result

On Christmas night, I took a project off the needles. I can only knit in short sessions these days - no handknitting marathons in the foreseeable future - so this second Hansel Hap has been in the works all Autumn.

Before washing and blocking, I couldn't resist taking one picture of the hap in all it's rumpled disarray:

In case it looks slightly familiar, this is the second version of the hap I made for my Occasional Helper and his wife when they were expecting their first baby. You can probably guess why I made this one!

The wool was all ordered from Jamieson and Smith in Shetland again, and this time I bought the main color on a single cone instead of in multiple hanks or skeins. It's slightly more economical that way, plus saves a lot of splicing. Yarn on a cone still holds some of the oil used in processing, and I wondered if it would affect my tension, especially in a project combining oiled and washed yarns. I considered winding off the amount needed for the hap, making a hank, and washing it before knitting with it, but was told it shouldn't be necessary. And I actually forgot all about the oil until just before washing the hap, but then I remembered and it's a good thing, because it might have been a bit of a shock when, after an hour-long soak, the wash water looked like this:

Downright murky!

It took three rinses before the water was clear:

Then the hap was gently rolled up in a big towel and Moxie and I pressed as much water out of the yarn as possible before beginning the blocking process. Blocking a blanket is a lot of gentle stretching and flattening and pinning. 

First this side...

then that side...

then around a corner...

and around and around and around.

Until what initially seems like an acre of unmanageable stretchy wet wool

becomes an orderly four-foot square.

It's quite satisfying when done, but the blocker may need a little lie-down.

~~~~~

the rest of the (hap) story

Remember the Hap?

Here's where it started.

Below is a link to the rest of the story.

In case you ever wondered.

Better late than never?

I wrote a piece about it, and about knitting gifts, 

for the wonderful fiberfolk at MDK, here:

The Gift of Collaboration

I hope you like it.

~~~~~

fiber friday

 The hap stitch pattern has become interesting:

No audiobooks, for the time being! 

I am having to pay very close attention

and do a lot of counting aloud.

The first color change has begun,

soft and subtle: 

I think - I hope! - this will be one of the nicest things I've ever knit.

It's certainly one of the most joy-filled. 

~~~~~

wednesday wip

The work in progress had a brief hiccup a few days ago, only because math is not my favorite subject. Fortunately I discovered my little miscalculation before knitting an extra acre of garter stitch.

Just a temporary setback.

This Shetland yarn is delightfully "sticky" - in knitters' parlance, the texture is such that a strand of this yarn will lightly grip another strand - so it was quite easy to get 144 live stitches back on the needle: they just sat there nicely, waiting to be picked up. Unlike my usual teeny sock stitches, which disappear into themselves the moment the working yarn is pulled out.

 That same sticky quality also makes joining the yarn quite simple. The first step is opening the two plies at the end of each yarn to be joined, and cutting an inch or so from one ply on each end.

One ply on each end to be trimmed,

which reduces the thickness of the joined section.

Next, cross the single plies, fold them back onto themselves, add a few drops of water, and roll the join briskly between palms.

I didn't get a picture of this step because it takes both hands and I was being careful. If anyone is baffled by my description and needs to see it, let me know and I'll set up a couple of shots with demo yarn.

Result.

Onward with the third skein of yarn!

~~~~~

flying my hap flag

It's been quite a while since I made my first half-hap using Gudrun Johnston's pattern, "Simmer Dim." At the time I expected to make another someday, and guess what...

I've got the yarn

I've got the needles

and

today is Cast-On Day!

This project will be a special gift, and since I wanted to be sure to make something the recipients will enjoy, it is not a surprise - it's a collaboration. I provided lots of options for very different patterns and yarns, and there was a good bit of to-ing and fro-ing as the options were explored and considered. I would have been happy to make whatever was selected - and I tried very hard to answer questions without influencing the decisions - but I must say the choices made turned out to be just my cup of tea.

"Hansel" - another design by Gudrun Johnston - is a full sized version of a traditional Shetland Hap shawl. It will probably finish at about four feet square, perhaps a bit more when blocked. The pattern calls for five colors: a central garter-stitch diamond in a main color, then a wide border lacework section with gently wavy stripes in four additional colors plus the main color, followed by an edge in the original main color with options for simple or more elaborate finishing.

Like the traditional Shetland hap design, the chosen yarn is also traditional: Jamieson and Smith's "100% Shetland wool from the Shetland Islands." And - this is quite wonderful, I think - all five colors in this hap will be natural, undyed wool. The five shades were chosen from a range of nine, called things like Moorit and Katmollet and Gaulmogot, which are the names of the colors of the Shetland sheep.

This is going to be a joyful project, and I'll try to share a bit of the process - and woolly pictures - as I go along. I'm planning to get a good start on it before cashmere harvesting begins, because both knitting and combing cashmere require very similar use of my hands and I usually stop knitting entirely during combing season. This year I may just pace myself so some days can include a bit of combing and a bit of knitting.

