I've been having some grad school doldrums at work, and hexagons just weren't cutting it. I needed something soothing to do with my hands, something that would take attention, but no thought. These fit the bill:
Sheep!
A Felt Flock, by Bev Galeskas, knit in yummy soft Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, an 85% wool, 15% mohair single-ply yarn that I love to knit with and is perfect for felting. For the smaller sheep, I used one strand of the Lamb's Pride in oatmeal and size 10 needles. To make the second sheep larger, knit with two strands, one of Lamb's Pride and a second of Andean Treasure, a buttery-soft 100% alpaca yarn, on size 11 needles.
This project was just right. No matter what crafty, creative goodness I try out, I always come back to knitting. It's food for the soul. I used to prefer acres of stockinette so I could have the pleasure of watching it grow FAST, and making up my own sweater patterns, but for now, this was just what I needed: pattern knitting that requires attention to detail on every row, but no actual thought beyond what yarn to use.
And the results are cuddly and soft, and good to pet.
The sheep are ready to felt, and are shown here with an
alpaca I knit a couple of years ago. I may be too old for stuffed animals, but I still love to cuddle and pet my alpaca, and to use him as a pillow. I hope to get his sheepy brethren felted and stuffed this weekend, and then I'll have a whole family! Also, I might have ordered some more yarn to knit more sheep...oh, and possibly a pattern for
flamingos, too. :)
What feeds your soul when life hits a rough patch?
~Phosphorelated
They're not stuffed yet, but they'll still stand on their own!
At least for a bit. Here's an action shot with the grey sheep falling down:
I can't wait for them to dry so I can stuff and finish them! I'm having so much fun I even started another sheep, this one with two strands of undyed Stockbridge (a yummy 50/50 wool alpaca blend, the white yarn I used in the grey alpaca) and one strand of the oatmeal-colored Lamb's Pride. I'm too lazy to try to figure out how to modify the pattern to make bigger animals, so I'm sticking with the "add more strands" strategy for now. Fun, fuzzy, cozy, what's not to love?
