Spring, And A Man's Thoughts Turn To...

More sheep. What else?

Jeff went sheep shopping last weekend and chose four more from the Vinds' French Creek Hill Farm (no website) closed flock of Jacobs: two four-horned ewes, one two-horned ewe, and an adorable two-horned wether.

Meet Morag, "my" four-horned ewe:



And this is Jeff's favorite (just shorn), known so far only by her number:



I can't wait to see the name he chooses for her. We're out of cheese names, having named the wether Manchego. (There's a sick joke in there.)

I finished Jeff's double-thickness, handspun homegrown Jacob hat. Here he is, cheffing some more Indian food, while wearing it (yes, it's very cold in our house.)



I knit it top-down, and then continued down and down and down, and ended by making another top (think "sock toe") and then I stuffed that end inside the first end. Like a dubbelmossa. I made it too long to wear without folding up a brim, but when folded, the brim isn't long enough. Maybe it stretched, because Jeff slept in it. Sigh. Time to tink and do it over.

Every time I make a top-down hat, the end (the part by one's ears) comes out too loose. Should I go down a needle size for the final ribbing? Decrease? What do you do?

At least I had a few days of pride in my first Farm-Grown Garment.

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With some great tug toys (which benefit dog rescue!), Boris and Molly have learned to play together indoors without scrapping. Another puppy milestone, and thank goodness - Molly's intimidation tactics were giving me heart palpitations. I have never heard a dog make the kinds of noises she makes, and she is loud.

I think these toys worked because the dogs realized they needed one another to play tug if it was to be any fun - with squeaky toys, all they wanted to do was get the item away from each other, and it caused a lot of crabbiness (and had great potential for giving me a stroke.)



Emma continues to impress us with her intelligence and sweetness... not wishing to disturb Yoda's sleep (in "Emma's" chair), Em naps like this:



Were that all the Big in the world were as concerned with the Small... At least here on the farm, they coexist peacefully.

I stayed up late last night, assembling quilt squares. I may have some blocks to show you soon - but they are practice blocks in a fall colorway (I haven't sewn for a while and didn't want to mess up my new Lakehouse fabrics!) Happy spring to you.