take one of a deer. By the time I get my camera out of my pocket, and it goes beep, and Jesse goes bow-wow, the deer are long gone. (click to enlarge -its in the centre of the photo)

For some reason this time they (there were two but only one in the shot) just stood there and looked at me. Even when the camera beeped as I took the first photo. And Jesse just stood there and looked at them. Strange.

I saw 6 deer the afternoon before while driving down the hill nearest the farm, and 4 more that evening.

I love to eat deer, but I also like just watching them... beautiful creatures that they are.

Slip Stitches
A was asking what I mean by slip stitches in my size Medium knee socks.

It's just a skipped stitch - I take the needle out of the machine, as in mock ribbing. Hang the stitch from the needle you want to remove on its neighbour.

Normally I knit size medium on the 54 cylinder. For knee socks I need more stitches for the upper leg, which makes the ankle and foot to wide, even with a tighter tension. So I remove every 4th needle on the top half of the cylinder when I get to the pre-heel, and that snugs the fit up. You could also purl those stitches but then you'd have ribbing-ridges which could be a discomfort issue.

Yet another way to reduce the size for the foot would be to remove the sock from the 72 needle cylinder altogether when you get to the pre-heel, and rehang the work on the 54 cylinder, doubling up stitches as necessary during the rehang. (This is what I do for my Over the Knee Socks - I knit the top part of the sock on the 100 needle cylinder, and rehang on the 72 when I get to the part where a regular knee sock would begin.

Jon Michael Talbot
is one of my favourite composers of spiritual music. We do a lot of his music in choir and our accompanist does great arrangements for multi parts, applying a soft jazz influence.

Here's a clip of JMT in concert, performing a piece we sing often, Healer of my Soul.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all....

Mousey Clay

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:47:00 +0000

Here is a new pair of Knee Socks in size Medium.

This is my own 75/25 Wool/Nylon fingering weight yarn in my recent dye batches of Mouse Grey and Clay.

I was watching CSI Miami the other night (closing toes) and the villain, er, villainess was wearing a cool pair of knee socks. They (and she ;o) ) inspired me. I think her colours ran more to butterscotch, but these were as close as I had on hand and, you know, you gotta' create when you get the urge!

And since I was knitting size Medium Knee Socks, I made:

This is the same pattern I knit in Medium + last week.

Both pairs are knit with the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47. The only difference between the Medium and Medium + is that the former is 5 rows shorter in the foot, and I slip stitches on the top of the foot - beginning 15 rows before the heel- to narrow the foot slightly.

"When the rain comes

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:47:00 +0000

they run and hide their heads" to quote an old Beatles tune .

What a merry-go-round of weather we've been having for the past few weeks. Torrential downpours alternating with brief sunny breaks.

Real brief.

Fortunately the crowds didn't run and hide their heads from the Meaford Apple Harvest. A lot of folks are now sporting a new pair of socks ;o)

Visiting Anne

I found a few bags of Schaeffer Anne in my stash. I thought I'd knit it all some months ago, but apparently not...

These are all size Large, knit with the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47.

Opal Hundertwasser

Here's a blast from the (recent) past - one of my favourite colourways of all time - from the Opal Hunderwasser series.

I'm replenishing my supply of Sock Scarves and this seemed a good place to start. This scarf is about 64" long, including the hem top and foot. I knit it on the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47, using my standard tension for a 4 ply yarn (=~10 rows per inch).

I got 2 scarves from three 100g balls. Well, almost 2 scarves. I was short half the toe on the second scarf, but happily found some leftovers from the same batch of yarn in my scrap drawer.

I've decided scarf knitting is a great thing to do at the end of the day when my eyes are getting tired and my concentration begins to wane. Just crank away until its 'really long' then close it off with a foot.

Apple Harvest Craft Show

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Today the Soxophone Player has loaded the truck and is heading into Meaford for the Apple Harvest Craft Show.

This show has been running for over 25 years, always the weekend before (Canadian) Thanksgiving. The show raises money for community projects. It is known to be one of the top rated craft shows in Ontario - always a waiting list of vendors, and always a good crowd of shoppers, including many bus loads from around this side of the province.

The show is named in honour of the local apple harvest, Meaford being the apple capital of Canada ;o) The apple harvest is running late this year, like every other harvest, due to the cool summer. But the show motors on!

