Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Short Round

Short Round only came here because I wanted something good to come out of sweet little Early's short life.  

There had been a screw up in the lambing shed the day Early was born and Kathy thought Short Round was only going to have one lamb so she grafted a triplet from another ewe onto her. She was headed to the other farm when I pulled in later in the morning and she told me to keep an eye on the adoption, but that she thought it looked good.

I made my rounds of the lambing jugs and when I got around to the grafting pen there were three lambs in there.  Okay, I must have gotten confused, so I checked the other jug pens again.  Nope, I had been at the right pen.  At least four hours after she'd had her first lamb, Short Round had a second lamb...and now she had three lambs :-o.

Early wasn't in the best of shape, but we finally got him squared away as best we could and I brought him home with me that night.  I don't fault Short Round for not getting him up and going better on her own.  She would have under normal conditions.  She was a good mother and always raised good lambs.  She could count to two though and she knew she was already taking care of two lambs so I'm sure she just did not understand what had happened.  

Early was a delight in every way.  He was cute and smart and funny and just a corker.  Once I got to know Short Round I realized she was where he'd gotten his big personality.  She's a delight as well and has become one of my all time favorite sheep.

Since we're including treat information about each sheep I'll tell you first that the old flock ewes don't really know anything about cookies and crackers.  They are not pets and they don't really care to be pets.  Short Round and her daughter Ellie hopped off the trailer when they got here the next year and she took one look around and said "No problem, I can be a pet sheep.  Whatchu got in the way of treats, lady?"

Short Round will eat anything.  I mean anything.  I think if I handed her a Big Mac, she'd eat it.  I've never seen anything like it :-D.  One of her favorite treats is bananas.  I'd like to think B. Willard taught her to eat those, but I have a feeling she'd have figured it out on her own.  She also likes oranges and she loves pumpkins too, but seriously, she'll eat anything you hand her.

She's living in Easy Breezy because she's very arthritic, but on good days she still heads out to the yard for a graze.  She and Jared were special friends and I know she misses him almost as much as I do.  They always grazed the yard side by side and when Rocky died, she stayed out in the yard with Jared all afternoon.

The Renny Sweater

The Kentucky Shepherd's Market on Saturday went really well.  We had great vendors and a good crowd, excellent food, perfect weather and tons of fun.  Auntie Reg was there to keep things rolling in the booth so I was able to teach drop spindle lessons throughout the day and that made my day.

Well, maybe what really made my day was wearing my Renny sweater for the first time.  Yeah, I'd never even put it on after it was finished.  This is not the first time I've done that.  Remember the Rebecca Boone capelet story?  I've yet to wear the Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb poncho.

Why is that?  

The Rebecca Boone capelet knit up without a hitch if I remember correctly, but the Renny sweater took years to get the colors right and pattern settled.  I loved both items when they were finished, but I think I was worried the capelet would be too short or I'd look silly wearing it and that the Renny sweater wouldn't fit right or be comfortable to wear or something and then I would no longer love them as much.  

You'd think after learning my lesson about the capelet that I wouldn't be so funny about wearing the other two items.  I wonder if part of the poncho is because of the trauma of losing Abby and Early.  I miss those two lambs especially, but I've also backed way off enjoying all the lambs like in the old Lamb Camp days.  The poncho was made for lambing time.

I got lots of compliments on my sweater Saturday and when I told the story of not wearing it before, everyone understood and one knitter even finished my sentence for me "...you were afraid you'd no longer love it."  

That might be the beauty of gathering together for events like these.  I ended the day feeling inspired and encouraged and...a little less crazy.  And, like the Rebecca Boone capelet, I now love the Renny sweater even more.

To Early, With Love From Ellie

Once upon a time there was a dear sweet little lamb named Early who was the delight of every single person who ever met him...except maybe that one time with Maisie.  I had planned to write a "letter" to him from his sister Ellie telling him about this small shawl...but I just can't.

I spun the yarn for this during the 2024 Tour de Fleece.  It is Ellie's lamb fleece.  It's soft and cozy and the shawl is not too big and with just enough whimsy that it feels fitting for a little gift to Early.

