From The Way Back Machine

Back in 2005 I sent our Jacob fleeces off to be made into quilt batting and kept the darkest batt for myself thinking I'd get a quilt made to match our barn quilt.  Fast forward to 2019 and I've long since given up hoping for a custom quilt and realized I could send that batt back to the mill and have it re-run as roving and spin it into yarn.  

The five sheep in that dark yarn are sadly long gone.  They were our original five Jacobs from Indiana - Jester, Jacob, Joshua, Elizabeth and Crazy Esther.  That yarn is a treasure.  Part of our history.

When I found a sweater pattern I liked and saw that I needed a contrast color I dug through my stash of handspun and found the perfect light gray.  Coincidentally (or not) it was a blend of Emily, our sixth Jacob and Annabelly, her first lamb.  This too is a treasure.

This sweater.  So much history between those sheep and the sheep that followed them.  

Maisie scritches :-).

I love Short Round's sweet face.  One of our newest sheep looking at the wool of our oldest sheep...or the food scoop ;-).

 

Olympic Gold

Chocula Chip has volunteered to be my Iknitarider for this year's Iknitarod.  20, Pip and Charcoal advised him to dress warm so we made him a sweater with yarn from his namesake, Count Chocula.  It's hard to believe Chocula got that light colored as he aged.  In real life you can still see a hint of brown, but in the pictures it looks creamy.

I had to add another half of a cable repeat to the body to get the right length, but I didn't have as much trouble reworking the neckline ribbing to that as I was afraid I might.  Good confidence builder...aka probably just enough information to now be dangerous ;-).

In for a good soak.

And out in the sunshine to dry. 

Oh, it looks like I never documented my Winter Olympic knitting project over here.  Sigh...  Yes, it was this Chocula Chip sweater.  Let's see, the Iknitarod starts in less than two weeks.  I'm still working on my barn sweater and I never shared my finished Lamb Camp poncho/capelet.  

Who is even running this blog?!?

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The New Routine?

I always kind of assumed Maisie would be the sheep that broke me, but I miss Willard more than I can even say.  I miss all of my old friends...more than I can say, but I think Willard has maybe been the hardest because he was such a big part of my daily routine for so long.

I miss walking up to the barn in the dark with my flashlight or seeing the light on in Easy Breezy at night.  It's not that I don't have a reason to get up in the morning now, but it's just not the same.  I still take my coffee and go sit in the wash room and try to answer emails...with Archie's help...but answering emails isn't always a very inspiring way to start the day, especially with Archie's help.

It's getting lighter earlier now and the last few days I've taken the dogs for an early morning walk rather than waiting until after morning chores.  I carry my coffee out to the field and it's been pretty nice.  It beats sitting at a desk working on a computer for sure.  This morning I thought maybe this should just be my new routine.  

So if you're looking for an email from me... ;-).

Bea's Vehicular Support Dog

For some reason Bea loves to ride with me in my car, but has had a melt down in Tim's truck and now the farm truck. 

The day she had to "go to work with Daddy" we thought it was just kind of funny and figured she thought she'd been corgi-napped and knew she was going to miss all the fun stuff on the farm that day.  

I tried to take her on an hour long ride to the feed mill the other day and I actually contemplated driving off into a ravine before she finally jumped over a tall seat back and ramped into the back seat with Amos.   

 

Thanks, Amos :-).

Interestingly, she rode just fine in the farm truck on the way to the driving event, now that I think about it.  Hmmm....

January

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Seen on IG, "January was a tough year, but we made it."

It was really more long than tough...mostly...but like all months, lots of good stuff, too.  Thanks for  being part of it :-).

Sailors Take Warning

A mini Maisie and a whole sweater's worth of Maisie handspun yarn enjoyed going to the beach a few days ago.

And then boarded a cruise ship...and I haven't heard from her in over two days.  

That's just because there's not cell service on the ocean...right?

"I don't know how that iceberg ended up in the middle of the Caribbean."

If you don't know why taking Maisie on a cruise ship is a really stupid brave idea, you should look back through the archives.  Things have been pretty quiet on The Danger Lamb front lately, but...

Here is one of my favorite posts :-).