Lamb from Scratch

At the beginning of last week, I was feeling a bit scattered and run-down.  I had all these projects I wanted and needed to complete (both sewing and knitting), but I had no desire or energy to work on any of them.  As I mentioned last week, a friend suggested I try a small project to get my knitting mojo back.  I had just the pattern in mind.

A little while ago, one of my favorite designers, Susan B. Anderson (I know, you've heard a lot about her from me), designed a lamb pattern made from her very own handspun wool.  The lamb was so cute and it was so neat that Susan got to use her own yarn.  I've been wanting to learn to spin.  But that's another story for another time.

Originally, Susan named the pattern Lambspun, but had to go back and change it because apparently Lambspun is actually the name of a fiber arts company.  So it is now called Lamb from Scratch.  This name fits as well!

Back before Christmas my mom & I went to a local farm who had posted fliers about an open house they were holding.  We hadn't been to this place before and thought it would be interesting to check out. At the time, we didn't realize it was someone's farm.  The woman holding the open house had a building full of looms and fiber crafts.  It was obvious that weaving was her thing - seriously - she had several HUGE looms.  But she also had some nice handspun yarn.  That's what I was most interested in.  So I picked up and put down several hanks of yarn, in varying colors.  After putting them all back, we walked around a bit and when we made our way back to the beginning, I picked out 2 hanks - one lovely brown & cream, the other dyed purples and blues and pinks - with just the right amount of sparkles.  We decided this one would be neat for my sister.  I haven't yet decided what I'll make from that skein.  Out of the entire lot, the brown & cream skein I purchased was the softest - which surprised me because most of the other fiber she had available was a bit coarse.  

There were other items available for purchase, but....let's just say they weren't quite our style, and some of them things we could easily do ourselves. What I did take from the open house (aside from the yarn) was that if I ever was interested in learning to spin, here was someone who could teach me.  It's good to have those resources available.

Okay - so back to my quick project.  The brown & cream yarn I purchased would be perfect for this pattern.  The minute I saw the pattern on Susan's blog, I knew what I'd make it with. I purchased the pattern fairly quickly and then set it aside as holiday knitting took over.

Now, here I am, recuperating from the holidays and I've been able to pick it back up again.

I finished this little lamb in only a couple days.  It could be done in a day if you have the time.  I had most of the body finished in just a couple hours.  It was actually the little pieces that took me the longest.

I stuffed his body with fiberfill and poly-pellets.  I used the toe of a sock for the pellets, as mentioned way back when by another friend.  This worked well.

When I finished him up and embroidered the face, I was anxious to get photos.  So after munchkin was in bed, I threw on my scarf and coat, pulled on my winter boots and some fingerless mitts, and trudged out in the backyard through the snow for a late-night photo shoot.  I kinda like how they turned out.

I did get some photos in the daylight, and they're good too - but it was neat to play around with the camera at night.

Now, I'm feeling as though I've actually accomplished something.  I've almost completed all the knitting for Mom's bag, and once that's done, I'll move on to J's gloves. :)

Hooray for instant gratification!