Thursday 15 May 2014

Oregon Coast Cowl

So we travelled down the Oregon coast this past December, when the temperature hit record lows... We were in our RV and F R E E Z I N G ... which thus inspired me to whip up this little dream of a cowl.


Super easy pattern.  I wanted something reversible; repeatable but not totally boring.  Something I could wear with just about anything (also inspired by my limited travelling wardrobe). And soft as all get-out.  So I opted for a Royal Alpaca in grey.



**I used less than 1 skein for this project.  You can customize however you like.  Choose your yarn.  Choose your needles according to the yarn.  Knit for as long as you like it.  I kept going till it would wrap around my neck 3 times, not loose, but not too tight either.**

Cast on 32 sts.  (or any multiple of 8, depending on how wide you want it).
Row 1-4: Knit 4, Purl 4, repeat to end.
Row 5-8: Purl 4, Knit 4, repeat to end.
Rows 9 on:  Repeat rows 1-8.

When you are done, join ends in a simple stitch.  I twisted mine once before I joined the ends to have a flip in the cowl.  Also, make sure you end on a row 8 so when you join the end, the pattern flows.





Monday 12 May 2014

Lambing? Check!

I guess I've been a bit remiss in updates about how the lambing all went this year. (Sorry 'bout that.)

Well... I'm happy to report 10 healthy lambs running around our little 2 acre piece these days.  (Whew!)  So yes, Stella and Sunshine birthed 2 healthy lambs without missing a beat, as suspected.  Dulcie did birth triplets again, and since we knew to keep an eye on her, we watched all 3 born, easily and quickly, and dear mama Dulcie took all three of the little rams and is nursing them all!  Wow.  She is my rock star.

Moo, on the other hand... she birthed twins again, the first born easily and the "right" way... #2 came out backwards, and with a great deal of effort by mama and quite a bit of help from me.  Poor thing.  I wonder if she's just not cut out for the whole thing.   She nurses and cares for them amazingly, but the whole birth thing?  I shudder to think what would happen if we weren't around to help her.


Moo and her lambs

And Smudge?  Gosh, we didn't even think she was pregnant, and she popped a single lamb out one evening while we were having dinner.  Poor thing had this bewildered look on her face like she had NO idea what was happening to her.  She took to mothering like a natural though, and a bossy mama too, always yelling for her little boy.  Good practise, I hear, for a young ewe like Smudge to only have the 1 lamb to deal with.
Sunshine's little ewe lamb
So here we are, several weeks later, and everyone doing very well.  A happy shepherdess over here :)