Viking Culture

My class on Viking Culture with Gotland University starts tomorrow (actually tonight at 1 a.m. my time with the time difference). I'm looking forward to it. These are the books we are using to start with:



and another one also, but I can't find a picture of The Viking Age In Denmark, which is out of print.

Several other students in the class seem to be into fiber too! Yea! One even mentioned lucets, which is one of my things but not that many people know what it is.

Friday's To-Do List

I started with the easy one - I got some chocolate. Since it was on the list, I even get credit for getting chocolate. Hey, that wasn't a bad idea. I'm almost finished with the front yoke on the green sweater too.

I've been reading the friday five on other people's weblogs, and even when the questions have appealed to me, I haven't done it here, mostly because they aren't relevant to "the fiber farm" but now I want to broaden my topics a little more. Knitting and fiber blogs account for the majority of weblogs that I read, and I do see the friday five and other similar things on them, but I have also read that blogs that stick to a particular topic tend to be more effective. I'm thinking about starting a second blog specifically for writing and philosophy and anything else that isn't fiber related. Leave a comment or send me an email and tell me what you think, okay? Would you like to see another blog written by me, are you interested in fiber and the other stuff right here in the same place, or could you care less about the non-fiber stuff? I could set up a poll, but I don't feel like it, so just use the comments or email please.

One of the friday five questions today is,"How have you helped someone this week?" I'd like to talk about that question. There is the everyday stuff - making dinner for my family, trying to clean up the house, teaching the kids, but somehow that doesn't seem to count - it's just the everyday stuff. I really want to be helpful to someone, but it doesn't seem like I have much to offer that anyone wants. I could teach spinning/knitting/weaving and have extended some open invitations that people say they will take me up on "when they have time" but if it were really something they wanted they would come over and they haven't. I'm not too bad of a musician either (I play recorder flutes the most but also flute and Irish whistle, and mention of that has been prominently, to me, absent from this page up until now) but I can't find anyone who wants me to play for/with them or teach them. Yeah, I have a few skills, but none of them seem to be valued or in demand.

Another question from the friday five was about what we have to get done by this time next week. I don't have any set deadlines for any of this stuff, but I need to:

• find some hay
• shear the angora goats
• pluck the angora rabbits
• arrange for someone to shear the sheep
• process a lot of wool
• finish or at least work some more on the green sweater (I'm a ways into the front yoke now) and get another picture of it
• do some baking
• and get some more chocolate (I ran out except for a jar of hot fudge sauce in the refrigerator that is good in case of emergencies but otherwise too sweet even for me to eat straight from the jar).
  

Just for those of you who would like to learn to spin but don't have a spinning wheel, check out The Amazing Power Spindle.

Movies and Sheep

Several people have asked me how my sheep got chosen to be in a movie. Well, I don't quite know exactly. One of the producers just called me up out of the blue about three weeks ago. He found my name on an internet breeders listing - he didn't remember which one. I have primitive type sheep, which is what they were looking for, so we got the job. I love primitive type sheep. Mine are Navajo-Churro, but there are several primitive breeds and they share certain characteristics. I think the traits that really stand out are the diversity within the breeds - they come in many colors and patterns, and also that they are intelligent animals that don't follow blindly like the modern breeds have been bred to do, but they are also a little more difficult to handle and harder on fences. Primitive sheep breeds also tend to be double-coated, which has certain advantages - strength, luster, water resistance, and the option of separating out the undercoat if you want a finer yarn, and several of the primitive breeds can have multiple horns, which makes them really unique.

Almost every year, even when I haven't had an active website, somebody has found me on the internet and purchased some sheep. It's never been more than one contact of that sort in a year, and I'm not sure where they are finding me, but something is working anyway.

Are you interested in other Films by Latter-day Saints; LDS Movies; Utah filmmakers; LDS Videos? There are getting to be a lot of them lately. Look for them in theaters and video stores.

