Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Bullwinkle

"She took forty-leven pictures of dumb ole Mini Moose and only two of me and in the other one I had my eyes closed."

This isn't a terrible picture of Bullwinkle, but I do feel bad that I didn't have more to choose from.  Who knew that the only sheep I didn't get a couple of good pictures of yesterday would be the one I'd draw this morning.  

Bullwinkle's had a busy fall.  His wool got picked to blend with some dog hair and my friend who spun it did a fantastic job and it turned out really pretty.  The yarn is 60% Bullwinkle and 40% dog hair.  You need to blend wool into your dog hair yarn to cool it down.  Dog hair yarn is apparently so warm that you can barely wear it.

We picked Bullwinkle because he is a Rambouillet cross and has the finest crimped fleece in our flock and we thought it would be the best blending fleece for her project.  Fine wool sheep are never my first choice, but his mom died when he was a few days old and he needed a new mom so I brought him home.

Bullwinkle is eight years old now, but he's still one of my babies.  In fact, his nickname is Bebby Bebby.  He was a bratty little lamb and he's still a bit of a brat.  He's no longer able to jump on me...thankfully...but he didn't quit that until he got too old and fat.  Now he just sidles up to me and paws at me and I tell him to knock it off.  Boys...

Bullwinkle loves all treats and isn't afraid to bust his way through to the front of the pack to get what he wants.  I guess it's good to be a big fat brat ;-).

A Rare Sighting

I was downloading some pictures for a friend yesterday and found some pictures that Miss B took after shearing.  I don't remember exactly what was going on here, but this group of sheep were probably thinking my coffee cup had treats in it.  I don't think most of them would just choose hanging out with me over eating green grass ;-).

Thanks, Miss B.  I don't have many pictures of me with my friends :-).

I have a funny series of pictures of Archie during shearing.  Stay on me so I don't forget to post them!

Wait! I'm Here! I'm Here!

I'm off to a late start, but we are finally ready to hit the trail.  I'm still not 100% certain of what I'm making, but I'm going to be using the Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb yarn so I put everyone on the Ravatar with me.  I'll start knitting tomorrow.

When you aren't competitive and are mostly in the race for the experience, it's called a "camping trip".  That's going to be my plan for this year.  I'm going to enjoy spending time with some of my very best friends and hopefully have a vest to show for it at the end.

Can you identify all the sheep above?  A couple are a little vague, but the "characters" should be easily recognized :-).

June

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A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

Since Bullwinkle shared the top picture with Tessa last the other week, I picked him for this last week's SOTW.  I'll hopefully be back on track now.

"I really wasn't in the mood for a photoshoot, but whatever, lady."

This was one of his first baby pictures.  He loved sleeping on the fleece dog beds.  

Or out in the grass with me :-). 

He was a complete grump about cats and hated Betsy for some reason, but did ally himself with, of all cats, Claire Bear.  She may have taught him to hate Betsy and that's why she liked him.  We used to call him her little henchman.  That's a pretty fun post.  I'd forgotten about Comby schooling on him :-).

He loved riding in the car, but his favorite thing in the whole world was riding in the Unit (UTV/side by side) and the faster the better.  He'd jump into anyone's Unit and one neighbor took him for rides.  Another about had a stroke because a sheep jumped into his brand new Unit.  I'd try to take him for a ride now, but I'm not sure he'd fit.

Bullwinkle was always very "helpful", especially on the Wool House porch.  I'd forgotten about locking him off the porch.  I can't remember what he kept getting into long after he should have been living in the barn.  His "educational" video about the Proper Use of a Skein Winder was a classic.

His wool is very soft and very springy.  His mom was one of the "Texas cross" sheep over at Final Frontier Farm.  I prefer spinning the coarser long wool crosses, but I really enjoy using his wool for needle felting.  The finer texture helps with creating details in faces... Everyone else would probably spin it.

Bullwinkle is always one of the last sheep to head out in the morning.  He usually stops to check in with me as he goes through the gate and any time something is going on - sheep checks, foot trimming, shearing, he likes to stand right next to me.  I'll always be his mom :-).

Surprise!

We've had some weird potential predator sightings lately, one right up by the closed chicken coop door (!).  I picked up a cheap game camera yesterday to see if it could be of any use.  I've long loved following Colorado Farm Life's captures of not only the wildlife around them, but also their daily comings and goings, so I was pretty excited to see what I'd find here.

