The Sandcastle

Yarn, Yarn, More Yarn

GretelYarn
Originally uploaded by sandthistle

Blogs with pictures of projects from skein to FO always make me happy. Assuming what makes me happy also tickles you (!), today's pics are of baby projects, some of which haven't even been cast on yet.

Still getting the hang of making flickr and TypePad play nicely, so please bear with the clunkiness...

First up, we have the yarn for Gretel ->

Purchased at Fengari in Half Moon Bay, California, sometime last year - I think I discovered their shelf of Cashmel one night while I was teaching beginning knitting - I've been saving it for something special, and in autumn, my thoughts turn to cables. Gretel is the perfect project for it!

Also pictured is some lovely soft red stuff that may turn into something for my wonderful MiL. The lady can wear red! (It is one of the banes of my existence that I just can't, really... alas... woe... okay, moment of self-indulgent whining over now.)

Winding the Yarn



Agatha is very helpful.

And here's Gretel, growing happily on my needles... although she seems to be a bit squeamish when it comes to the flash, I assure you that her color is robust and true in real life:

Yarn:  Noro Cashmel, color 30
Needles: Harmony circs, U.S. 5 and 7

Also underway and in the planning stages are the Arwen Cardi, the Hemlock Ring blanket, the Anne Shirley scarf, and a cowl.

The Baby Arwen and her proto blankie:

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Isn't this stuff lovely?



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Anne Shirley-in-progress:



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Sand, to self:  Neck's cold...
Sand, other half:  *points to Anne Shirley*
Sand 1:  *whine*  Neck's cold now.
Sand 2:  *spies Malabrigo*

It seems unthinkable that a knitter wouldn't have a soft, squooshy scarf lying about, but apparently I gifted all of those and kept the scratchy ones for myself.  Um, duh?  So the cowl shall go under the scratchy ones whilst I whittle away at the vast Bering Sea of Anne Shirley repeats.  I think I have something like 48 to go...

Happy knitting, everyone!

~ Sand

Knitting Bird by Bird

AgathaInLoomRedux
Originally uploaded by sandthistle

So here it is, just after midnight on a Monday, last week of classes before Thanksgiving break. Since it's been so long since I've done anything with this blog, I figured I'd provide an introduction in case you're stopping by for the first time.

First, and most importantly, Miss Agatha, posing so beautifully in the loom (yes, in). She's our sweetly goofy Maine Coon, the general supervisor of all things knitting here at the Sandcastle. (Well, to be strictly honest about it, she's the general supervisor of all things generally around here.)

"Here" is a 1901 Victorian farmhouse on the Illinois prairie - the one with original stained glass and a wraparound porch that's perpetually threatening to fall off the house. Porch repairs had to wait for the new roof (this year's big money suck); maybe next year.

So... let me see. I neither work in a yarn store (I teach uni) nor design knitting patterns (I have too much fun knitting those other wonderful, talented people devise for us!), but I'm an inveterate stash builder and constant knitter.

Constant.

When I'm not involved in a major writing project, anyway. (I've yet to figure out how to write and knit at the same time.)

Currently on the needles are:

• Gretel, by Ysolda Teague, in a lovely mid-range navy blue Noro Cashmel (sadly discontinued), part of the great stashdown of 2008.
• Cardi for Arwen, by Kate Gilbert, which I'm knitting along with my writing parter, Ana, in pale lavender Cashmerino Aran.
• Anne Shirley scarf, by SaRi, in the same yarn and colors as in the original pattern (Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Beryl and Jade). Very unoriginal of me, I suppose, but I fell in love with that combination!

And upstairs in various stages of blocking (read: lying in a heap in the Dark Arts Library waiting patiently for me quit with the lazy) are an AbFab-ish sort of throw, a fair isle sweater and a cable sweater with a yoke collar.

I'm reminded of the story Anne Lamott tells in her book Bird-by-Bird, about her brother having left his report on birds until the night before it was due. He was sitting at the kitchen table fretting and panicking, and their father came in and just said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird."

Like knitting. Like anything, really.

Like getting some of the long-finished object pictures up on this blog.  Here's the tam I made for Becca last year.  Early winter has hit with sudden insistence, and the tam has just made its seasonal appearance.  It looks great with her winter coat and with the lovely wrap she bought at Stitches West:

*waves*

~ Sand

Age of Aquarius Sweater

AquariusFullLength
Originally uploaded by sandthistle

Seems I'll be playing catch-up for a bit with the photos; a lot of what I was working on back in 2005/6 is long off the needles... and I'm playing with how to get photos from Flickr into TypePad. So bear with me :) It's going to be a little clunky until I get the hang of this...