I'd originally planned to photograph it with Ellie, but everyone is as hot and tired of this awful long summer as I am and the barn was hot and the sun was glaring and there was nothing fun about any of it and I just walked back out.

What about under the tree...

Yes, this little tree.  No longer a spindly sapling.  

 

And I noticed that the flowers I thought I'd been knitting might actually have been little oak trees.

The pattern for this is Pumila by Ayano Tanaka.  I had to go with a modified edge because I kept messing up her design and that wasn't very fun.  I really needed this to be fun and a success.  Karen to the rescue and I ended up enjoying this project very much.

The 2024 Tour De Fleece

The 2024 Tour de Fleece started last Saturday.  I got off to a slow start...but at least I've finally started.  I can't explain why I haven't been doing all sorts of fun fiber work lately.  I love my sheep and I love their wool and I love to do all the fun stuff you can do with wool.  This used to be What I Did.  

I couldn't come up with an exciting Tour plan ahead of time and finally, in a Do. Something. move, grabbed a bag of Ellie.  That was a perfect choice.  She is a perfect reminder of why I do all this work.  She's soft and slightly silky and a wonderful creamy white color and her wool practically spins itself and she's one of my favorite sheep.  Her yarn is going to be beautiful and I'm already thinking about what I'll do with it.

I used to think of Ellie mostly as Early's sister, but now I think of her almost more as Short Round's daughter.  I still don't let myself think about Early very much. When I decided to bring his mom over here when it was time for her to retire, I figured it was the least I could do for him and I thought of her as Early's mom.  Now she's also Ellie's mom and just Short Round herself and has become one of my very favorite sheep too.  

This is why I do all this work.  

Don't forget to enjoy your work.

Maybe don't put in so much garden stuff next year.

Bea and I have been riding our bike a lot this summer.  I took this picture on the evening of the summer solstice.  It was almost 9:00.  I wish I could get the camera to capture the blur of the ditch as we zoom past.  I think that would be a neat picture.  This is nice too, but Bea's shadow in front of the blur of grass would be extra fun :-).  

She does a great job riding in the back basket and I really enjoy riding with her.  She stands with her front feet up on the basket edge and I love feeling her leaning around me to see what's coming up.  I have no interest in riding like the Tour de France, but once again our Ravelry group is enjoying brilliant written commentary about the actual race from one of our long time members. I look forward to that every year.

It's not too late to join in.  You can find us here if you want some team fun and support or just spin on your own.  It's fun!  

It's what we do :-).

Keep Those Cards And Letters Coming

I know it would be way more professional to have a website with a "buy it now" button and a way to easily calculate shipping costs and an immediate "thank you for your order" response, but those sites are expensive and fairly time consuming to maintain and just don't feel like the way our small farm operates.

I have LOVED getting your order emails with stories about who your favorite sheep is or which story is your favorite or how long you've been following along.  No one has followed the blog since a specific date.  They've followed "since Maisie was a baby".  Or Biscuit.  Or Baaxter.  Or Early.  Lots of Early love.

I also love that most people are saying they are excited about the yarn, but extra excited about the book of stories.  I'm also a little nervous about that as it's much more a booklet than a book and after spending so many hours trying to put that small collection together I was quite sure I would never attempt anything bigger.  

Now, a week or so away from "sending it to print" and being actually a little proud of what I got back, even though it's small, I think maybe I might try to write an actual book.  The stories are important.  Those animals are important...and not just to me.  When you share a story back, whether it's a story from here or a story from your life, it's a story that means something.  That's important.

I should have made it mandatory that you share your favorite sheep or a story with your order, because that's been the best part of the last couple of days. I think I've responded back to everyone who shared a memory, giving a little extra tidbit in return.  Let's keep that going.

Is you send me a story, I'll send you back one in return.  No purchase necessary.  No time limit.  If you are having a happy or a sad day and would like or need a story, send me an email with a story or at least just tell me who your favorite sheep is that day and I'll send one back.  It's fun :-D.

I'll do my best to answer as quickly as possible.  And, as always, if you ever don't get a response to an email, please check back because I get a stupid amount of 'not fun story' emails and sometimes things get lost.  

So here's an extra story for the Early folks...

