Pam, the Shepherdess

I have a small flock of sheep. They are surprisingly low maintenance little creatures and they bring me much joy. Okay, so they're not real sheep, which is probably why they're so darn easy to care for. They are little felted sheep that I knitted from wool yarn. I found the pattern at my library and I though it was charming and that maybe I'd knit one some day. I copied the pattern, shoved it in my knitting file and forgot all about it. Last year after I broke my neck I was looking for some small knitting projects that I could do while I recuperated and I came across the sheep pattern. The pattern is really intriguing. You begin knitting the sheep at the hind legs, work your way over the butt and back of the sheep, knit the head and then finish up with the belly until you reach the hind legs again. It's kind of like skinning a sheep but in reverse. You wind up with this floppy little sheep skin minus the carcass. Not that I've ever skinned any animal before. Gross! I can barely handle raw boneless skinless chicken breasts without gagging.After you knit the sheep, you toss it in a washing machine filled with hot water and it felts into a lovely little sheep skin. Then you stuff the sheep with polyfil, shape the ears and that's it! I was absolutely enchanted with my first little lambie. It was just so darn cute! So I knit another one.... and another one.... and another one....and another one and the next thing I knew, I had a flock. I gave some of the sheep away to good homes and the rest reside in my living room where they graze on the snippets of yarn and sewing thread that litter my floor.
I thought my flock was looking a bit small so I knit up a couple of new little guys this week to add to the menagerie. Five sheep is a good size flock for a small house like mine. I swear I'm not going to kit anymore. Then again, maybe one more dark gray one....or maybe an all black one....or a larger light gray one.... or a brown one or......