Off to a good Gaulmogot start.

~~~~~

but will i ever play the cello, doctor?

There has been a little knitting going on the past couple of weeks. Usually in the evening, as a way to unwind and transition to sleep. Sometimes the transition is so quick, I fall asleep with my knitting needles in my hands.

They are pointy. I should probably stop doing that.

Anyway, the actual knitting has been interesting and educational. I'm using a beautiful stranded/Fair Isle pattern, free on ravelry: SpillyJane's Sea Mineral Mittens

This is a big step up for my knitting skills.

And the knitting part is going surprisingly well,

but the color selection and combining is not.

These two swatches are the same pattern in different colors.

I'm not happy with either combination, so more experimentation will come. Stay tuned. Or better yet, send advice!

Before tackling a third version of the mittens (each of those samples meant several hours of knitting), I took a break from tiny needles and cast on a very different project: Simmer Dim, by Gudrun Johnston. It's a scarf/shawl-type item, using traditional Shetland "hap" structure. (I know very little about this but lots of people do, so if you are interested and google "Shetland hap" you'll probably find loads of information.)

This project has been going swimmingly! 

Like the stranded mittens, this is also different from anything I've made before, so it's great fun to knit. And I'm using yarn sent from Shetland, which makes every stitch a special pleasure! I'm trying to finish it in time for a "hap-a-long" that ends on the 12th. And last night, when I put my knitting down three seconds before I fell asleep, I thought,

"I might finish this in just a couple more days!"

This morning, chores took longer than usual because I was feeling a little shaky after a 3-day migraine (very rare, thank goodness!). When I was finishing up the feeding, I hurriedly (cue foreboding music here) reached for a nearby bow saw to cut the twine on a bale of hay. I broke my pocketknife a couple of weeks ago, and have been using all sorts of inappropriate tools to cut baling twine ever since...a coping saw, bolt cutters, hoof trimmers...Because They Are There.
As are the Shouty Goats.
"Staaaaaarving! We are Staaaaarving! Hurry up with the haaaay!" 

Well, this morning the baling twine was resisting the big teeth of the bow saw, so I forcefully brought the saw sweeping down like a mad cellist - whack! - across the twine. Unfortunately...my thumb was awfully close to that twine.

WOW did that hurt. But...why was there only a little smear of blood?

Because a blade point had come down hard on the nail. Blood was seeping through a tiny jagged-edged hole punched right through the center of my thumbnail. I performed this act of incredible stupidity about ten hours ago and my left hand still feels like a truck is parked on it.

So...it is possible the hap will not be finished in a couple of days.

But the goats got their hay, and I still have a thumb, so there's that!

Have a wonderful weekend, my bloggy friends.

And be careful out there!

~~~~~

notgoat cams

It occurred to me...
since there has been interest in stills from my goatcams, some of my readers may enjoy exploring livecams available online?

In the early 1990s, I sometimes watched a livecam of Dublin while working (endlessly, it seemed, but happily) on my Master's Thesis. I had not yet been to Ireland for on-the-ground research, and it was a little bit magical to have that realtime connection. Of course, when I actually spent 15 days in Ireland in 1995, I chose to spend about five minutes in Dublin, and nearly every waking moment out in the countryside; afoot or on horseback or in a boat. It was splendid. Extremely low-budget, with a backpack full of a change of clothes and about 40 pounds of camera, film, tripod, and research material. I later estimated that I walked over a hundred miles. As I say...

it was splendid. 

And now, gosh, 20(!) years later, I sometimes watch webcams of wildlife and places I would love to visit (afoot or on horseback or in a boat - really, some preferences never change, however unrealistic). Here are a couple of websites you might be interested in visiting. The images below are just screenshots, but the links will take you to the (much better quality) real thing.

I found the Shetland livecams during my first experience (online, that is) of Up Helly Aa, which will be happening - and livestreamed again - in just just a few days, on Tuesday, 27 January! So exciting!

Year-round, the Shetland cams offer several views of Lerwick,

and audio from the local radio station.

My favorite puffincam is sadly not up this year,

but any view of the ocean is very welcome here

at landlocked Cloud Harvest Cashmere.

Shetland cams

And speaking of birds...

the Cornell Ornithology Lab has several livecams, in various locations. This linked list conveniently indicates which are live at the moment: 

Cornell Lab list of cams

This morning I watched a fantastic new camera in Savannah, Georgia.

(If you left-click on an image, I think it will embiggen. Worth trying!)

When I started watching this Great Horned Owl nest,

it was early morning and soft light...

and as time went on*

the sun began to light the branches, and then the mama owl's face.

  *it can be mesmerizing to watch these cameras. Just sayin'...

this is why I almost always have my goatcams open

in one corner of my laptop.

How else would I have discovered that

Azalea is also doing some bird-watching?

Or learned that Acer and Betula have taken on

the responsibility of supervising the snowplow,

on the road far below:

Because after all,

we humans are not the only ones

who like to keep a close eye on things,

from the comfort of our own nests!

~~~

Do you have any favorite livestreaming cameras?

Please share your recommendations

in the comments!

~~~~~

post

Very special things arrived in my recently-excavated letterbox this week!

The first was a giveaway prize from one of the Grow Your Blog Party drawings:

Aren't these gorgeous?!

Many thanks to Karen at knitalatte for my lovely handknit mitts!

They are light and warm, and these colors are delightful!  :)

~~~

Next, was another luck-of-the-draw prize.

All the way from Shetland, across the sea!

A bit of background on this one...

Have you heard of the historic Lerwick "Up Helly Aa" fire festival? If not, you may find it is worth watching (at least watching online, as I do) next January. Months of preparation go into this community endeavor and the results are really something. Hundreds of costumed "Vikings," a dragon-headed wooden galley (ship), a massive torchlight procession through the town (that's my favorite part, it is truly stunning), followed by the ceremonial burning of the galley.

Well, this past January the Shetland:Pride of Place folk had a drawing of people from all over the world who tweeted their location during the Up Helly Aa livestream. I was one of the lucky winners, but to be honest, I had forgotten all about it...
when a package appeared!

Music and maps and trinkets and information and a perfect knitting project tote bag.

Now all I need is some Shetland wool to put in the bag.
But with shipping being so costly, I ought to just go over there and get the yarn, right?

Right?

Well, it's a nice dream, anyway  :)

~~~

I hope your weekend is full of nice dreams.

~~~~~