The quality of crafts is high at this show, as it is generally well juried. Of course some one always seems to sneak under the wire gluing one piece of dime store crap to another piece of dime store crap and calling it a handmade craft, but this show does better than most at weeding such things out.

If you're going to the craft show, be sure to pop by my booth and say hello...I'm in the curling rink, just inside the main entrance on the left.

A change of pace

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Talk about old Mutha Hubbard's cupboard...

That is what remains of my Koigu KPPPM stash after my recent binge ;o(

Have you ever had the DT's when you're out of a favourite yarn?

It's very cold today, and I don't have the heat turned on. Maybe that's why I'm shaking. But it might be Koigu withdrawal.

What to work on next?

Here's some yarn I pulled out of Misc. Solids Stash: (from the left) DGB Confetti colour #9020 (rich red), and three Fortissima Sockas... #1058 Medium Grey, # 1062 Light Grey Heather, #2002 Black.

I was tooling around on the What's Cool page at Knitty and was inspired by this:

I didn't have the exact colours on hand so I chose the closest I could find in the stash, and I ended up with this:

I used my own striping configuration, and knit an entire foot rather than toe-less, but I think the effect is in the right part of the ball park.

The reason I didn't do the open toes...my open tubes - such as in my fingerless gloves - have a bit of a curl at the end. This is a nice decorative touch (IMHO) but would be a real pain with a sock if you wanted to put a shoe on.

I've got my thinking cap (such as it is) on, pondering a curl-less open foot.

I loved my Koigu binge, but after several weeks of hard production knitting I needed to take a creative detour, and I think these knee socks fit the bill.

The socks are size Medium +, knit with the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47.

Since I had the black and red going, I ventured into the world of unsocks...

And came up with these:

I made this pair of fingerless gloves with the 54 needle cylinder on the Legare 400.

They are meant to go with these:

This is my pattern I call Jezebel, and this pair is size Medium.

Koigu continues...

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Here's a pair of Koigu Rainbow socks.

My main colour is P702, and the heels/toes are P132. My rainbow stripes are: Red P622, Orange P831, Yellow P712, Green P525, Blue P416, Purple P142. The main colour is one of the newer spackle yarns, and the other colours were 'one-ofs' that I picked off the showroom shelf at Koigu.

The pattern is the same as my Lorna's Laces Rainbow socks:

The Koigu version is more subtle.

I've made many dozens of the Lorna's version, and we'll see if the Koigu version is as popular.

The Koigu Rainbow pair above is size Large, knit with the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47.

Another Koigu colourway:

This is Koigu KPPPM P706, and it may be my favourite of all the Koigu colours I've knit in this binge.

I like it so much I knit the whole bag (1 kilo) in one sitting.

The pair in the photo is size Medium.

As with any 100% wool, I add woolly nylon to the heels and toes for added durability. This adds a little time to the sock making, and you know it adds frogging time when I forget to put it in....but I've got a good routine established so the extra time is marginal.

The Koigu yarn has a tight twist and the colours can be intense, both of which have tension implications, so I've been knitting at about 1/4 turn looser tension.

The skeins are ideally suited to my size Medium standard pattern (1 skein per sock). They are just a hair short for my size Medium + - have to splice for the last row or two. And I'm well into a thirds ball for a pair of size Large or XL. This isn't an issue when buying by the bag, but is food for caution when buying by the skein.

Where's Snappy?

I haven't seen Snappy at all this year. I thought maybe he'd moved on to another ~~puddle~~ pond. Jesse and I have looked for him every day when we do our rounds.

Today we still didn't see Snappy, but it looks like he's been present.

I Can See Clearly Now

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:38:00 +0000

At least on my computer screen.

I've long been a fan of the Arial font... IMHO one of the crispest to see and least tiring to read.

My main browser is Windows Internet Explorer 8, and my fonts, Arial and others, have looked pretty good to my tired eyes. But when I use Mozilla Firefox for browsing, the fonts always look a little fuzzy, even my beloved Arial.

Firefox is oft touted as superior for working on web sites and that's why I keep it around. But I don't use it as my primary browser because it has crashed on my a number of times and scattered any bookmarks to that place where lost emails go.

Anyway, I've spent hours and hours looking for a solution to the fuzzy-fonts that plague me in Firefox, and finally stumbled on a solution in an obscure forum somewhere in the depths of googledom.

I share it with you, in case you too suffer from FFS (fuzzy font syndrome).