I need to do some thinking on how best to focus on the chicken coop area without the horses messing with it, so for last night I set it up looking out towards the back of the farm, just up from the creek.  I'd seen a coyote further out from there and figured if it was going to trek to the barn, it would likely cross this path.

I knew something has been coming around at night because Bea has been on high alert and doing a good job sounding the alarm.  Interestingly though, I've not heard any coyotes calling except way back on a neighboring farm.  I'm not sure if this is what she hears in the evenings as the time stamp was from early morning, but look!

Just strolling through, using the bridge.  I've never seen a deer here.  I've never even knowingly seen any signs of deer when I've been out walking, but of course their tracks and droppings look very much like sheep...  No coyote or fox sightings.

I'm only going to run it at night to try to save on battery usage, but for fun I left it on this morning until all the sheep had gone out.

Murphy, leading the way.

Baby B

Burrnie:  "I feel like someone is watching me."

Liddy is never up with the early risers ;-).

 Bullwinkle and Biscuit bringing up the rear.

I haven't decided where I'm going to set it tonight.  I think I can rig it up near the coop, but I'm also toying with watching the creek.  I'd like to set it up back at the ponds, too, but need to let it do it's main job for a few night first.

Stay tuned!

The Yarn Might Not Be The Best Part

It might be the stories :-).

Mother's Day ended up being very busy, but in a good way.  The spring barn clean out, originally planned for Friday/Saturday, was rained out.  We were afraid the ground would still be too wet Sunday, but it dried up enough and Tim was able to knock it out.  Well, you don't just knock it out.  Cleaning the barn is an all day job.  I can't think of a better Mother's Day gift :-).

By late afternoon I was finally able to gather everything and set up a photo shoot under one of the redbud trees by the Wool House.  I mixed and matched and rearranged and fought the too bright light and then Betsy's head popped up in a perfect photobomb.  I love that she is in the picture.

Do you remember her babysitting the bottle lambs?  She loved to sleep in the crate with the lambs, especially if there was a heat lamp involved.  Curling up with a warm lamb was a close second.  I'm not sure Maisie ever took a nap without Betsy.

I don't think Betsy knows her lambs are in this yarn blend, but it's sweet to think that she does and wanted to be part of the pictures.  To make it even better, I told a little story about Betsy and her lambs in the booklet.  Do you remember which lamb ruined it for her?

The bright sun did work out in my favor to help show off the little stitch markers -  sky blue, grass green, tree green, dandelion yellow and redbud pink.  These are my favorite type of stitch markers for knitting.  I haven't learned how to make crochet markers yet, but I enjoyed learning a little about beads and wire and I doubt this is the end of it :-).

The stitch markers are hanging around their necks like a sheep bell and can be easily removed to use or can just stay part of the decoration.  Do you remember which lamb wore the first bell and why?

The yarn wrapped ornaments are for the small gift boxes and the unwrapped ornaments are for the yarn kits.  There will also be a little bit of Blossom roving tucked in the yarn kits so you can wrap your own with any leftover yarn.  It's not a surprise why I picked Blossom to help with them and that is part of her story in the booklet.

This shady tree is actually the redbud tree most loved by lambs...and cats and dogs and chickens and lamb moms.  Remember Early sleeping next to the yard sheep?  He knew they were real sheep, too, and you still can't tell us any different.  

So...that's Early and Abby on the bag logo, yarn tags and leather tag.  They are an important part of our story here and I didn't want them to be left out just because they couldn't contribute any wool.  I loved sitting out under this tree with them tucked against my legs.  Using them in the logo helps a little.

The drawstring bags are a handy 10"x12" size, just perfect for a skein or two of yarn or a small project. The booklet tucks nicely in there as well.  

The booklet was a true labor of love.  I thought it would be easy to write up some stories, describe each sheep's wool, find some good pictures and send it off to the printer.  Phew!  The stories weren't too hard other than trying to pick out what stories I wanted to tell.  I could probably write whole chapters on each sheep...and maybe I will someday.

The problem was the pictures.  Those early lambs lived here long before I had a decent camera or even any real practice at taking pictures.  I love the pictures I have, but they do not compare to the pictures of the more recent lambs.  I wanted Punkin to look as good as Biscuit.  

I played around with several styles and finally settled on a sort of pen and ink/wood block sort of look.  I used the original photographs to make sketches and then a fun iPad app to turn them into black and white line drawings and then fine tuned them with another drawing app.  I enjoyed learning how to do this and it was fun to spend a little extra time with each lamb.

