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.

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.  

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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.

Flashbacks

The best part of maintaining a blog, at least to me, is having a verbal and/or photographic record of what you'd like to remember. The ability to be able to scroll back or search for a specific date, person or activity is priceless.  The lack of regular posts lately has been the biggest only disappointment in my blogging "career".  

Losing Abby last year was a blow.  Looking back, I'm happy I didn't do much actual blogging while she was with me.  Blogging takes time.  Frequently a lot of time.  During her short life I concentrated primarily on taking care of her.  Thankfully.  Enjoyably.  I'm glad I didn't lose any time to sitting in front of a computer. 

In the months that followed though, I struggled to get back on my blogging feet.  Honestly, my own two feet were a struggle sometimes.  I'm not going to try to explain that because if you are reading this blog, you already understand.  I guess it's easier to break a good habit than a bad...and here I sit with a a year of nearly empty pages.

Instagram filled in a lot of gaps.  Frequently a lot of gaps.  It's so much easier to do a quick post right on the spot using just your phone.  You don't have to go inside and download pictures from your camera.  It's easy for people to leave comments, ask questions...  I have no idea what is going on with Blogger comments anymore.  I'm so sorry.  I am as frustrated as you are.

For all it's trouble though, Blogger is still an important tool.  At least to me.  And I'm glad there are still a few of us fossils out here keeping our journals, even if they aren't daily.  They are treasures.  They teach, they inspire, they connect us to friends and family.  They cheer people up...and sometimes make them cry.  You know...life.

And when I'm old and senile and living in a nursing home, I'd like to be able to look back through my old blog posts and remember that in May, 2019, the locust trees were amazing.  The prettiest I saw.

Flashback - Honey Locusts

A couple of new puzzles :-).

Equinox Farm

Today is our 15th anniversary.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  And it seems like we've been here forever.  Now that I think about it, I haven't heard our farm referred to as the "Douglas place" or the "Singer place" in several years.  Usually now it's "the place with the sheep."  I guess we've become part of the history now.  Or the sheep have.

I found some old pictures Tim took from the early days, the day we first saw the farm and some of the early work we did.  I thought I'd share them here because they are fun to look at and try to put then and now together...and if the house ever burns down, they'll live on forever on the internet.  Worst Case Scenario reason #168 for blogging... 

From the road.

This is looking at the back of the barn.  Tim took this picture from what is now the back of the Del Boca Vista paddock.  I am standing near the gate to the arena.  The corgi is sweet Sophie and the collie is my beloved Sam.

Standing at the back corner of the barn, looking out to the road.  Tim is standing pretty close to where the Grahaminator2000 is now.

This is the barn lot.  The weeds on the left are now where the front corner of the Del Boca Vista fence is, the two gates that make the corner.  The sliding doors are the barn aisle.  Those doors now roll all the way to the right along with two more doors that cover the end openings for the inside and added on outside shed.   

Looking out towards the back.  I think that's basically where the curved alleyway goes down the hill to the left, heading to the middle paddocks.

The gate at the front corner of the horse side of the barn.  Now the fence curves down to the left, following the driveway.

Looking up from the road.

The old stripping room, now where the Wool House stands.  

The corn crib on the left is now the garage.

Looking at those two buildings from the yard.

View from the back corner.

Closer view of the big pond, now known as the skating pond :-).  Where Tim is standing is now all full of trees and undergrowth.  

The old cistern.  Now the home of the greenhouse.

I find this picture one of the most amazing.  I'd forgotten how you could see the neighbors across the sheep field.  The raised bed garden is the asparagus bed.  Punkin is buried underneath; Abby on the right side.

There were two round rock gardens, one on each end of this.  There were quite a few little gardens or landscapings scattered throughout the yard.  I wanted to consolidate and clean them up so we connected the two gardens here and it made a nice natural division from the yard to the orchard.  

I fought weeds in here for years though and finally this summer I'd had enough and we took it all out.  I'd hoped to transplant the bleeding heart, but I couldn't find it.  I should have dug it just after it bloomed this spring.  I'm hoping a piece will poke through the grass next spring.  I did get my favorite rose bush moved and so far it seems okay.