In Windows XP, click on: Control Panel; Display; Appearance; Effects. The second menu item is "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts"...click the little box to enable, and choose "Clear Type" form the choices.

This made an outstanding difference to both Firefox and Internet Explorer. It's like HD tv!

And meanwhile, back in my knitting world:

I'm still on my Koigu Binge. Here are a few more samples.

These are both size Large, knit with the 72 needle cylinder on the Verdun 47. The top pair is Koigu KPPPM P800 and the lower pair is P448. I used Woolly Nylon to reinforce the heels and toes, as I do with any 100% wool sock yarn.

That ended a week of Koigu Size Large knitting, and this week I have shifted to a Kogiu Size Medium binge.

You know, they don't always turn out....

Here's a Monday Morning Special!

I took the 60 cylinder off my Legare 400 (from my Welsh Country Stockings effort), and put back the 54 cylinder.

First, I forgot to re-adjust my tension accordingly. So half way through a size Medium sock that looked like it would be 8 feet long, I stopped, frogged and began again.

Then, just as I was getting to the toe I realized I forgot to add the Woolly Nylon to the heel.

ARGH!

So I frogged it AGAIN.

Only to discover that I hadn't forgot the Woolly Nylon at all. So when my frogging got to the heel it turned into a woolly mess. For some reason WN tangles and knots when frogging.

Sometimes Mondays really suck!

Koigu Binge

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:39:00 +0000

I'm having a bit of a Koigu week.

And to be more specific, a Koigu size Large binge.

Here's a few samples:

This pair is Koigu KPPPM colour P142

And this pair is colour P301

And a bunch more still on the Verdun 47, waiting for their toes to be closed.

The fall craft shows are but a scant few weeks away, and I'm in OD mode. (That would be Over Drive, not Over Dose... though the distinction is sometimes blurred.)

Jesse was making a real racket this morning. I see he's got something up the tree. Actually at least two somethings. I can't see them, but the epithets they are hurling back at Jesse sounds like it must be raccoons.

RIP Mary Travers

Well I was sorry to see Ted Kennedy go. And Patrick Swayze. But the passing of Mary Travers knocked the wind out of my sails this morning.

I was totally inspired by Peter Paul and Mary as a young teenager with a guitar slung over his back.

I loved their music.

I loved their politics. They were right up there with Dr King in Washington, and at the forefront of the anti war movement.

I, like countless others, was positive Puff the Magic Dragon was a secret marijuana song.

And I loved that they introduced young upstarts to the world, like Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot.

In the mid 80's PPM did a concert in Toronto. I took DS. The place was packed with middle-somethings'. It was such a hoot. They would strum a one chord intro to a song and the entire audience would know exactly what song was coming and join in right on the very first word. And sing every word of every song! DS couldn't figure out how we all 'knew'.

What a sad passing for us now-past-middle-somethings.

60 Stitch Socks

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Here is the first batch of socks off my 60 needle cylinder.

They are all Welsh Country Stockings, sock machine pattern adapted from dpn pattern by Nancy Bush, and using Jenny Deters' fair isle technique for the detail.

There are size Medium. Recall that I normally knit size medium on 54 needle cylinder, but switched to this cylinder to accommodate the 4 stitch pattern repeat in the detail.

The yarn is my own 1 ply woollen spun 70/30 Wool/Nylon, fingering weight.

I like working with 60 stitches (even if that means 6 extra stitches to kitchener) and I can see it would be more versatile for pattern work than the 54 due to simple math.

The fair isle work was quite different on the 60 cylinder, compared to the 72 cylinder, but I figured out a working rhythmn after a couple of pair and it was off to the races.

It seems each machine, and each cylinder have their own personalities, and it takes a bit of time to develop a working relationship ;o)

(Akk...does anyone know what happened to the spell checker on blogspot....it seems to have vanished!)

Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Yesterday was the beginning of the new school year. Grandkids #3 and #4 are excited to be heading out on their new adventure.

While I was looking for a particular scrap of yarn, I opened a plastic bag and found this:

This was the beginning of my life as the Soxophone Player! The very first 'sock' that came off my sock machine. Be it ever so humble....

And this is another beginning for me on the sock machine. It is a 60 needle cylinder that I have placed on the Legare 400, temporarily replacing the 54 needle cylinder. This cylinder solved the dilemma of the 4 stitch repeat on the Welsh Country Stockings for a size medium.

The cylinder is a new manufacture from New Zealand and has been, um, sitting in the ~~dust~~ corner keeping the spinning wheel company.