The booklet not only has pictures and stories about the lambs, but also a bit about their breed(s) and fleece.  There's also a little story about how the yarn came about and how I became thecrazysheeplady.  Karen Battersby designed a beautiful lamb sweater using the yarn and the pattern for that is included as well.  Even if you don't have a baby lamb to dress, it could easily be adapted for a small dog or agreeable cat :-).

About the yarn.  Each skein is 250 yards of worsted weight yarn and weighs around 4.4 ounces.  I find it knits comfortably to the gauge of around five stitches per inch and is a very nice versatile yarn with good Punkin's Patch character.  It's soft and cuddly, but hard working enough to do most any job.  

As this blend can never be replicated, it's a very limited offering and will only be for sale here on the blog.  Feel free to share this post with your friends, but I'd rather it didn't get posted to the wider public.  There's not much of it and I want to make sure everyone who's been along for the ride, new or old, gets first dibs.

This is my favorite picture from the shoot.  Isn't it a bit funny that Betsy came over here as well?  Maybe she can smell her lambs in there.  

* * * * *

The yarn box includes 1, 2 or 3+ skeins of Lamb Camp bottle lamb yarn, the lamb stories booklet, drawstring bag, plain ornament, spring stitch markers, a leather Lamb Camp tag and a fun surprise gift.  

         One skein $52    Two skeins $77    Three skeins $102 

If you are wanting a sweater quantity of yarn or unwashed yarn for weaving, drop me an email.   

The ornament box includes a Lamb Camp bottle lamb yarn wrapped ornament with the spring stitch markers and leather tag attached, the drawstring bag, lamb stories booklet and the fun surprise gift.

$36

As always, if you are interested in purchasing something from the farm shop, just send me an email and let me know what you'd like.  I'd also love to hear who your favorite lamb is or your favorite lamb story.  Even if you aren't interested in purchasing a Lamb Camp box, I'd love to hear about your favorites :-).

Shipping is always a struggle these days.  If you would like a shipping quote, I am happy to get that for you.

You are also always welcome to come to the farm and visit the sheep and save your shipping costs entirely.  Punkin's Patch won't be setting up at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival later this month, but I'll be around that weekend and we would all love a visit :-).  Please send me an email to let me know you are coming.

We hope you love our yarn :-)

Thecrazysheeplady, Punkin, PPPP, Ewen McTeagle, Keebler, Graham Lamb, Baaxter Black, Lila, Liddy, Blossom, Maisie, Bullwinkle and Biscuit

It's All Been Fun...

...but washing the yarn is the best part :-).

I've spent the last month (or so) working on the new Lamb Camp yarn release.  Remember the bottle lamb fleeces I sent to Stonehedge Fiber Mill?  Here's a video link.  

I've got the yarn "finished" (skeined, washed and ready for tagging).  I wrote a short book telling a little about the yarn and all the sheep who made it.  I also created a picture of each sheep as a lamb to go with each story.  There was a huge learning curve there, but I'm happy with the end results.

At that point I realized that the project was much more than just throwing together a pamphlet with some yarn and more of a celebration of all the sheep and each of their special stories, so I designed a small project bag, some Equinox Farm inspired stitch markers, a project tag and a wooden ornament to all go with it.

Whew!  I've got way more time in this project than I should, but I always end up putting more time into each lamb than I anticipate as well, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.  

The first batch. 

The yarn isn't "finished" until it's washed and dried.  The main reason you need to wash it is to get rid of the spinning oil and any residual dirt, but washing it also wakes up each fiber and allows it to relax back into it's original character.  Some fibers bloom into fuzzy yarns, some get really stretchy, some get puffy, some relax with more drape and flow...  This yarn, being a blend of several types of sheep does a little bit of all of that.

One skein before washing, on the right.  One skein after, on the left.  Isn't that fun?

The yarn is really pretty.  I've made a lamb sweater from it and also a matching short poncho for myself.  The lamb sweater was pretty straightforward, but I have some epic stories about the poncho that need to be shared here so I can add more details than what hit Instagram at the time.  Miss B made a gorgeous sweater from the yarn and I would love to share that as well.  My poor neglected blog.

So, yes, there will be some of this yarn for sale and my plan is to post it on Sunday for Mother's Day, mostly for sentimental reasons.  Of course I don't have any pictures taken and it's crazy/normal springtime on the farm and Frankie and I have our first horse show tomorrow... so it may be the afternoon before I can actually pull that off.  