I'm Back



I even appear in the movie as an extra. There were
camels there too, and I really enjoyed getting to help with them. Al says he'll even send me some camel hair to spin! That's me in the middle, with Cody on the left and Al on the right (the camels are theirs). The camels are Smokey Joe - the white one, Andy, Kramer, and I think you can see Katie's humps in the background.

Making a movie is hard work. Especially all the sitting around waiting to be called to the set. Monday it rained, and since the idea was desert, they filmed indoors and didn't use the animals. But the rest of the time we worked 12-hour days, not counting doing chores with the animals and driving out into the canyons and back. They didn't even get to my sheep until Thursday night, and I thought they just weren't going to get around to them, but they did. The sheep even cooperated reasonably well. I helped handle camels the rest of the time (when I wasn't standing around hanging on to five sheep just in case they were needed). Everybody was very nice. It was a nice break from every-day life, even if I did work too hard to really call it a vacation.

I told Mark how much I liked the camels, so he found these for my very own.


More New Arrivals


Ember had her lamb while I was gone, I think it was Tuesday. I'm told that it is a girl, but my attempt to catch the baby and find out was unsuccessful. Tomorrow.

I'm going to be gone for a few days. It's my sheep's big chance for stardom! They are going to be in a movie. Well, no, they don't get a major role or anything, more kind-of like extras (or background/scenery - you get the point), but it's still exciting. We're going to go make a movie!

See 'ya in a few days.

Lambing continues!


Here is Coal and her ewe lamb, born this morning. The lamb is slightly confused as to which end the milk comes from.


Elizabeth had a ram lamb yesterday, and he is a monster! He's bigger than any of the other March lambs.


Nessie had a girl on Sunday. Nessie is one of the first sheep we had, and she is twelve years old this year! She is unique too. It's hard to see in the picture, but Nessie has four horns. A lot of the other lambs that have been born are Nessie's great-great-grandchildren. Amidala, Star, Coal, and Elizabeth are all great-granddaughters of Nessie.

The Green Sweater

I took the green sweater with me to work on while the kids were at dance class last night, and it is progressing faster now. I'm working on the back yoke, which is in a complicated cable pattern, which keeps my interest better than the mindless sections do. Instead of knitting a round and measuring to see how much more I have to do, now I want to keep going and see what the pattern is going to look like. The front and back yokes are knitted back and forth, but as with my socks, I'm not turning my work. I knit backwards instead. I like being different. Wendy E. mentioned a while back that she tried my backwards knitting idea and it was slow to do. When I first started doing it and had to think about what I was doing, it was slow, but now that I am used to it I keep up about the same rhythm as when I knit frontwards. I really think this comes in handy both for rows that are so short that turning your work is a constant interruption and also when reading charts (color or pattern) - it's nice to always be looking at the front of my work, and my yarn doesn't get tangled. And if any left-handed people (like Mark) want me to teach them how to knit, now I know how to do it left-handed.

We did have another lamb on Sunday morning and I just haven't gotten a picture of that one up yet. We have just a few more ewes to go and the rest of them are being sneaky. They are all due any time.

I finished the bottom half of the green sweater last night and picked up stitches for the back yoke. This sweater is for Ashley and Carol, and they have been watching its progress but haven't quite figured out that it is for them. I tell them that it is a sweater and they think I am teasing them, since the construction just doesn't look much like a sweater yet. It isn't for any specific occasion - I just want my kids to have sweaters that I knitted, and none of them do right now. They have socks and handwarmers and hats and things, but not sweaters. I want to make a couple more sweaters so that they can each wear one.