For some reason doing fair isle on the 60 needle cylinder is much more pernickity than on the 72 or the 54. I can do it, but it's slower work as the secondary yarn wants to do its own thing...jumping under the latch hooks, riding over top of the primary yarn when it shouldn't, and all the naughty things that yarn like to do.

I am enjoying the Fair Isle work. But I also still love to work with self patterning yarns, especially predicatble ones like Fortissima #9048, from stash.

Size Medium, knit with the 54 needle cylinder.

Bottlenecks

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:03:00 +0000

In sock making, there is no doubt that closing the toes is a bottleneck in my little production line.

In sock yarn making, the bottleneck is skein winding.

At the moment....both bottlenecks are in effect!

I've wound enough yarn of my latest colour series to shoot photos, and I've even knit a few pair with these colours, but there is much winding left to do. Some I'll wind into balls for sock making, and others I'll re-skein and take to market.

In any event, the dye work on this colourway is almost complete. I dyed an extra batch of pale Clay that I am going to over-dye.

And the rest, you can see above: from left to right: Island Blue, Mulberry, Golden Pear, Clay, and Mouse Grey. Laying cross ways are the painted versions combing the 5 colours. The top skein laying across was vat dyed in left over Island Blue after hand painting in the 5 colours.

One of the reasons I'm behind in my skein winding....

Here are two of the, um, several more pairs of Welsh Country Stockings I've been knitting (adapted for the sock machine from Nancy Bush's dpn pattern and using Jenny Deter's fair isle technique).

I knit both these pairs the Verdun 47, 72 needle cylinder. The top pair, Natural and Cranberry -looks a bit like the Mulberry skein in the top photo, but next to one another you'd see the Cranberry has different undertones - in size Medium +.

The Natural and Evergreen pair is size Large.

I haven't knit any size Medium socks in this pattern yet.... I have to sort out how to do it first. You know I knit my size Medium socks on a 54 needle cylinder, but the little Fair Isle pattern has a 4 stitch repeat, so won't work with 54 stitch sock.

Hmmm.

Contemplation is another bottleneck!

Island Blue and more

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Here is a pair of size Medium socks, knit with my new colour, Island Blue.

I had a bit of left over natural yarn on the cone - less than half a skein worth, so I popped it into the dye bath with the bit of colour left unexhausted. The resulting paler version of the Island Blue will do for some heels and toes.

And also from the dye pot:

A pale value of Mouse Grey, and

a pale value of Clay.

Both are in my 75/25 Wool/Nylon fingering weight. I think these two colours will work well together:

I'm Lookin' Over

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

In the garden, I'm lookin' over

a four leaf tomato?

Such a strange year in the garden. Everything is pretty much two weeks late this year due to the non summer. In addition, my Beefsteak Tomatoes have a lot of deformity.

Nevertheless, I've had a few giant beauties and nothing beats a one-slice tomato sandwich.

I saw a panini recipe on tv which we tried....thick slice of french bread lathered in tapinade, then a layer of mozarella (the real stuff, not the fake brick stuff), tomato slices, fresh basil, another layer of mozarella and topped with the second tapinade laden slice of bread. Put on the panini press for 4 - 5 minutes - just until the cheese is starting to melt but the tomato is still room temp.

m-m-m-m-m

In the pasture I'm lookin' over

a giant puff ball. There is no doubt a 'real' name for these, but I don't know what it is. A member of the mushroom family to be sure.

In this little section of pasture there are three puff balls. I sometimes find them in the bushy rough pastures and this is the first time I've found them on 'improved' land.

If you capture these early enough (I did) you can eat them. Slice them up and prepare them as you would eggplant. DW marianates thick slices and does them on the BBQ.

And in town I'm lookin' over

sock numero uno produced by my very good friend on her Verdun 47.

The machine is an eBay find, and from the description, it sounds like it was from Elsie. It is an excellent machine, rock solid, holds its settings, knits like a charm. It is, in fact, better than my own Verdun 47 ;o(

This n That

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:52:00 +0000

Here are some skeins of Mulberry Sock, fresh from the dye room. My own 75% Wool 25% Nylon fingering weight. This batch was vat dyed using Prochem's washfast acid dye, colour Mulberry.

Double Whammy

This batch began life as hand painted Pears N Berries (from last week). I did several batches of that hand paint, then switched to vat dyeing and did a batch of Island Blue.