This is the Age of Aquarius Sweater (with a modified neckline), finished in the Fall of 2006 in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Perhaps my favorite F.O. so far.

*waves*

~ Sand

Still Knitting

First snow on the prairie tonight... spent most of the day swatching for Cardigan for Arwen and figuring out where I went wrong on the Anne Shirley scarf.  Pics soon :)

Happy 2006!

Howdy, y'all, and pray, accept herewith my best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful 2006.

Now that the holiday giftyness is concluded, I have a few pictures to share, and just a general update about what's on the needles here at LaCasa.  First, the finished objects:

~ Trellis2, complete ~

Needles:  Don't remember. US 5 or 6?

Yarn:  Pachuko Organic Cotton in vainilla and avocado

Yarn Source:  http://www.elann.com

Pattern:  Trellis

~ World's Biggest Hagrid Feetz ~

'Gus has apparently not taken these off since Christmas...  :)

~ World's Smallest Dartmouth Sweatshirt ~

Based on this pattern.

~ Richard's Scarf ~

Yarn: "Primo" (merino) in black and charcoal

Yarn Source:  Stash

Needles: U.S. 10.5

~ Stash Scarf ~

I actually bought the yarn for this one at the same time I bought yarn for my first knitting project (Mom's black scarf, waaaay back in the archives) and finally (three winter breaks later!) cast it on.  It's purples and blues, and c.o. 240, so it's nice and long.  No pictures of it yet...

Next up are the WIPs. 

1.  Glenesk continues to languish.

2.  Age of Aquarius sweater continues to languish.

3.  Still haven't re-knit the thumb on the Fire glove.

4.  Cloud sweater - body complete; pondering various engineering questions.

Yarn:  Something very strange and discontinued.

Needles:  US 15, circ.

Pattern:  Generic top-down raglan

5.  New relatively mindless project:  Aran Weight Lace Cardigan (making a longer version, though), in Peruvian Sierra Aran (walnut, same as in picture) - cast on a couple of days ago; this is a lovely knit, and very fast.  Alpaca is very soothing, and simple lace is very ordering to my post-holiday/pre-semester frazzle.

That would be the update from La Casa...

*waves*

~ Sand

Holiday Knitting Done!

*waves*  Hullo.

I couldn't be more pleased to report that the knitting part of the holiday knitting is done, done, done!  Granted this was more of an accomplishment last year, but it feels good anyway.  I'll post pictures once the end-of-semester work is equally done, but for now, a list...

1.  Gus's Hagrid Feetz are felting as I type.

2.  Marie's shawl is completely finished and requires only wrapping.  Turned out pretty good.

3.  Wee somethings for the NH folk also only require wrapping.

Also done, but will probably get re-worked:  Fire and Ice gloves (they're blocking now; I don't like the way the thumb turned out on the Fire glove, though - a wee tadpole project for post-end-of-semester).

Currently on the needles:

1.  Glenesk.

2.  Age of Aquarius Sweater

3.  A wee something that I may or may not finish in time to include it in the box for Susan.

After those fiddly Fire and Ice gloves, I really want to do something simple in biggish yarn.  Not that Pakucho organic cotton counts as "biggish," but Catha's sweater may be next.  *ponders*  The Glenesk and Age of Aquarius are both slightly fiddly (although nothing is as fiddly as having three balls of yarn attached to four needles with the rest of the glove flopping about on multiple stitch holders, making up a pattern whilst Pseudo tries to a) help and b) get affection, often simultaneously).

Anyone else having trouble getting into the mood for Midwinter Festivities this year?  Well, ask me again tomorrow, when grades are finally filed and the administrative stuff is over for the year.

I'll post pictures of the finished stuff soon; in the interim, have a holly jolly time :)

~ Sand

It's Finals Week!

Howdy, world!  *waves*

Finals week, and what's the assistant professor doing?  A wee bit of knitting, and a whole lot of work.  Only in-progress stuff this week, as - yow - I'm underneath a stack of stuff a mile high, with more coming in. 

So - in the 20 minutes before I have to head to campus, I decided to Order My World with Vivaldi's mandolin concerti (thank you, Robert!) and an in-progress update.

In-progress:

1.  The world's biggest Hagrid Feetz, for 'Gus's Midwinter present.  (He knows he's getting these; Rebecca requested them because she's the official footwarmer and his feet are cold!!  Also, when anyone I know has their feet measured, they know what's coming.)

