the friday five

Hard questions this week, but good ones. I would have posted my answers last night, but I needed more time to think about it.

1. What do you most want to be remembered for?
I would really like to be remembered for being helpful to other people in some significant way. That isn't very specific, is it? Other than that though, I guess I don't really care if I am remembered at all.

2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life?
There are so many, and it depends on what mood I am in at the time, but here is a good quote from Mark Twain. "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year?
The problem with this question is that none of the things I would like to claim as achievements are finished, so the perfectionist in me says that none of them count. Getting my website started and learning how to build and maintain it comes to mind, although there is so much more that I intended and have still not gotten around to doing.

4. What about the past ten years?
Again, none of them are finished. Over the last ten years I learned to spin and weave, started my fiber processing business, acquired and learned about sheep and other fiber animals, found Flylady and made progress towards being able to maintain my home, started homeschooling my children, ... I'm supposed to pick one thing?? They are all works in progress. Oops, I forgot - I learned to play the Irish Whistle and the Alto recorder (already played flute and recorders in 'C').

5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say?
No matter what anyone tells you, follow your dreams. Don't believe anyone who says that your dreams are not reachable or not worthwhile. You are the only one allowed to modify your dreams.

Lucets


Next week is the last week of the Viking Society class, and in the final unit we are studying artifacts, so this would be the time for me to display a picture of my re-creation attemps. What do you think? Mark makes these, and has experimented with different designs. Since he works in bone, and the shape of the bone lends itself well to lucets with handles, he has not made any without handles. I have used the cord I make using these tools for everything from collars and lead ropes for animals (it is a relatively strong cord, although goats and sheep can break it if they are determined enough), to a fine beaded lucet cord that my small pocketwatch is attached to which I can hang around my neck as a pendant or tie to a belt or belt loop. The kids like to use lucet cord as a belt. You can do so many things with it. Lucet cord looks like knitted I-cord, except that lucet cord tends to be tighter, and it can be used in all of the same ways too - decoration, handles, ties, etc. If you had a two-pronged knitting spool it would work the same way as a lucet. Actually, I have seen double lucets which would be about the same as a four-pronged knitting spool.

Lucets seem to be rising in popularity over the last several years. We first saw them described (though without pictures) on a Viking reenactment site, and decided to try it. Since then, they are turning up all over. I have made an instruction sheet showing how to make basic lucet cord, and if anybody would like to tell me how to make a PDF file I would post that here. There are also several websites about lucets.

The Rouge Lucette (I have copies of her book, which contains variations and lists of uses for the cord, which I sell along with our lucets. They also make some very attractive wooden lucets.)
How to Use a Lucet (This page seems to be relocating, so I don't know how long this link will work, but I assume it will be available on her new site when she finishes revising. Phiala's new site is the next link, and although there are no lucets there yet, there are other goodies so check it out!)
Phiala's String Page
How To Lucet
Double Lucet

Knitting Progress



I finished the front of Vigdis a couple of days ago, and have almost finished the first repeat of the back. This is a fun sweater to knit, as it progresses so quickly and the design is so beautiful. I want to make a cardigan with the S-hitch pattern too. Since we have been having sunshine, I think the light was good enough that you should be able to actually see it now. I did switch to a circular needle, which I prefer over two straight needles, but I didn't have a circular the right size when I started. Now I do. For some reason I tend to have circular needles in the small sizes, but not the big ones. A great many of my knitting needles are inherited from my grandmother, and she had a bunch that were size 3. That is a nice size for a lot of things, so I am happy to have them.



The yellow jacket is mindless knitting and it tends to be my take-along knitting to work on while riding in the car, waiting for the kids at dance, etc. Carol knitted a bit on it today. It is coming along, but not as fast as Vigdis. It will be finished sooner than we think, however, since it is all one piece. When it's done, it's done. The pattern is really easy - K3 P3 across on one row, and just K on alternating rows, with cardigan border (K1 P1 ribbing) for 6 stitches on each edge.

More Babies!



Infinity's yearling daughter couldn't be left out, so Nova had twins on Monday afternoon. I apologize for being so slow getting their picture posted. The brown one is a girl! They are just the sweetest babies. Well, aren't they all? Still, there seems to be something special about these.