This must have been the next spring when they started fixing some eroded areas and sink holes we and had the riding arena enlarged.

I'm not exactly sure what this is.  I know the wet weather creek runs through there, but there isn't water anywhere else so maybe this is leftover from the spring fed pond that used to be out front.  

It had been filled in years before, but I believe it needed some work and they also put in a bridge to drive from one side of the creek to the other.  Cecil Aguilar later added the stone work to all the bridges and culverts.

This is looking out back towards the Frog Pond.  The guys doing the grading work wanted to just tear out the little pond.  I'm glad I fought to save it.  Not only is it pretty, it's also good habitat for birds , rabbits and frogs, monarch butterflies, sometimes muskrats and even a skunk family has lived in there.

The barn.  Tim tore out almost everything on the right hand side and put it the big sheep stall.  

And the rock.  Oh the rock.  

This is something else I barely remember.  We walked up and down the grass hill to get onto the porch.  There is a concrete sidewalk to the front door and I think the couple we bought the farm from were front door folks.  I primarily use the back door and it didn't take long for this to get messy.  The rock sidewalk was a huge improvement.

I think pretty much everything was a huge improvement.  We've let some shrubs overgrow that I wish I'd stayed on top of better.  The beautiful tidy porch...will never be the same, but it's a porch that is well used and well loved and I think it's happy even though I'm sure it would appreciate an overhaul.  I think the rest of the farm is happy, too.  

Happy Anniversary!  We're glad to be here.

*     *     *

And if you are still here, leave a comment telling us your favorite part of the farm and Sunday night I'll draw for a winner and send out a 2019 Equinox Farm calendar.  They are almost done and ready to print :-D.

A Is For Abby

For anyone not following social media, we lost Abby on Friday.  She'd gone in for a check up, was still a little off, we decided to do one more round of antibiotics and she had a reaction to the shot and they couldn't save her.  The drug was RESFLOR.  Please spread the word - DO  NOT EVER USE ON LAMBS.  

I have taken this incredibly hard.  And I'm going to leave it at that.  

I had not yet done her week three recap and had been looking forward to working on that Friday afternoon.  I didn't think I could do that now and added that to the list of things I was angry that Abby and I were cheated out of.  

I never told her adoption story.  I never told the story about us almost going to Chicago.  Her peeing in my Cheerios one morning.  I never took a funny video of her eating vanilla wafers.  I'd never even taken an official photograph of her.  She was never going to get a mug shot.  Be on the Christmas card.  Get her first hair cut.  Grow up. 

Reg talked me into going ahead with the recap "memory".  Abby had earned that and her life should be celebrated.  I figured if I could get through that I could make her a mug shot, too.  My brain is still too fizzy though and all I could think of for her "rap sheet" was her name.  It's taken me all afternoon to write these few paragraphs.

Abby's Week Two Recap

Abby's having a much better second week at Equinox Farm :-).  She's feeling much better, much to the cat's dismay.  Still hasn't figured out the grazing/eating thing, but she's working on it.  Here is a fun recap.

Life is starting to settle down some.  Not to jinx anything...

Aaaand We're Back...And We Brought Company

Sorry to be blogless for so long.  I've had the perfect storm of no computer internet access...and for anyone not following IG/Twitter/FB...

This is Abby Lamby.  She was two weeks old yesterday and, boy, has she had a tough two weeks.  She had a very traumatic birth (sheepmom had to do mouth to mouth to even get her started) and ended up with some serious complications that have kept several shepherds and vets working together as what is now being called Team Abby over on Instagram.  I just love that!  

So yes, she came from Nistock Farms so she's sweet and beautiful and smart and tough...like all sheep ;-).   Her dad is Brick and Brick's dad was Rocky, which reminds me I've never done an official welcome to the farm post for "the boys".  It's going to take me a bit to catch up. 

I also have new Lamb Camp photos to share...once Abby lets me spend some time in the office ;-).