The Island Blue dye bath wasn't completely exhausted, so I threw in a batch of the Pears N Berries to see what would happen.

Now I know, and so do you!

More Gryffindor

This is another variation of Harry Potter Gryffindor team colour socks, in Cranberry and Toffee....my own 75/25 Wool/Nylon fingering weight yarn, knit to size Medium with the 54 needle cylinder on the Legare 400.

A Real Treat

We had a major treat at my church this past week-end in the form of violinist Emily Aquin, formerly of our parish and currently of Dallas, Texas.

I was riveted during all three services. Riveted. What a pure, beautiful and magnificent sound! It is so easy to make a violin look difficult and sound awful, and so hard to make it sound perfect and look easy.

I don't know that I ever knew what an angel sounds like, but I'm pretty sure I do now.

When Nancy met Jenny

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:48:00 +0000

I don't know if Nancy Bush and Jenny Deters have met in person. But they have met on my bookshelf.

More recently, they left the bookshelf and visited the work table beside my Verdun 47 sock machine, with the 72 needle cylinder fired up and ready to go.

Welsh Country Stockings
by Nancy Bush

And, as adapted by the Soxophone Player:

I'm pretty chuffed with this effort.

I combined skills I learned from Jenny's book with my own modifications of Nancy's pattern to suit my sock machine.

The yarn is my own 70/30 Wool/Nylon woollen spun singles in natural and in a pale value of Charcoal Grey (being as I was out of Mouse Grey, which is the colour I wanted). I used a low enough value of the grey dye as to allow a gentle variegation including allowing the natural to peek through here and there.

If you're a regular visitor to my blog then you know I don't hand knit. So what I'm really pleased about is that I was able to take a hand knitting pattern and translate it into Sock Machine-speak.

Pears N Berries

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Here is a pair of Size Medium socks knit with my Pears N Berries hand paint 75/25 Wool/Nylon, on the 54 cylinder Legare 400.

I do my hand paints in batches of 6, which is actually two batches of three. Even though I use the same colours on both groups of three skeins, they are always a little different. In this case, I would say there are more Pears than Berries.

But in this batch,

there's definitely more Berries than Pears!

And here is a combo pair using Golden Pear as the main colour, and leftover Pears N Berries for the heel, toe, and a wee accent stripe tucked under the hem top.

And at the dye pot

Another member of the new colour scheme is Island Blue (which you should be able to see in the Pears N Berries). I've fiddled some with the picture - its really a deep turquoise in the lower values, turning almost to navy in the higher values.

As with the other colours in this theme, I am using my own 75/25 Wool/Nylon fingering weight.

The Early Bird

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:03:00 +0000

I am fortunate to live in an area that is teaming with artistic talent. Studio tours, art shows and craft shows abound.

The Walters Falls Group of Artists has an annual show in the community centre of the tiny village of Walters Falls - just a few minutes from the farm. I've been visiting this show for the past four years. I usually go Saturday afternoon once I've returned home from the farmer's market, had a brief rest and unpacked the truck.

However my friend Aesop, who also attends, taught me the lesson of 'The Early Bird Gets the Worm'. Even though I never left empty handed, I was always scooped on a beautiful piece by someone who got there before me.

This year, DW and I were there Friday night before the doors opened, along with a few dozen other like minded folks.

As we entered I heard the horrible sound of, "Hi,what are you doing here?" directed to DW, along with her response of, "How nice to see you," yadda yadda yadda.

Long story short....I got scooped again! I did manage to grab 2 out of three I eyed, but a beautiful painting of a handspinner's small flock of coloured sheep in a barnyard was not to be mine ;o(

All this within ten minutes of the doors opening!

Oh well, it was still a great show, and by going Friday night we were able to partake of the complimentary wine, cheese, and goodies.

I'm already planning my strategy for next year. A roll of tape is involved ;o)

Meanwhile,

This is my batch of Golden Pear I dyed last week, now dried and re-skeined. This is my own 75/25 Wool/Nylon fingering weight yarn.

The Golden Pear is part of a new colour theme I'm trying out. Here it is as a handpaint with the other colours in the theme:

The other colours in the theme with the Golden Pear: Island Blue (almost a turquoise/navy/royal blue blend), Mouse Grey, Mulberry, and Clay.

I haven't knit with either of these yet....hopefully this week.

