Part Two of my report from Maryland Sheep and Wool – there was also shopping! I kept half of my suitcase empty on the way out, just in case I needed all of that space for purchases. Somehow, I showed remarkable restraint. (Or it might be that with a shop full of yarn at home, I was able to bypass most all of the yarn. Or maybe because when I do knit, I like knitting with things that we have here, or things that I’m considering adding in.) I did love all of the sheep-y items that were available, like this “Keeper of the Sheep” box. Speaking of keeping sheep, did I happen to mention how much I would like to have a flock of them? Good thing it’s against the neighborhood rules. However, my friend Janice lives in Iowa on 10 acres. Do you see any reason why she couldn’t have a flock of sheep? I don’t either. (Janice? Sheep?)
I also enjoyed seeing all of the sheep photos/photo-cards/paintings. Here are just a few that I bought. See the one in the bottom left corner? The photographer had been photoing several sheep just around the bend, and when he walked down this path he found this sheep had just given birth to the baby. I also like the one on the top left – the sheep eating yellow flowers. After watching the sheep herding demonstrations, you understand why they say that sheep aren’t the smartest animals in the kingdom. However, they’re a lot of fun to watch, and they sure provide us with some great fiber. (The Border Collies that herded the sheep? Brilliant. And they looked like it was all fun and games to them.)
I went to MDSW with Loopy Elf Donna (that was her petting the sheep in Monday’s post) and we arrived a day early. We had fun hitting a local shopping area and some antique stores. I bought this wonderfully preserved pair of baby socks, handknit in the early 1900’s. Aren’t they fun? I will have to have WH make a wee pair of sock blockers to display them on. I wish I knew the Knitter who spent hours knitting them up. (When I checked out, the sales gal said, “$24? Wow, that’s a lot of money for little socks.” Obviously not a knitter.) I wish I was good at translating this into a pattern for adult socks. I like how it looks. (Click on the photo to make it bigger. Does anyone recognize a pattern in there?)
We have cases and cases of yarn and Namaste bags to unpack today. Next week’s Sneak Up is going to be fun!
Sheri whothinkshercatswouldalsoobjecttohavingsheepinthebackyard
They look a lot like the socks Hattie designed for my sock club last year!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tendril-embrace-socks
Wah, sorry I missed you!!
Those socks look familiar… I will have to dig through some vintage patterns and see… I seem to recall seeing them on the cover of something. Maybe a Weldon’s?
Love those sheepie pictures, by the way. 🙂
I don’t know if the cats would object–it would be something else to watch, wouldn’t it?
(Says she with not even enough land to have a chicken, which would definitely keep the cats entertained)
My cat would be okay with sheep in the backyard. Debit D Dog would be another story. She barely lets roving and fleece in the house and inspects it all thoroughly before allowing it in.
I hope the boxes have arrived so you can ship all the new stuff to us!
Love the sheep-y cards.
I think I would get goats or alpacas before sheep, but they sure are cute.
PS our city does allow farm animals in city limits. One guy about 3 blocks from me has horses and lots of folks have chickens and I have a friend with pygmy goats so I could have a sheep.
Glad you had a fun time at MD Sheep & Wool…I skipped it this year since I’m going to Rhinebeck – just not enough time to do all the things I might like to do!! : )
Thanks for more updates on the MDS&W — love sheepy photos! Those socks are precious. Looks like they were knit top down and used a double-eyelet rib pattern — Wendy Johnson has a free toe-up pattern that I’ve based a couple of pairs on called Double Eyelet Rib Socks. Looks like The Baby Socks Knitter used a variation of the DER and knit through the back loop on the stitch btw the eyelets. Hope that helps!
I know what you mean about the sheep; I’ve been trying to get around the neighbourhood rules on that one,too. But at least we’ve got the most adorable tiny baby rabbit living in our yard, so I can’t complain too much.
I got to click your love button! I love that you put that there!
Since you bypassed yarn did any fiber come home with you??? I also think Janice needs to put in some sheep for you.
Janice needs sheepies. 🙂
And I just love that Keeper of the Sheep box! Any idea who made it?
Like BFF Sarah said–the socks look like a Weldon’s pattern. Check a copy of Nancy Bush’s book, Knitting Vintage Socks. May be something like that in there.
Love the little socks. I hope someone comes up with the pattern. My grandmother used to have little socks and slips with lace trim that my mother wore as a baby. BTW my mother is 93, so we are talking antiques here. I wonder where they are?
Little Arrowhead lace with an extra border stitch? I know that someone at Loopy Headquarters can probably figure it out and knit up another one in no time flat but it’s a fun puzzle.
I had my first order recently (under a different, real name) and it was an absolute joy — and I was very impressed by how fast it got to me. Makes me dizzy to think of the speed that boxes must fly in and out of your building!
The pattern looks like an upside down Hedera by Cookie A. I compared to a picture of my Hedera’s (which are knit top down).