I think everyone knows that Short Round is Ellie's mom.  I'm not sure everyone remembers that she was also Early's mom.  Before anyone thinks badly of her for not taking care of Early, that's a whole 'nother story and it was completely NOT her fault.  I'll share that story some other time.  She was a very good mother.

I never really had any real connection with Short Round like I did Cheeto or Krista.  Those two ewes, while being just part of a commercial flock, were friendly old ewes and became part of my family.  Short Round...well, Short Round was just Short Round, but I thought that sweet Early, who didn't get a chance to do much with his life, would have at least wanted to take care of his mom so she came over here to pension out.

Does that wrinkly nose look familiar?  There is no denying who his momma was :-).  So Short Round got on the trailer that day as a "just a sheep" (but they are never just sheep) and walked off the trailer here with Ellie a pet.  I sure didn't expect her to become friendly, but she settled right in and is now one of my favorite sheep.  Maybe Cheeto and Willard helped with that.  

I'm sure Willard taught her to eat banana peels, one of his very favorite treats.  That's what she's hoping I'm bringing her in the first picture.  She also eats baby carrots.  Petunia will eat a few, too, but that's about it for healthy snacks around here.  No one else would dream of eating anything that wasn't bread or crackers or cookies ;-).  

* * * * *

Just as stories should not go without saying, neither should thanks.  I am so incredibly grateful for all the yarn box orders the last two days.  I was so worried about where all my sheep would end up (again not the most professional), but even the emails from people I'd not met before were obviously long time friends.  Thank you!

I have another batch of yarn in the washer right now.   The sun is shining and there's a nice breeze across the porch, so I think it will dry quickly and I can keep packing.  I think there are only 20 or so skeins left after this group :-o.

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.

Well This, Then...

Well, this happened yesterday...

...and then this happened 12 hours later :-o.

Lamb or freak April snow...tough call ;-).  Lamb first; snow post tomorrow!  

You know who she is :-).  I named her Ellie :-).  Here is a bit more of her story:

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She and her mom, Short Round, are hanging out in Easy Breezy and after only a little bit of eye rolling from Cheeto and B. Willard, everyone is quite happy...especially me :-).

Sound asleep on her bunk bed last night.  Here's a bit more of the night check:

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Lamb Camp at Equinox Farm, Cynthiana, Kentucky :-)

The Golden Child's Sister

We've been calling this sweet lamb "the golden child", but we all know Early was the real golden child.  Sad, but sweet to see his cute little nose and be reminded how soft, warm and snuggly he was.  She's a beauty.

Welp...

My iPhone sent me a year in review "Memory" this morning.  I used to get those fairly frequently, but maybe my phone knew this wasn't the year to keep hammering things.  I almost didn't watch it, but I took a deep breath and hit "play"...and got sucker punched right from the start.  

Early...with his sweet nose tucked up in my sweatshirt sleeve.  I'd forgotten he liked to do that.  I hadn't forgotten about him bouncing up the road.  I just hadn't been able to bring myself to watch it.  Sound asleep next to me.  He felt like cotton.  Watching my hand move brought that feeling back in a way a still picture apparently can't.

The videos surprised me.  I had needed to free up space on my phone back in the summer and deleted everything up through May.  Backed up of course, but I was honestly a little relieved to no longer chance seeing his pictures anymore.  There were a lot of pictures of Early.

I didn't think about needing to leave all those pictures on for a year in review "memory".  I didn't think about a lot of things this year.  Or...I thought about too many things this year.  And as much as I tried to think about all the good and beautiful things, what mostly stayed front and center was all the junk I shouldn't have been thinking about and it was a heavy weight that I just couldn't figure out how to set down.

I was/am disappointed in myself.  I didn't handle all the 2020 crap very well.  So many missed opportunities.  So little to show for so much opportunity.  So many tears.  I feel like I failed at almost everything.  Myself, my horses, my craft, my business...

I did show up every day and I took care of my family.  On days I'm trying to be kind to myself I think there were times that might have been good enough.  And I took pictures.  And knowing I wasn't the only one needing a place of respite, I tried to share as many of them as I could.  And most days I am convinced that was good.