Dye Dye Dye

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:59:00 +0000

This week I've not knit any socks ;o(

It's taking a long time to unpack from a show as big as Summerfolk, and all my gear is in the dye room, so instead of knitting I've been able to get some work done at the dye pot while I unpack, sort, and clean.

The yarn on the dry rack is a new colour for me this yearn - Golden Pear. It's one of 5 colours in a new theme I'm working on. The dye is, as usual, Prochem's Washfast Acid Dye, and the yarn is my own fingering weight 75/25 Wool/Nylon.

I was feeling impatient about the new colour combinations, so I skipped ahead from dyeing the individual batches in the pot to hand painted some skeins with the 5 colours to see how they fit with one another.

Maybe you can guess what the other colours are.

OK, this colour is NOT one of them.

I had some end-of-cone skeins of lower yardage than my standard (400 feet) so I tied them up and threw them in a pot of Bright Orange.

To knit Halloween Socks, don't ya' know.

I'm almost finished with the unpacking. Now I have to pack up for the farmers' market tomorrow....

Summerfolk 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Summerfolk Music and Craft Festival has come and gone for another year.

It was VERY HOT this year. And even though my spot backed onto the bay, there was precious little breeze and no relief.

Better than rain, I suppose, which threatened or delivered on just about every other day in the entire summer!

This steam engine is actually a corn and potato cooker. Cool! They fired up the burner with wood and when steam starts to roll they divert it to a cooking container where they do up corn in the husk and new potatoes. And every once in a while the ~~engineer~~ chef would give a toot on the whistle.

Given the VERY HOT weather, working that contraption for three days must have been a real b*gger!

This group was set up on the hill across from me. (My spot is barely visible on the bottom right corner - I'm taking the shot from behind). They do story telling in the wigwam (that was VERY HOT) and drum making/chanting out front.

A few other shots from the Artisan Village:

And here is my humble spot:

The part I hate about all shows is the tear down at the end. Summerfolk goes to 9 p.m. on Sunday night, so tear down is in the dark. And dust. And did I mention it was VERY HOT!

It was well past the witching hour when I finally dragged my sorry butt outta there and I have absolutely no recollection of driving home to the farm.

But I'm here, so I must have done ok....

Why Do Today

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:21:00 +0000

What you can put off til tomorrow!

That's been my reluctant motto, despite decades of trying to reform!

I had a few weeks of unexpected company, which was fabulous, but I'd put off getting ready for Summerfolk Folk Music and Craft Festival since it was 'weeks way'.

So I've been in overdrive this past week....I can't put it off til tomorrow. It opens tomorrow!

Here is some of the fruit of my labour:

This is Gryffindor Knee Socks in celebration of the latest HP movie. The yarn is my own 75/25 wool/nylon, pot dyed with Prochem's Cranberry and Toffee. My Knee Sock recipe has been working very well and they now knit up without much of a struggle.

And by 'without much' I mean, except for hanging the hem after 80 rows without pulling the entire outfit off the needles. When pulling up this much work from within the cylinder it's worth the extra effort to hang a few weights on the upper rows to keep them from jumping off.

These are knit on the 72 needle cylinder on my Verdun 47, starting at a tension 8/4 looser than my normal setting for this weight of yarn. I tighten the tension 2/4 after the hem is hung, and then thrice more (egad, did I just say thrice!), once after each pair of stripes.

Because this is a size Medium pair, I reduce the number of stitches at the pre-heel and pick them up again just before the toe.

And here is a few Cat in the Hat pairs. The top pair is size Medium, exact same pattern as the Gryffindors. And the bottom pair is a size Medium +. The only difference is that I don't reduce the number of stitches around in the pre-heel and foot, and I add 6 rows to the length of the foot (3 rows in each of the colour bands).

Unsocks

This is a pair of mid length fingerless gloves. The yarn is a first timer for me - Fly Dye BFL, hand painted by Pat Fly. This yarn was a gift from Moe and I was very happy to receive it... I'd been wondering what all the flap about BFL this and BFL that was all about.

The yarn is called a sport weight with 390 yards for 4.5 oz, but really, it feels closer to a fingering weight... maybe comparable to the 'real' 4 ply yarns (similar weight to Kroy). The twist is very tight, giving a good strength to this 100% superwash wool yarn.

This yarn has a very nice feel to it and the generous twist doesn't make it stiff to knit with or to feel. I backed my tension off a quarter turn and it was perfect!