Wouldn't it be nice if I got all that done and posted a horse show update tomorrow evening like the good old blogging days?  I'm going to try.

Procrastination

I wanted to get a post written with some photography news, but I didn't think I had enough time so I threw together a quick puzzle...and then couldn't help working it...which was about the same amount of time it would have taken to write a blog post...

Get busy out there! 

* * * * *

Quick note:  the 2022 calendars are finally finished and have "gone to print".  I'll post more details tomorrow (No. Puzzles.)

The Christmas card painting is officially underway.  I'm not worried about that because if the calendars are just now printing then it must only be October at the latest....right?

Getting busy!

You Keep Making That Face...

"You better be careful, Bullwinkle!"

"Why?"

"Your face will freeze that way!"

 "Thweally?"

"Huh."

King Of The Dirt Pile

"What are you doing, Biscuit?"

"Nothin'."

"Right.  Okay then.  Carry on."

That would probably make a fun new puzzle. 

Enjoy :-)

Just A Bunch Of Pictures Of Hank

I doubt anyone is going to complain about that :-).  There are also five new Hank puzzles :-D.

Aw, Come On...

Frankie's Flock

While most of our friends were getting copious amounts of snow yesterday, we were getting a demoralizing amount of rain...yet again. This is the worst mud I've ever dealt with.  Everyone living in town is complaining about the cold.  Anyone on a farm is happy that at least the mud is frozen this morning.

Normally I don't blanket horses unless the forecast calls for something like freezing rain and brutally low temps.  If they have a good hair coat and enough body fat, they are just fine as long as they have plenty of hay, some shelter and a way to get out of the wind.  

Frankie had been living in a closed up barn all winter and came "down south" with very little winter hair.  Even on days I think he should be fine, he's been cold.  Saint Tim put some plywood up on the north side of his run in stall and that has helped a bunch, but he needs and wants his winter blanket, now blankets.  

I picked up a second blanket yesterday because I knew his green blanket, even though water proof, was going to be miserable after all that rain.  His back was still warm and dry, but all around his neck and shoulders he was soaked.  The new blanket fits a little bit better I think.  

I've had several questions about if Frankie is going to get a horse buddy.  He will, but it won't be until late spring.  I will definitely go back up to New Vocations, but it will have to be after winter when everyone is safely back out grazing up there and the mud has dried up here.  

In the meantime, Frankie likes hanging out with the sheep and as long as there's a fence between them, the sheep are happy to hang out with Frankie.  Actually, many of them were fine eating with Hickory and T-Bone, but now that Hank's getting old, I'm not going to ask him to deal with that. 

Hank actually seems a bit more relaxed, well, not relaxed, but maybe accepting of Frankie.  The original plan was to let Frankie out during the day and put him up at night so Hank could have free access to  work the front field at night without stress, but horses are warmer out moving around rather than standing still in a stall.

As we head down into the single digits over the next few days, I think I'm going to let Frankie come and go as he pleases, even at night.  He'll be warmer, can hang out over the fence with his sheep friends and I think Hank will be okay with all that.  

Stay warm out there!  Hey, and go out there.  It's really not that bad once you get moving around ;-).  But if you want to stay in, there's a new puzzle for you :-).

All We Need Is Some (Leaf) Color

Lots of color in the flock though.

I think Bullwinkle is a little sweet on Muffin ;-).

How about a new puzzle.  Enjoy!

I Can't Help But Think

"Hey!"

"How come every last thing that goes wrong around here is my fault?!?  What on earth happened now!?!"

I went in to the Wool House last night to get some of your wool to make Christmas ornaments for the Wool Festival and found it had flooded.

"Oh."

"Sorry about that."

"You're still going to use my wool though, right?"

Um...

We received 4 1/2" of rain yesterday morning on already saturated ground.  I posted a few flood pictures throughout the morning culminating with a pretty video of the "new water feature" in front of the Wool House.  Sigh...

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The new water feature at the Wool House 😳.

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Sep 23, 2018 at 7:11am PDT

I'd watched to make sure the water hadn't breached the door frame, thought all seemed good, was in and out of the wash room side all day, walked into the big room last night...and found it had flooded.  Maisie... (said like "Newman..." from Seinfeld ;-).

I can't help but think if I'd gone in there to get some of Liddy's or Bullwinkle's or Blossom's wool that I wouldn't have spent much of last night and most of today dealing with water damage... 

Just kidding, Maisie.  Sort of ;-).