So here we sit.  So many things I wish I'd done differently.  I wish I'd not deleted all the pictures from the first part of the year.  I'm sure there were pictures of Hank in there.  Who else, now gone?  What other things do I wish my battered brain could now remember?  

But just like the year itself, there was a little gift in this "memory".  Tucked deep away in the archives of my phone's battered brain was a folder of videos.  Videos that I would probably have never looked at again.  Videos that I needed to see.  To remember that he felt like cotton.  

Even the bad years can be beautiful.

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The 2021 Calendars

Equinox Farm Calendar

From the back cover...

"As most of you know, I really struggled with creating the farm calendar this year.  2020 was a year of incredible loss on and off the farm and I've heard so many folks talking about how much they are looking forward to welcoming the new year and putting the old year behind them. I can't help but agree...and yet, in having to look back through all the photos I took throughout this strange, sad year, I actually found so very much to be grateful for. I hope I’m not alone in that.

So, once again, Miss Tilly is still keeping our feet warm, but now Kate is mostly just trying to keep herself in line.  Salt has taken on as many of Hank's duties as she can and hearing her deep ba-roo makes me smile.  Betsy is still on house arrest for not only the menacing of birds, but now also sweet little Possum out in the barn. Every so often I catch a glimpse of orange out of the corner of my eye and can't help but hope that Comby is napping in the sun somewhere nearby. 

As always, a very special thanks to Saint Tim for doing all the hard work and heavy lifting and a grateful thank you to all of you who have become such an important part of our farm family.  You were spot on in voting to give everyone a Victory Lap.  I hope you enjoy welcoming the new year with this calendar."

The Victory Lap was hard...but it was the right thing to do...if for no other reason than to force me to go back and look at pictures from when the year was new and some of my oldest and dearest friends were still pretty young at heart.

I like the new format.  The calendar is a bit larger, but not outrageously so.  It was a bit more expensive to print, but luckily I "know a guy" ;-).  The shipping will be a bit more too, but hopefully not outrageously so.  

The big pictures are a little bigger...but so are the little pictures and I like that.

There are more columns (7 days) than rows (weeks) which left a gap at the bottom, so I filled that in with a little something, sometimes a story, sometimes just some thoughts.  I like that, too.  The calendar feels maybe a bit too personal at times, but as the only place it will be for sale is here with us, not at a random crowd festival, I think that's okay.

Of course there's Hank...

...and Early and his adopted moms and dads.

...and Comby with some of his oldest and dearest friends.

Lamb Camp

The Lamb Camp calendars are comfortingly the same.  Lots of cute lambs and good mommas...

...and Early doing what I hope we all remember most about him.

The Lamb Camp calendars are still $10.00.  The Equinox Farm calendars are $16.50.  The shipping, which has become the bane of my existence these last few days, is where it gets a bit messy.  

For the past couple of years I was able to use the USPS flat rate envelopes no matter where in the country I was shipping. The new calendar doesn't fit in those envelopes.  This could be good news if you are close by because it may actually be cheaper shipping to you now.   If you live in California, the shipping could cost around $15.00...if I'm understanding everything correctly.

To make this even more exciting, I'm going to try to do all the shipping from home this year rather than stand in line at the crowded post office every day.  Also, I realize that UPS or FedEx might possibly be cheaper...but I don't have those options in my small town.  Thank goodness for the USPS.

While especially in this year of no fiber festivals, these calendar sales are going to be an important fund raiser for the farm, I also know that the farm calendar is important to many people who look forward to turning the page on each month, each year.  

2020 was hard on everyone.  I'm sorry the costs have gone up.  If you are not in a position to pay for a more expensive calendar this year, send what you can.  It will all work out somehow and 2021 will be better if we have Hank, Salt, Tilly, Kate, Comby and Possum at our back.  Maybe not Betsy so much ;-).

As always, if you are interested in buying a calendar or anything else from the farm shop (except for the felted pumpkins that I just can't seem to get made this year :-o) just drop me an email and tell me what you would like to order.  Don't forget to include your address.  I'll send everything out from my "on farm postal desk" (:-o) and include an invoice and return envelope and you can drop a check back in the mail.

As always, always...thank you for everything.