Footz #1 is done; footz #2 is cast on. 

Pattern:  Fuzzy Feet from http://www.knitty/com
Yarn:  Noro #50-something
Needles:  US 10.5
Yarn Source: http://www.halcyonyarn.com
(from the Great NE Fiber Tour)

These are over 15" long, unfelted.  Tres mutant.

2.  The snowperson's shawl for Marie is still unedged.  *sigh*  No pics yet.

3.  Fire gloves underway.  I sent the transitions socks that I got mad at this summer to the frog pond to score a couple of these colors; the rest of the yarn is the same as in the Ice glove:

You can barely see the second Eliza Doolittles in the bottom left.  Also pictured:  the dough trough Dad sent for my birthday (Sagittarians rock!) and the yarn Susan sent which fortuitously arrived on said birthday ("5 points for Gryffindor, for sheer dumb luck!") - she bought it at the Bath Farmer's Market from the woman who raised the sheep - joy!  It's lovely squooshy stuff; what shall it become?  We know not yet.  She calls the colors "Sunset on the Clam Flats."  (Have I said that I miss New England in the last five minutes?  I miss New England!)  She has a great eye for color - she found the light blue in the Ice glove, which I never would have thought of.

Also still-in-progress and awaiting the end of grading:

1.  Weaving in the ends on Trellis2.  I MUST mail this to Colleen, asap!

2.  The Glenesk patiently awaits the return of my attention - I'll finish the Midwinter gift knitting and the Fire glove and get back to this.

3.  The Age of Aquarius sweater also eagerly anticipates the end of grading.  I've kept my promise to set it aside for now, though - that's some seriously slow knitting.  (The Glenesk, believe it or not, actually goes faster.) 

And just in case you were worried that I'd lost my scholarly self under a pile of yarn, I'm nearly ready to start writing my essay on Stein, Serial Composition, and the Question of "Genius" (tentatively titled "Play it Again, Alice" - with the requisite post-colonic scholarly dull to be determined).  Perhaps I shall actually get to the Hamlet essay as well.  It'll be great, if I ever get there!

Ok, my twenty minutes are up.  I wish you all merry days, and to those of you connected to academia in some way, congratulations on being (nearly) done with the semester!

*waves*

~ Sand

Fire, Ice, and Warm Hands!

Howdy!

I'm more than a little late getting started on Sandy's Warm Hands Knitalong, but better warm hands late than never, I say :)

First up, the Eliza Doolittle wristwarmers, based on the Voodoo wristwarmers but with a twist - a braided cable, inspired by my friend Noel's foray into experimental sock cuffs:

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Yarn: Cascade Lana d'Oro alpaca (discontinued); 1 110-yd. skein 
Needles: US 7 
Pattern: original-ish; heavily inspired by other patterns.

Next we have the first in a series - this is the "Ice" glove of a pair that will be "Fire and Ice" until the yarn budget recovers enough that I can get more and make the mate for each.

Palm-side:

Yarn: 
Grey:  Peruvian Highland Wool from http://www.elann.com 
Colors:  Noro Cash Iroha from http://www.halcyonyarn.com
(from the Great NE Fiber Tour) 
Needles:  US 5 dpns 
Pattern:  Original

The "Fire" glove will be the same grey with colorwork done in intense burnt orange, a deep rosy garnet, and the same purple.  The grey is left over from the rune sweater, and the Cash Iroha is left over from the Weasleys Go To Maine scarf.  (More Cash Iroha, more often!)

Anyway, at least both WRISTS are warm (I've started another pair of the Eliza Doolittles, which also sometimes get called "Dickensian Prostitute Gloves," from a color that's slightly more me.  This pair will go to Rho when mine are finished, but for now I'm the chica with the bad wrists, so I'm breaking them in, so to speak!) and my LEFT HAND can be warm.  So I'm technically not quite there with the "Warm HandS" project, but "Warm Hand" will have to do until the semester's over!  :)

Wishing everyone a merry day,

~ Sand

Project Update

Greetings and Salutations!   I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...

Here at LaCasa, Thanksgiving break brought Kelli, Robert, and LaMama, one pan of inadvertently flambeed mushrooms (Susan calls this my Seamus Finnegan moment), one crash course in fixing a garbage disposal, and, of course, lots of knitting time.

Interestingly, down in Tennessee (but up on the mountain), El Papa was busy with his own inadvertent flambee (of the cornbread) and a similar garbage disposal kafuffle.  (Fruit, tree.  Tree, fruit.)