Two more chicks hatched yesterday - fuzzy little black balls of fluff. They get along great with the previous hatchlings too, and so does their mama, who is happy to play mother hen to all four of them. So would the other hen, but if we don't bring the chicks in, something always gets them, so, unfortunately, all the hen gets is supervised visitation during the day, which is better than nothing as far as she is concerned.

Mid-life Crisis???

I'm not old enough for that, am I??? This week has been exciting anyway. Whereas the animals were once something to keep me going when I haven't always felt like doing anything, the effect has been wearing off over the last few years. Blogging, and working on the fiber processing business, are ways to expand and keep learning new things. But I've been wondering now if going back to school might be something I want to do. I have assumed for 12 years that my B.A. in Psychology and Communicative Disorders was essentially worthless since both of those fields require graduate degees in order to be qualified to work in the field, and going to graduate school didn't work out for me back then. Now my youngest is old enough to start Kindergarten this fall and I find myself considering options. Although I don't know if any graduate schools would even give me a second thought now, since I have been out of the field for so long and I don't have current references, work experience or academic achievements. I think I'm going to see about taking some classes this fall and see where it leads. That's why I have neglected my blog this week - I have been too busy thinking and trying to sort out what it is that I want to do with my life. Suggestions and encouragement are welcome! Going back to school could mean giving up the farm for several years, but I would be in a better position to build it up again afterwards. It would be a big upheaval for the kids, who have never known life without the animals and would have a hard time giving them up. Now it is looking like if I do go back to school it will be further down the road than I thought anyway. No matter what happens, there is always knitting. I was a knitter before I had animals or knew how to spin or any of these things (I started knitting at 11 years old), and I will always be a knitter, and now a knit-blogger. There is a lot that I intend to do with this website and haven't gotten around to yet, and it will come, so keep reading and checking back regularly.

Triplets!!!



We had babies again today. I love the colors - too bad they are all boys. One is colored like mom, another is brown with white splashes, and the other one is black and white but not as much like mom as the first one. Anybody interested in a herd sire? Infinity (mom) earned one leg towards her permanent championship the only time she was shown. I just don't show a lot, or she would have finished by now. She is really a nice doe. I'm not disappointed that she had all boys, since I have a daughter from Infinity, and I don't need to get attached to any more right now. I seriously have got to cut down on the number of animals here. Anyone who can provide a good home for some nice animals please ask for details.

Hatchlings



I have image processing again! I wanted to post this picture last week too. Finally, here it is. It's nice to have house chickens again. We had a late chick last fall that was just the sweetest thing. She always jumped up on my lap for cuddle time before bed in the evenings. These are prettier - we'll see if they get the personality though.

Finally, I have added pictures of the projects I promised last week. Scroll down and look at them since I put them in place next to where I talked about the projects. I've got another couple of pattern repeats on Vigdis now, and a few more inches on the yellow jacket too. I wish that the cables showed up better in the Vigdis picture. Maybe when I try again in better light they will. (It rained all last week, which we really needed so I can't complain, but there never was good light for picture taking.) The word to describe these cables is "rich." I just love this pattern.

For Entertainment Purposes Only

If you are not getting enough of sheep here, go look at The Sheep Dance.

the friday five

Oh wait, is it Saturday already? Here it is anyway. I like these questions.

1. Would you consider yourself an organized person? Why or why not?
No. I am a SHE. I live in CHAOS. See the Flylady link over to the side. I'm working on it though, and I am making progress.

(Although some people are obviously more organized than me, I wonder if there are really people out there who think that they are "Born Organized" as Flylady puts it? There are definitely those that I think are organized, but do they think so themselves or have they had to work at it more than it looks like on the surface?)

