I made this needle felted Muffin and Mrs. Pepperpot before Mrs. P was gone. I knew I would not be able to afterwards...and I still think that's probably right. I'm crying now as I try to type this.
I don't think I was really that attached to Mrs. P herself. I think I was attached to her relationship with Muffin. Her relationship with me as she watched as we cared for her tiny lamb, continuing as her lamb grew up. As I cared for her as she grew so feeble in the end, while she continued to care for her little girl to the very end.
In the beginning I had big plans to knit a fancy cabled cardigan from her upcoming spring shearing. Something very Mrs. P. We talked about it all that first summer and into fall. I feel she would have "got it" when it was finished and we had our picture taken "dressed alike". I truly believe some sheep know there's a connection.
In the end, I sheared her myself after Dr. Bridge left and I salvaged what I could. I carefully washed it, then combed out all the mess and fiber break and then carded it all into batts which I then piled up and set on the coffee table and just enjoyed like that all summer.
It was a less than stellar summer all around and seeing a few of Muffin's tiny black face hairs still mixed in (click to biggify), still laying across her back, was comforting. I knew our special project was now going to be a blend of both sheep. Muffin could help her mom still make a special sweater.
I really didn't want to take on a huge Iknitarod project this year. I miss out on a lot of the fun Iditarod coverage when I'm in a big race as well, so I planned to find an easier project to for this year.
However, once stupid spring and summer comes I have very limited time to knit. Fall is usually a scramble as well. If I wanted to knit this sweater yet this year...it was going to have to be during the Iknitarod, my last bit of free not quite as busy time.
I was still hedging on taking on such a big challenge...and then my ravatar popped into my head. I enjoy creating those badges (scroll down the right side of the blog to see the past years) as much as the final project. Once I saw it, it couldn't be unseen...and Muffin, Mrs. Pepperpot and I are off to the Iknitarod.
I have 17 days to spin a sweater's amount of yarn. The pattern I picked has four colors, so there will be some fiber blending as well before the last 6 ounces of white and gray are spun. I'm starting with Muffin. Pictured here are ten two ounce bundles. I'm going to try to spin two of those per day, although typing this blog post has probably eaten up one of the bundles for today.
That's okay. I'm not panicking...yet.
It never hurts to have 20 on the team as well!
By the way, the leaves in the basket of Mrs. Pepperpot are bay leaves, which I scatter around open wool baskets to help protect from insects..and they smell nice :-).
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