Why Do Today

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.....