The prospect of having very confused cats would make the idea of keeping sheep in the backyard most appealing. I would consider this payback for all the confusion cats cause.
Just think, you wouldn’t have to mow the lawn anymore, you would have fertilizer on tap (so to speak) and you would also have more yarn as well as confused pets ( and possibly neighbours too) now what can be wrong with that combination ? 🙂
fun time…love the sheep box!!
You could have sheep herding cats…. who knows. And I think Janice should indeed get some sheep, think of all that wonderful fleece.
I love that box,
Border Collies are amazing! I’m an animal trainer and worked with several at Sea World in San Diego and it just blows my mind how smart they are. I’d love to see them herding those sheepies instead of catching frisbees (although, that’s pretty cool to watch, too!).
Janice could have lots of sheep on 10 acres! And then there wouldn’t be so much to mow!! ( of course, then she’d be doing things like what we did tonight, worming and giving shots)
I love the box in the first photo, and the sheepy photography is great!
ps. don’t be fooled- sheep aren’t as dumb as they’d like us to think
I wish I had seen you at MDS&W!! I did see Anne and David and one other Spring Flinger. I didn’t originally plan to go, but a knitting friend offered to drive and make it a day trip, so I caved. I showed restraint too, but that was mainly because I left my credit cards at home and only brought cash. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have bought a wonderful sweater kit from Shelridge Farm! It was a fun day and just what I needed to cure the post-Fling blues I was feeling. :o)
Wow, you got some great pictures! I like the idea of having enough land for a sheep, but I’m going to stick to a cat and a dog rather than get into the whole farm animal aspect. I’m not sure I am quite up to dealing with the worming and the shots, though if our kitty gets sick I’m sure I will learn.
Gull wing?
I’ve got to go to one of these festivals soon. My Fling roomie wants me to join her for Rhinebeck…
I went to a large land-grant college (UC Davis). One of the annual events was the “Little International Livestock Show”, traditionally participated in by a bunch of college-age city-slicker students. They show horses, pigs, dairy cattle, beef cattle, and (of course) sheep. Guess which I showed…yup…sheep! And subsequently worked in the sheep barns for the next couple of years.
You’re right, our Maker endowed sheep with lovely coats to keep them, and us, warm. The brain cells were saved for the border collies (who, I agree, are among the canine world’s most brilliant examples!). Believe me…I had to train a sheep that outweighed me by a 125 pounds or so to behave in a show ring. Let me tell you, there is only so much one can train them to do! Hence, the origin of the concept of behaving like a flock of sheep.
But, as Handel so eloquently observed in his oratorio The Messiah…”Oh we like sheep”! (Apologies for omitting the comma….)
awwwwww……can’t you just imagine kitty on the back of the comfy-fluffy sheep…..
kneadin’ bisquits !!!~!?? how cute would that be ~!!@!?
Ooh, I love those socks — I’d definitely knit them! I wonder if someone could reverse-engineer them? Maybe if you brought them to sock summit…? 😉 I had to laugh about your sheep comment. When I was a kid, we asked my parents for horses, so they bought two sheep (?!), and let me tell you, they’re as dumb as they look. (And you can’t ride them; ask me how I know.) Heh.
Never mind the cats. . . I think Loopy would object! He’s pretty much locked in to being an only sheep. And let’s face it–he’s smarter than your average sheep.
In EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac there’s a baby sweater pattern that looks verrrry close to those little socks. (Poor quality, small photo on pg 16) She calls is “Gull Wing”. Those socks are sweet.
looks like gull lace separated by 1 twisted stitch. I think though there should be purls on either side of the twisted stitch so it will stand out. It’s hard to tell since they aren’t stretched. Sure are beautiful!!
What is the name of the photographer who did the sheep pictures?? LOVE the bottom left one.
I missed the MSWF this year, thanks for all the sheep picture. I feel like I was there!
Museum person hopping in- what are your plans for the socks? Please be really nice to them- they’re old! I would say get a photographer to take cool pictures you can blow up big and then keep the socks in a regulated safe environment, but that is not why you bought them. But be as gentle as possible- don’t stretch or pull or hang them so they are holding alot of their own weight. Be gentle with them! And if you do hang them up, take them down to lie flat every once in awhile.
I had to miss MDSW for the second year in a row (and I live in Baltimore!). My husband and I had to go to Charleston SC for our annual compliance conference and we went the shore route so that we could visit our college senior one last time before his graduation in 10 days and see his girlfriend’s senior art show. I am so glad we did that, but boy would it have been nice not to have it be the same weekend as the MDSW….fps.
I did the llama thing for 8+ years, but am not ready for sheep. llamas are very thoughtful and put all of their waste products into the same pile in the pasture. Sheep are not so thoughtful and make it nasty to go for walks in the back fields, which I enjoy doing daily with my puppies Sophie and Sumo. So, no sheepies for Janice…..