Bess talked about giving knitted gifts. She has decided that she will not give knitted gifts that are surprises. It just isn't fair to the recipient if they don't happen to like it to have to pretend that they do and be a good enough actor to satisfy you when you have put your heart and soul into making something for them. It isn't fair to the knitter either to put that much work into something if it isn't going to be appreciated. I have also decided that if I want to knit a present for somebody it is fine for them to be included in the project from the planning stages on up. That increases the chances of having a satisfactory outcome. And it doesn't necessarily have to be finished for a birthday or Christmas either. Sometimes the present is an offer to knit something of their choice - I did that for Jonathan's most recent birthday. He wanted a pair of blue hand warmers with a red spider on them (which he uses for Spiderman web-slingers). I never would have thought that a five-year-old boy would have known exactly what he wanted me to knit and also what he wanted it too look like! He essentially designed his own gift.

Some people are harder to please than others. One of my sisters, when we were kids, was disappointed that I knitted something for her for Christmas and proposed that we have a rule that making a present for somebody was unacceptable - presents must be bought. I was very hurt by that, and I still think that she probably considers me cheap if I make a present for someone. I did knit a cotton washcloth for her baby (born a year ago last November) and sent it along with some other things, and she said thank-you and that it was good. Then I knitted a pair of socks for the baby, but never did send them. Although I think they are good, I worried about whether my sister would appreciate wool socks (non machine-washable) for a baby, or if she would even like them. They will probably be too small by next winter, so I'm not sure what to do. Where am I going with this? Oh yes, maybe I should talk to her about it, and get her input the next time I try knitting for her or for the baby. Then I would know whether the item was something she wanted or not, and I wouldn't be wasting effort on something I wasn't sure about or on wondering whether or not I should send it. And if she still doesn't want me to knit for her, I could knit for my other sister instead who does (I have discussed knitting with her and she doesn't think that presents need to be surprises or given on a specific date either - unfortunately, she doesn't have a baby or feet that would fit into baby socks).

Today it was Evita's turn.
Evita is a dedicated mom. She went off in a corner away from the other sheep, and when I went close enough to take a picture she stamped her feet at me.

Here is a closer look at one of the badgerface babies.
And here is Jonathan holding Jitterbug's baby girl.
The kids decided to name Jitterbug's babies after the dances they are learning in their Highland Dance class, so the boy is Sword Dance and the girl is Highland Fling. I still need name suggestions for the lambs if you have any ideas. All the new ones are by Outlaw.

Just in case we need a little more evidence that Spring will soon be here, we will have flowers soon.

Today the sheep are getting into the act.


Star had a little girl this morning, and it is our very first female moorit lamb ever to be born into our flock. Thank-you Star and Outlaw!

Misty's twins are another color we have not had lots of. I had to wait for them to dry off a little before I knew what color they were - they are badger face (black legs, belly, facial stripes, brown on the face, and a lighter colored body). They are still covered in muck now, so I'll get another picture tomorrow. One is a girl and one is a boy. So far I am very pleased with this year's babies.

We have La Mancha babies!


But that isn't Jitterbug - that is her litter sister, Pam. Pam is being helpful. The two sisters are very close, and last year they shared their babies and both helped raise both sets. Here is a group photo.

Jitterbug is the cream colored doe. The white baby is a boy, and he's precocious - already chasing his aunt around the pen (he noticed that she has an udder too). And the black baby is a girl. What should we name them? Last year Jitterbug's babies were named after dances, and I'll probably do the same thing this year. Go ahead and make your suggestions. Oh, and if any of our babies are so cute that you would like to take them home with you, most of them will be available. Just let me know if you are interested.

I was just about to post the following stuff last night when I lost my internet connection. It's back now. And Jitterbug is in labor as we speak. I've been out watching her since before it was light this morning.

We are going to be into the lambing season again any time now. Around here March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion, so it would be nice if the lambing would happen now while it is calm before the annual end of March storms show up. Jitterbug, a La Mancha goat, is due and will kid very soon. She bagged up today, so I think we will have La Mancha babies by tomorrow. She didn't really want her picture taken though.

