Since I'm not getting much knitting or other fiber stuff done right now (I'm having a bad week but at least we have heat now), and we have been talking about languages on the Tag-board, here's a great website I found about languages. iLoveLanguages - Your Guide to Languages on the Web They have brought together and organized resources for learning almost more languages than I knew existed (196). Okay, I did know that that many languages existed, and even more too, but there are some here that I hadn't actually heard of.

How many languages can you count to ten in? At one time I could count to ten in at least 8 languages, although I'm not sure I still remember all of them. English is the only language I would call myself fluent in, but I do well enough in Norwegian and Spanish that I could get by. My Norwgian finally got beyond the level of my Spanish a few months ago, but I still get some interference and have to think about which language the word that just popped into my head actually belongs to. I actually lived in Spain for two years, but I learned Spanish from classes I took after returning to the U.S. I also took a semester of Chinese (I remember how to ask if you would like to buy a Chinese pen or an American pen) and also a year of American Sign language in college. And I learned to count in Korean for a karate class. Also, my parents were both proud of their second (and third, fourth, etc.) languages, and taught me to count in French (my mother's second language) and Danish (technically that would have to be my father's third language since he spoke Norwegian for five years before learning English, then spent two years in Denmark as a young adult, so his Danish is actually better than his Norwegian).

My socks are done. I ran out of the rainbow yarn and used some red mohair for the tips of the toes. I thought about using the mohair for the heels too, and that would have looked good, but I like the stripes too. I made a slightly wider heel than I usually do, so these are really roomy. They are very comfortable without shoes or with slippers, but I can't wear them with most of my shoes.



I have been sleeping with them on for a couple of nights. It is cold in my house. The wall heater died and it cannot be repaired and it will be next week before a new and improved heating system will be installed. I was hoping we would at least make it to March. Well, we almost did.



Nosie doesn't care. She snuggles up in my chair with the fleece on it. That is a fleece, not a skin - from a ram named Rembrandt. I felted it in the washing machine.

Well, it's about time for more pictures. Carol said it was her turn to make an appearance, so here she is along with Nosie, the border collie cross family/farm dog that Carol named because of the spot on her nose.

I'm almost finished with my socks. Since I started them I haven't gotten back to the sweater for the girls, but that will get its turn very soon.

The two socks on two circs method gets a thumbs up from me. I was worried about how I would do the heels on the circular needles, but it wasn't a big deal. I turned the heels just like I usually do, and used a couple of dpns to pick up the heel flap stitches, then knitted them onto the circulars from the dpns. When you start on the heel flaps you just work on one sock at a time, until the heel is finished. Several weeks ago I got tired of turning my work around and purling, so I don't anymore. I knit continental style, so when I get to the end of the row I just flip the yarn from my left index finger onto my right index finger and knit backwards. I thought about taking a picture of that for you, but it looks exactly the same as normal knitting, just reversed. You would have to see it in motion, but really it works.

I feel like rambling a little more today. Maybe because I'm cold. Mark is out of town and he's the only one who can light up the furnace (it's old and my thumbs aren't strong enough to hold that knob in) and of course it went out. It's gotten more and more difficult each year and the thing is over 40 years old - we will have to replace it before next winter.

There is so much that I want to say, and I'm afraid to say it all at once because (1) then what would be left to say, and (2) you wouldn't want to read it all at once. There are two things that I would like you to understand about me: (1) I just want to be understood and (2) I just want to be needed. So that's where I'm really trying to go with my blog - tell you something about who I am and hopefully provide something interesting and useful enough that you will want to read it. Yes, I'm looking for acceptance and validation. I guess that's enough for now. See 'ya here tomorrow?

Okay, I need your opinion. Look on the right side of the page, down below the tagboard. Yeah, I now have an association with Amazon. Tell me honestly, if you would - do you think it's tacky to have this here, or will it be a public service to have these book recommendations? I'm irritated about the other non-relevant ads that Amazon is occasionally throwing in, but if you get those just click the refresh button and that usually gets rid of them. The books change too.

I really do like books. Although I just chose the topics and I'm not directly controlling which individual titles are being displayed, I'm happy with these selections. I have some of them, and I've read even more of them. The Kids Knitting book is really terrific, and so is anything by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Also, I just finished Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. I have the Charles Archer translation, and I get the impression that he mostly chose English words that sound close to the Norwegian when possible (such as "I trow" which resembles "jeg tror"), and although it sounds a bit strange and archaeic, I like it because it reminds me to think of what the original Norwegian words might be. I'd love to actually read it in Norwegian. Anyway, Tiina Nunnally has new translations of many of Sigrid Undset's works, and Tiina's are written in an English that is more modern and more natural sounding. Some people prefer these new translations. Another book that I have is East O' The Sun And West O' The Moon. Especially if you like fairy tales and folk stories, these are great. A lot of them have to do with spinning too.

If anyone feels like sending me presents for any reason, I sure wouldn't complain about getting some of these books. Hint, hint. Would you like to discuss books? I'd like to hear your opinions too.