(Note to self: fire up the fork lift and get more BFL ;o) )

Here are some 'regular length' fingerless gloves, knit with my own hand paint Sun Baked Earth, and Slate Blue, both 75/25 wool nylon fingering weight.

And here are three pair of Over the Elbow fingerless gloves, knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport (comparable to a 6 ply). The colours, from the left: Mixed Berries, Jungle Stripe, and Rainbow.

The thumb and gusset work on the fingerless gloves has become much less of a challenge. Like most things on the sock machine, its all about balanced tension and finding that perfect spot to hang your weights.

And while they knit up in about the same time as a pair of socks, it does take me quite a lot longer to seam the thumb and finish the edges. (And on the bright side, it makes kitchenering seem a breeze!)

And the dye room

is now a loading dock. Bins are packed, tent checked over, everything ready to load in the truck.

It's supposed to be HOT for all three days of the festival....not my favourite thing, either for personal comfort or for selling wool.

But I'll dust off my 'ice boxes to Eskimos' routine, and away I go.....

Arm Warmers

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:01:00 +0000

This is the project I was working on the other day.

Schoeller and Stahl's 6 ply Limbo Mexiko, colour # 2586. I usually need 'a few' of these for Summerfolk, so I've been rooting through the stash looking for suitable candidates.

The Mexiko knit quite easily on the 54 needle cylinder (large hooked needles) at a tension about 3/4 turn looser than 4 ply setting.

Some other 6 ply I found in the stash:

This is Regia Crazy Color, colour # 5265, 6 ply 75/25 wool/nylon.

This is Opal 6 ply colour # 1710 , also 75/25 wool/nylon.

The last two pairs are my 'mid length' size, which is just short of the elbow. I start my tension a little looser at the elbow end, and reel it in near the wrist.

Some things grow in the cold:

And not just Jesse's coat!

My tomato plants are turning into monsters from hell. Already past 4' all with limbs spreading like pumpkin vines. There are lots of flowers and the fruit is now forming. While the fruit is behind schedule for the time of year, the vines certainly are ahead of the game.

I should prune the growth some...but where to begin! I.m afraid to go in there alone and unarmed....

Checkin' out some new genetics
I've been looking at these lately.

He Stuck In His Thumb

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:12:00 +0000

And pulled out a plum...

Fresh from the dye pot is this batch of Plum Sock Yarn. 75/25 Wool Nylon dyed with Prochem's washfast acid dye, colour Plum.

This is a dark dye, and while I appreciate dark tones, I think I might like to try this at a lighter shade too.

This is a pair of size Medium knit up with the Plum Sock, and using the Slate Blue I dyed last week for heels, toes, and a wee stripe under the hem top.

6 Ply
You know I do most of my knitting with fingering weight/4 ply type sock yarns.
For the past few days, when not at the dye pot, I've been doing some projects with 6 ply.

Here are some shots of the first project unfolding, using Schoeller & Stahl's 6 ply Limbo Mexiko Color, colour #2586:

Back at the Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Soxophone Player) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Here it is July 25th, and I think we've had a total of seven minutes sunlight all Q@#$#^# month.

I'm not a heat lover, but really!

Maybe that's what's put me back into the Blues.

This is a batch of Slate Blue, fresh out of the dye room, in my own 75/25 Wool Nylon fingering weight.

This is another colour in the same syndrome as the Chestnut Brown... I keep dyeing it but I don't know where it goes!

Huron and Deep Huron
I knit up a few pair of size Medium socks with the new batches of Huron and Deep Huron I dyed last week:

The darker blue is coming out darker-than-true on my screen... it is a deep, almost ink blue, but not of the Navy ilk.

And, here is another Medium pair...

This pair is knit with the Opal Feelings series, colour # 1703.

I still have more cakes of blue (awkward phrase to avoid saying blue balls)wound from the last assault, and I'll try to knit them off the table next week.

I've got to get that Yarn In Waiting table cleared off as I have a (long) list of things I want to get knit for the Summerfolk Music and Artisan Festival in mid-August...and that is quickly sneaking up on me.

Counting
Yarn Geek was asking if I use row counters on my sock machines.

I don't.

I got so used to counting semi out loud - almost under my breath - that it is second nature.

I do have a counter on my skein winder, similar to what Yarn Geek described, and I find I still count along out of habit. I'd be more inclined to rely on it if it were a fancy set up that actually stopped winding when it hit the magic number, but that's way-y-y-y too fancy for my humble set up ;o)