Sheep

I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is…. Well to be honest I don’t know who she is. This is the swap surprise project I’ve been working on for Meow Meow Head. She is the Simply Knitting Sheep designed by Alan Dart for Simply Knitting Magazine. I made a few minor changes, the most major one being that she’s knit almost completely in the round where the pattern suggests knitting each of the 18 pieces flat and seaming as much as possible. I took the complete opposite approach and only knit the dress straps and eyes flat. That saved a lot of sewing time but I still ended up putting in 40+ hours into this little cutie. I had no idea when I cast on how much work this would take. But thank goodness she’s off to such a good home. I think MMH is the only person who could love her more than me. I’ve left it up to MMH to name her.

I am incredibly proud of this finished piece and definitely rate it among my top 5 knitting accomplishments. This is one where no matter how good the knitting is the assembly really makes the finished object look hand crafted with love verses home-made. While I’m a much better knitter than seamstress, I am pleased to report that my sewing skills are finally up to speed enough so that they do not to detract from the quality of the finished object.

If I had it to do again, would I make another knit toy? Certainly not one this complicated. But the effort is worth the result. Ask me again in a couple years when I’ve forgotten how many hours this little sheep took. In the meantime I hope MMH enjoys her company.