When I'm not knitting

When I'm home, it's typically one of two things -- one is knitting and the other is studying Japanese.  I don't even want to try to think of a way to try to do them simultaneously. 

When I study, this is what my work area tends to look like: 

It's the paper equivalent of what my knitting area tends to look like when I'm doing that.

I'm only pointing any of this out because I've been accused of doing nothing but knitting.  And since I'm done knitting for the night and ready to start studying, I thought I'd prove it to the people who occasionally take a look at my little blog.  Both of you.

BTW that character on the lower right means "wrap" or "envelop."  It's a picture of an embryo in an egg, and it's part of the overall character that means "to hug."  And although kissing is a recent phenomenon in the world of Japanese affection (witness the Japanese word for the verb to kiss -- "kisu"), the word for hug has its own Chinese character and it's very old. 

It's one of the many, many reasons I love this beautiful language.  To hug, from "wrapping" the way an egg wraps its little internal embryo.