My sister & I are taking a Continental Knitting class at the Sewing Expo in February. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia here is some information on Continental knitting:Knitting with the yarn in one's left hand is commonly referred to as Continental knitting, German knitting, European knitting, or left-hand knitting. Unlike English knitting, the yarn is held in the left hand; the motion of bringing the yarn forward with a needle held in the other hand is thus sometimes known as picking. Continental knitting is preferred by professional hand-knitters, as it is the more efficient method, requiring the shortest number of specific hand-motions per stitch.
Continental-style knitting, being associated with Germany, fell out of favour in English-speaking countries during World War II; its reintroduction in the United States is often credited to Elizabeth Zimmerman.
I can carry the yarn in my left hand while doing Fair Isle (taught to me by Ann Bourgeois from Philosophers Wool at the Sewing Expo a few years ago) or 2 color knitting (shown here in my hats) however I do not know how to purl this way, so I am looking forward to some hands on learning!!!
I am back to my Jitterbug socks, and forcing myself to get through the heel turns instead of casting on a new "quickie" project (like another hat) so here is the first heel turn ~ finally!!! It looks beautiful, and so easy using 
Hard to believe but the snow is back ~ lots of it too.... We did not even wear coats to church this morning, just sweaters, and I ran outside this morning on wet roads ~ no ice or snow or slush to run through.... and now it is back ~ steadily falling since 5:00 pm. The kids are hoping for another "snow day" home from school, as tomorrow would be there first day back since the first set of snow days before their official holiday.... they are so excited and hopeful..... stay tuned!!!
Perhaps "problems" is too strong a word for my Peace Fleece, as I love knitting with Peace Fleece and I love the colors and I love love love the story behind uniting the world & creating partnerships by working together to make yarn.... all that said, these Fiber Trends clogs took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to felt.....5 times through the entire wash cycle, and then someone in the family (not sure who it might have been) put down the washing machine lid and it continued through the spin cycle - OH NO!!!!! but.....no shrinking the Peace Fleece.....nothing was changing, the slippers still had beautiful stitch definition, although they would have fit Harry Potter's pal Hagrid.... I have made one other felting project with Peace Fleece, and yes, those clogs did take a few cycles to felt... but not Forever.... I finally put more hot water (instead of the extra small load, I chose small load) and left it going a few more times (with the 5 pairs of blue jeans). Finally they are a wee bit smaller, but not the size 7 they were supposed to become..... odd...... but they are beautiful, and so very soft inside!!!!!
Here is the second set of curtains I sewed on New Year's Day, now showing in our laundry room! Not sure if you can tell they are pink, orange and yellow hibiscus flowers in a riot of color ~ matching perfectly with the yellow walls and yellow counter top in the laundry room. When we moved into this house, I wanted the laundry room to be bright and happy......
Before I mentioned my 2009 New Year's Resolutions, I should have mentioned my knitting tally for 2008. For a few years now, I have kept a knitting journal with the names of my projects, and the finishing date. Some projects include the Cast On date, but most have only the Cast-off date. With this journal I keep track of how many projects I begin and finish in one year. Many projects are small ~ like hats for the church bazaar, and a few are big. Several are always hold overs from the previous year. One of my 2008 New Year's Knitting Resolutions was to finish all the projects from 2007, and I did complete them all, except the frogging of the mitered corner project.