I met a prince!!! Right here in Vernal, and even went to dinner with him (together with a small group of 16 people, including his highness). Mark is a member of the Knights Templar, and active with the humanitarian efforts of the local group. The SMOTJ Priory of the Mountain of the House of the Lord gathers medical equipment that is being discarded by government and private sources, packages it up, and sends it to places all over the world where there is a need. There are doctors and other trained medical professionals there who lack the tools they need to save lives, and here those tools are being thrown away, sometimes without even being used once. This group focuses their efforts on Ethiopia, which is why their Patron, Prince Mengesha of Ethiopia, stopped by to have dinner with us when he was travelling through this part of the world.

We might think that our life is hard because we would like to have a bigger house or sometimes there isn't any spending money left after paying the bills, but we are so rich and don't even know it. There are people in the world who starve to death because they don't have food to eat.

Okay, here is my pair of socks in progress:


And this is what the yarn looked like.


If you want to see the roving before it was spun, look in my January archives.

Do you suffer from second sock syndrome? That is when you finish one sock, and that's great, but one sock is a work of art, while two socks are just a pair. It's just not as exciting to go back and do another one. And what if you run out of yarn on the second sock? There is a cure for second sock syndrome! Knit them both at the same time! It seems like everybody is doing it:

Fun Sun socks on two circs
Double Trouble
Cybersocks 2 Socks on 2 Circulars

Kate has a pair in progress, and there is an article in Knitty about it. That is also what I am doing with my rainbow roving yarn, and I'll get a picture up here shortly. Anybody else?

Barn mittens were a recent topic on Fibernet. Here is a picture of mine.

The yarn is handspun from my own goats and sheep, and they are nice and warm. The motif doesn't show up too well against the mohair background (at least it didn't at first - it looks better after using them for a year), so I would probably do that differently next time. Also, I wasn't sure which way would be right side up for the reindeer, so I did it each one a different way (the motifs are front and back of each mitten). Still, they serve their purpose.

We named that first January lamb Sweet Pea. She's kind-of shy, but she knows she is cute.

She is already trying to learn the hop up on mama's back game.


Would you take a minute to leave me a comment and let me know that you were here, and also what you would like to see on this page? Currently, almost 50% of my visitors are from the same time zone where I am. There is also a significant group from the Eastern time zone, almost 10% from Norway, and a few here and there from as far west as Alaska and a few as far east as Asia (at least two different time zones there). I hope you will all keep checking back!

For knitters who like to design their own knitting, or try their own design elements, this Knitting Stitch Library might come in handy.

Did anyone notice that the motifs on my fingerless mittens look familiar? I had the pattern with me for vinterlue so I borrowed those motifs. I get a lot of my motifs from Everyday Knitting - Treasures from a ragpile- by Annemor Sundbø, and that is where I found the snowflake. Yes I could invent my own motifs and chart them out, but there are so many pretty ones to be found already charted.

I hardly ever follow a pattern exactly the way it was written. I usually choose my own colors, but I might also add a motif or use a different one. And if the pattern says to knit back and forth on two needles I might do it circularly instead, or vice-versa. I generally knit by the seat of the pants, and might not use a pattern at all. I just knit. Anybody else do this?

I am almost finished knitting one Fuzzy Foot. It knits up very fast, and would be a great introduction to sock knitting if you haven't tried them before, and is a nice project for anyone if you like having results fast! I love being able to get a project finished, and have results to show for my efforts. I am used to knitting socks on dpns and I didn't have a circular needle that size, so I just used dpns. That way I didn't need markers because I group the stitches on the needles such that one needle ends where a marker would be. This way works just fine also.

I was going to start on Fuzzy Feet today, but decided that the yarn was a boring color, so I dyed it with grape Kool-Aid and it is drying.

I have also just started on a lime green cabled sweater for Ashley and Carol (they wear the same size so they will share it). It has a unique construction, starting with a cable strip around the middle, cross-wise. The rest of the sweater will be picked up and knitted from that band. Pictures will be coming, but so far nobody believes that it will be a sweater.

For now, here is a picture of the fingerless mittens I started at the retreat. When I started knitting I thought they would be socks, but they changed their mind. They were actually finished last week and I have been wearing them. Do you think I should add a ribbon at the top? I left them loose so that they would not slow down my typing too much.

Anita does get credit for that last knitting rhyme.

I tried to put that link in before, but blogger is acting a little funny today. Maybe everyone was trying to blog at once this morning? I don't blame them, and my heart goes out to the astronauts' families and everyone else involved with the space shuttle program.

Some Poems for Teaching Kids to Knit

For very little kids:

Into the bunny hole
Run around the tree
Out of the bunny hole
Away runs he

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Knitting Continental:

Under the fence
Catch the sheep
Back you go
Off you leap

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Knitting English:

In through the front door
Once around the back
Out through the window
And off jumps Jack

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And for the *tough guys*:

Stab em
Choke em
Drag em back
Throw em away!

Anita posted these to Fibernet. The first three are classic and as far as I know nobody claims credit for writing them, but