Early November New England Fiber Extravaganza

1.  A trip to Halcyon Yarn in Bath, ME, with Susan, which yielded the Cash Iroha (was mittens [see last post]; didn't want to be mittens; now the "Weasleys Go To Maine" scarf...sometimes the yarn's gotta be what the yarn's gotta be...)  Who'dathunk that Mecca could reside behind such an unassuming door?

After thoroughly cleaning out Halcyon's supply of yarn, we took a trip up the coast, planning to go to Pine Tree Yarns in Damariscotta, but we were distracted by Pemaquid Point:

Worth the distraction, nay?  (That's Susan and Linus and Flora down there.)

After a perfectly lovely time with Susan and the furballs (not pictured:  Captain, the Maine Coon Cat), during which Susan made an outstanding hat for one of the young'uns in her family circle and there was much knitting of Christmas present shawl in front of A&E's Pride and Prejudice (the "Darcy in the Bathtub" version), we did a border exchange and I got to spend a day or so with Ann, Tom, and Eliza.

2.  Ann and I did a whirlwind tour of her yarn stores, including Yarn for Ewe (picked up some nifty stitch holders, which will feature in an upcoming photo; Ann ordered Cascade 220 to make those felted pumpkins from Knitty) and Charlotte's Web, where after much debate, consideration, and spreading out on the floor, I decided on 7 colors of Jager 4-ply (in bowl on left in pic) for Norwegian Mittens.  Still haven't decided on a pattern.  (This will be for the "Warm Hands" knitalong - I lag, I lag!)

Ann made her first Hagrid Footz (Go Ann!  No more Daniel Day Lewis socks!  Fuzzy Feet pattern from Knitty) while I fought with the mittens.

Here's the Weasleys Go To Maine scarf in progress (now finished; I've been wearing it constantly...soft!)

3.  About a mile from Ann's house, there's THIS:

So there I am, at the edge of the field, hollering "Alpaca!  Alpaca!" when a fourth comes out to see what the all fuss is about:

They're so darn cute I can't hardly stand it.  I'm so going to want to bring one home from Peru!  (If the barn's ever finished...*sigh*)

'Twas a wonderful trip and a most welcome respite from the goings-on.

Thanksgiving Knitting Break

L to R:  Kelli "She Who Knits Like the Wind"
Robert "Reading a Novel Is Too Knitting!"
and LaMama "She Who Spoils Us Rotten"

It took me most of break to complete the back of the Age of Aquarius sweater from The Knitter's Stash:

Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (from the Halcyon trip);
Needles: US 7. 
The stitch holders from Yarn for Ewe make their debut here :)

I couldn't resist this opportunity:

Ginny:  Mummy, have you seen my jumper? 
Mrs. Weasley:  Yes, dear.  It's on the cat.

Pseudo is very patient with me.

Lastly, it would appear that at least SOME of the leftover Cash Iroha wanted to be this:

Not every six year old girl needs a pink cashmere sweater, but clearly my goddaughter does.  D hath spoken.

The slightly more mundane update is that the Christmas shawl still needs both edgings, I've cast on Footz #1 for another Christmas present, and the Age of Aquarius sweater is not to be touched until Winter Break.  Love the pattern, love (love LOVE) the yarn, but the pattern is just too slow to satisfy during my limited end-of-semester knitting time.  I'm planning to make another pair of Lifesaver Gloves (but with fingertips this time) with the leftovers from the Weasleys Go To Maine scarf and the leftover grey yarn from the Rune Sweater, and I've gotten an idea how to make the felted mittens with the too-short-cuff a viable warmth source from reading someone's blog (I've forgotten who you are, exactly, but thank you for the inspiration).  Trellis2 is done save for weaving in - Sand, get off thy butt - and Catha's sweater is in the planning stages.

May your days be merry and bright!

~ Sand

Fiber Mecca Preview

Howdy!  One is safely returned from a working vacation to New England, during which there were several stops at various fiber spots (Halcyon, Yarn for Ewe, and Charlotte's Web) and a very happy accidental alpaca sighting.  I'm still frantically busy trying to catch up on email and various things for work, but I'll share a teaser photo and write a longer post anon.

Yes, I've finally gotten started on the Warm Hands knitalong!  Yarn:  Noro Cash Iroha (so amazingly soft, great sheen, and the colors...a joy...)  I don't have a pattern for the hand yet; still thinking about it...but cuff #1 is done.  I love the effect of color in corrugated ribbing...

Off to work!  Have a great weekend, Blog-o-sphere :)

~ Sand