Maybe I'll introduce you to some of the other critters here. This is Outlaw, one of the Navajo-Churro rams, and Leia, who is Amidala's daughter from last year. I don't know if you can tell, but Outlaw is brown (sheep fade as they age, especially brown ones). Some of our ewes are daughters of a brown ram, so they carry the gene for that color, but we have not been able to get any ewe lambs that are brown so far. Outlaw's job is to help us with that. I like all of the colors, but I like to have variety and brown, or moorit, is hard to get very much of.

I did tell you there would be a picture of the green sweater. This is where it was yesterday morning, and it has progressed a little since then but doesn't look much different.

I am finally getting some work done on the green sweater. It is from Vogue Knitting, winter '94-'95, page 60, and they did it in red. I have never tried this sweater construction before - it starts with a narrow cabled band around the middle of the body. Then you pick up stitches and knit in the round for the bottom half of the body. The front and back yokes are then picked up and knit back and forth. It is interesting. I'm working on the bottom part of the body, which is in Moss stitch (k1, p1 for two rows, then p1, k1 for two rows; repeat) so it is brainless work and is coming along.

The first pair of socks I ever made for myself (10 years ago!) have a hole in one of the toes that needs to be darned. Here are some good directions: HJS Studio Darning Socks. Holly's website is a wealth of tips, instructions and patterns. You might enjoy looking at the vintage knitting patterns from WWI and WWII that she has posted (look under tutorials). Anyway, Holly's studio is over there with my links because I thought it was a great resource.

I also wanted to mention some of the other links that I have included here. Besides some great blogs, I have also listed Flylady, and down at the bottom you should see links for a few affiliate programs - one for portable shelters (I thought it sounded like a good idea - I want to do some with clear plastic and make a greenhouse) and just for fun some cute little pig figurines. You really should do yourself a favor and check out Flylady. She has a program that people join to learn to be more organized and learn how to maintain their homes (something that I definitely needed) but it is so much more than that. I know that I needed somebody to tell me what to do and get me moving (in a nice way, and when she gets bossy it is for a good reason), and that is exactly what Flylady can do. I have been reading her email list for just over a year now. You would love her.

Wait a minute! No, you're not in the wrong place. It's still me - I just got tired of purple. I think that this color just suits me a little better. It's a new week, it's a new month, it's almost Spring, and I needed a change. I think I got all my links and stuff transferred. The Tag-board is down there on the right, but you might have to scroll down a little more. Weather Pixie moved down below the archive links. Does anyone know how to add graphics to appear on the background with the Blogger templates? I need some flowers and I'm not sure how to put them here. Maybe I'll have to do that on the other pages I am going to get around to doing eventually.

I haven't written here in several days. Over the last week I have not knitted a significant amount. Yesterday I spun one bobbin of the green roving you can see in my roving basket picture in the January archives (way in the back of the basket, kind-of a greyish green color). It's a nice, lofty wool that spins easily, and it is telling me that it would like to be bead yarn. That is a novelty spinning technique where you spin a relatively thick low-twist single and ply it with a thin high-twist single (the second single being spun S which is the opposite direction to the way singles are normally spun). The two singles are then plied together, (direction is S, or normal plying direction). The fine single is held tightly during plying and the thick single allowed to wrap around it. I'll show you a picture when I get to that point. I don't know what it wants to be made into after the yarn stage yet.

I am not sure how much to tell you of the reason why I have been quiet and unproductive this last week. It is too embarassing.

This paragraph will self-destruct in 3 ..... 2 ..... 1 ......

One of the reasons I started this weblog was because I felt like I was losing interest in all the things that I was doing to force myself to keep going. If I can interest you in hearing about these things then maybe I can interest myself too. And in order to show you pictures of what I am doing I have to actually be doing something. Anyway, things are improving and people are being nice about what happened. Okay, lets get back to business as usual now, shall we? And if you don't know what to say, that's fine - neither do I. But I'd love it if you would leave me a comment from time to time so that I know you're still out there.