Those Knitted Goats

 I have been asked to share the deep dark secret of where I got my pattern for my knitted goats. And after I was asked I had the "duh" moment. WHY didn't I share it sooner!? Oh well, better late than never... Christmas is coming my friends, and since I'm not offering these fun little knitted animals anymore, you'd better get cracking at them! Hehehe. Think of it this way, if you've always wanted to learn how to knit, then here's your chance. You're welcome. ;)

 The pattern is from a seller on Etsy, and you can find it by clicking HERE!

In The Shop!

Yep, you guessed it! My farmyard sets are in the shop now! Right now, all proceeds from sales will go to paying for a new goat kid, so shop ma' dears, shop! ;) 

27.5 Hours Later

It's finished.

My first, whole knitted farmyard set (minus the goat who was made in December) has finally been completed.

This set includes one bay horse (I've decided it's a Cleveland Bay), A Holstein cow, A Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, a Suffolk sheep, and two chickens (who were originally supposed to be Barred Rocks, but apparently you can't get "barred" yarn...). All the animals have been hand knit in 100% organic cotton yarn. Sooooo nice!

I must admit that I've taken a particular liking to the cow... She says her name is Molly, and she's quite amiable in temper. ;)

I have to show off the pig too! This is a different pattern from the first pig I made, and this new pig is now to scale with the rest of the animals! I think she is so cute! She fits perfectly in your hand (or in two hands of a child!), and she has a nice feel to her; compliments of the cotton yarn. :)

I do believe I shall name her, Charlotte.

And then there's the horse, of course....

He hasn't told me what his name is yet, but perhaps he'll tell his new owner...

Now, to finish the next set! 

Black and White

I had the delightful pleasure of creating an Alpine goat this week, and I thought I'd share some pictures with y'all. :)

Below is what a real Alpine looks like:

Photo courtesy of Iron-Rod Alpines

 And this is my rendition:

The only part I wasn't able to replicate was the white patch on the hind legs. Knitted goats are just too chubby to be able to do that... ;)

The Equines Have Landed

Two of them, to be exact. They're quite small though. Much too small to be ridden, as they stand at a petite 2 hands high (1 "hand" = 4"). These two stable buddies are about to be sent off to Kentucky, but I thought I might first share some pictures of my latest creations. :)

The flashy black and white is a Tennessee Walking Horse named 'Spirit'...

And the sorrel is a handsome Quarter Horse who goes by the handle of 'Montoya'...

I have to admit that I'm a little pleased with how these two turned out. Spirit especially. These were both custom orders, and I had to use some pictures as my guide to their colors, markings and build. 

Now, back to making goats! LOL. 

Miss Jane Clucky

I am beginning to work on a knitted farmyard set for a friend, but first needed to make some "mock-ups" to get an idea of scale. So here's a practice chicken: Miss Jane Clucky. :)

The Latest Addition

The knitted goats were getting bored, and wanted some different company other than that of more goats.

So I obligingly made Rosie for them...

Made with baby pink yarn of oh-so-soft cotton, Rosie doesn't fail to bring a smile around here. :)

 Yep, we got ourselves a pig around here.

Miss Rosie appears to be a purebred Yorkshire gilt (Yorkshire is a breed; 'gilt' is a term for a young female hog), and true to porcine fashion, she is quite rotund.

I had a few other name ideas for her, but went with Rosie in the end, in honor of Katherine Dunn's adorable Potbellied porker. (click link to be taken to Katherine's blog)

Unlike most pigs though, this Rosie doesn't eat much, which pleases me. I do tend to like the feed efficient types...

The pattern I used was... Interesting. I had bought it so I could make pigs that were to scale with the rest of my barnyard animals, but I found out after buying it that this pig is 6.5" high and 8" long. Way too big!!

But oh well. She's cute. I'll just have to tweak the pattern some, to get the right size.

I did also make a trio of sheep and a Border Collie dog this week, but I had a stroke of forgetfulness and completely forgot to get pictures of them before I shipped them off! Argh!

Next up on my needles are a few horses, and then most like more goats! LOL. I have been tickled pink at all the orders that have been coming in lately! Very nice...

K2, P2, SSK, PSSO, K to last 2, K2Tog

During WWII, it wasn't uncommon to see ordinary women pulled aside and questioned thoroughly by the secret police who had glimpsed something akin to my title, sitting on these ladies' laps while they were out and about in town. K2, P2, SSK, PSSO, K to last 2, K2Tog??? Surely it's a code written out by some genius, holding in it's puzzle the answer to total global denomination, and these women have to get those directions to the enemy who is paying a fortune for it.

Turns out it wasn't quite what those police officers had first thought. After much enlightenment, the women were allowed to go free, and keep their coded papers. For you see, what they had was not a mind boggling jigsaw puzzle. No, it was only their knitting directions.

 I had always said I would never knit. My earliest memories accompanied by that mere word were flashbacks to scratchy hats made with burnt orange Acrylic yarn, or worse, something made with the rainbow dyed acrylic that always seems to be on sale in JoAnne's Fabrics. You know, the skeins that look like someone put a poisonous snake into a blender and then copied the resulting colorway? Yep, that one.

But that wasn't the only reason I firmly said I would never stoop to that old craft. Open up any knitting book and prepare to be overwhelmed by pages upon pages that all say unintelligible sentences.K2, P2, SSK, PSSO, K to last 2, K2Tog? What on earth does that mean!?!? Not to mention you have to use those pointy sticks, er, needles that look like something from a toy knight's medieval jousting match... And you have to use TWO of those pointy needles! Sure, I may have two hands, but I only have ONE brain! Let's not forget all the mathematical knots you have to make with those tot-sized lances, either. Good heavens, you start taking pride in the fact that you finally learned the knit stitch, when you realize in dismay that now you have the learn how to do the purl stitch! Maybe people take up knitting as a way to act as a martyr... Hmm.

I did try knitting once, when I was about fourteen. And quickly threw the needles down in despair. My brain wasn't up to par when it came to battling the inanimate objects of wood and string. Nope, not I.

I continued on in my teen years, carefully avoiding all things related to knitting.

But then I learned to spin my own yarn...

And I wanted to make a baby hat...

And not only does making a baby hat involve picking up knitting needles, it involves using five needles at one time. To this day, I am still shocked that I did not faint during that adventure.

Somehow, some way, through much help of experience knitters, and pure stubbornness on my part, I found a hat starting to come off of my needles. And then I realized something as time went on: This knitting stuff was actually kind of fun! I swallowed some crow, and bought some better needles. I was done for. I'm just as bad as any knitter in these parts. Oohing and Aahing over yarns and square knitting needles. We jockey each other to feel the new cashmere yarn that has just come to the store in town, and we collectively sigh over the fingering weight baby alpaca. I rather like this textile world. Nowadays, making socks isn't beyond me, and someday I'm going to finish a whole shawl... I've got a couple in the makings but they can't seem to get past lift-off.

 K2, P2, SSK, PSSO, K to last 2, K2Tog? Bring it on. I know your game now, Ms. Knitting Code, and I accept your challenge. Let me grab my rapier of a knitting needle and we'll have a showdown...