2. Do you keep some type of planner, organizer, calendar, etc. with you, and do you use it regularly?
That's funny. I have two wall calendars (one I write things on and make an effort to look at it), a planner that I use as a place to keep my stamps and a source of scratch paper or sometimes a place to write things down that nobody is likely to ever look at, and also a control journal (see the Flylady link over to the right). My control journal has a pouch with stamps in it too. I use some of the sections, but I don't look at it every day like I ought to. I have my routines written out but try to do them from memory. I have the lists for Zone cleaning printed and in their section just in case. One thing that I am doing is I made a section for the farm and I am keeping track of sales and stuff, as well as lists of hay sellers, shearers, etc. I use the menu section too. I made lists of possible meals so that if I'm stuck I can look in there and find ideas. No, I don't have meals planned out like I should, but I'm thinking about making stir-fry tonight. I have wish lists too. One that Mark can look at if he wants to know what I would like for gifts, and one that I ask him to fill out so that I know what he wants. I don't carry any of this stuff around - it stays at home.

3. Would you say that your desk is organized right now?
Are you kidding! There is a to-do pile in front of the computer monitor. My camera is perched on top of that where I left it last night. Misc. knitting needles, hair elastics, yarn, swatches, and other junk are wherever they landed. I declared the top of the scanner a clutter free zone some time ago. It only has one magazine, one pad of post-it notes, and the Viking Patterns for Knitting book on it right now. I do know what is in the desk drawers though.

4. Do you alphabetize CDs, books, and DVDs, or does it not matter?
Ha! They are kind-of grouped by subject.

5. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to organize?
My thoughts.

Back To Knitting




Theresa talked about Viking Patterns For Knitting on her blog and it sounded good so I had to get it. It turned out to be well worth it. I do like traditional Scandinavian two-or-more color patterns, but I have always been drawn to textured knitting, yet I still enjoy knitting things that represent my cultural heritage. The way that Elsebeth Lavold has figured out how to knit cable patterns based on Viking motifs is right on target for me. The yarn for Vigdis and Ragna arrived on Sunday (since the yarn came by express mail from Canada, the post office called me on Sunday morning and asked if I wanted to go pick it up!), and I immediately had a swatch done for Vigdis. I finished knitting the hood this morning, and just barely worked the front of the tunic through the first pattern repeat. Vigdis is in a bulky yarn and works up super fast. It will be warm too. I might never take off the hood. My ears and neck are always cold - well, not anymore! I promise I will get pictures posted. Hopefully in the morning sometime, but I'm not committing to how early it will be. I also love Hervor and will probably have to knit it also. That's the one on the cover.



While waiting for my yarn order I did settle on and start a sweater for Carol with the yellow yarn. She wanted something reversable, so it doesn't matter if she wears it inside out. It will be a jacket in garter stitch ribbing pattern with raglan sleeves, knitted all in one piece so it will be seamless. I have about four or five inches of that knitted - that is front and back all in one piece. The girls might try some of the knitting on that project if they want to and can match the tension well enough. I'll try to get a picture of that posted tomorrow too.



I've also been spinning. The green varigated bead yarn is done (it still doesn't know what it wants to be though), and on Saturday I got to spin most of the day as part of a demo for medieval reenactment (SCA). I don't have a period spinning wheel, and neither was I spinning a period fiber, but I did get to dress up, and that's fun. If I thought I could get away with it I would like to dress that way more often. Unfortunately, I was too busy to get pictures (maybe someone else did and will share). I got almost a full bobbin done. The fiber is llama cria mixed with 20% soy silk, and it is yummy.



So, if I haven't posted much in a few days it might be for one of two different reasons. One possibility is that there isn't much going on worth posting about, and the other is that there is so much happening that I don't get around to blogging. Between those two excuses I think I have just about everything covered, don't you think?

Movie Sheep

If you would like to watch a teaser/preview of the movie that my sheep were in, it is available on their website . I'm not having good luck getting it to play correctly (so I don't know which scenes made it into the preview), but I'm sure it will cooperate for you. I also noticed that Bandit also managed to get her photo posted on the site, not once, but twice. She is cute, isn't she? Not that I'm biased or anything.

A Couple of Lambie Pictures



Annabelle is a favorite - she is such a pretty color, and is adorable besides. Moonwalk as a name seemed to fit her, especially since Star is her mother, but Mark asked her what her name was and she told him, "Annabelle." So that is how it is. Mark has this way with knowing what to name the critters. I go to him if I can't find a good name, and once in a while I don't get the name right and it has to be changed once the critter has had a chance to tell Mark what its real name is.