Off To A Wild Start

A bonus story - aka not one I thought I'd be telling!

We did the spring sheep vaccinations this morning.  I've had some trouble giving bottle lambs their CDT shots and boosters, but never any trouble with adult sheep.  Still, it's always a possibility and it's not a bad idea to keep a shot of epinephrine on hand.  

I've had babies get pretty punky for a day or so after getting a vaccination.  You always hate to see babies (or anyone) not feeling well, but we give them good supportive care and everything ends up fine.  Last year Bullwinkle had an anaphylactic reaction :-o.

It didn't happen right away.  Seems like it was almost an hour later that I noticed him having trouble breathing.  I threw him in the car and was at the clinic in less than 10 minutes.  Dr. Bridge was on call (it was the weekend, of course) and she got him straightened around right away. Still, very scary!

We saved Bullwinkle for last this morning just in case he had trouble.  He was fine.  I turned everyone out and guess who was laying around looking droopy.  Liddy.

"Liddy?"  

"Yes, momma."  

"What's the matter, baby?"  

"I dunno."  

"You don't want to go out and eat grass?" 

"No."  

"Would you like some hay here in the barn?" 

"No."

If you flunk the eating test...

I got her up and noticed her ears hanging down.  She shook her head a couple times.  Is she breathing a little too fast?  Standing kind of funny?  Then she started coughing.  I panicked and hit speed dial. Dr. Bridge, on call this weekend as well, was there in 15 minutes.

She wasn't having an anaphylactic reaction, thankfully, but something was definitely wrong.  She also had a bit of a temperature, so she may have been working on a respiratory issue and the vaccination pushed her over the edge.  We treated her accordingly and I was to keep an eye on her...

Here's where it gets a little funny.  Dr. Bridge didn't meet Liddy as a baby and doesn't know her history of quality napping.  As we watched Liddy standing in the barn lot with her eyes getting sleepy, she said, "Liddy, you look like you need to take a nap."

Poor Liddy.  Almost killed on the first day of her Iknitarod.  That sounds more like a Maisie story!

So, as the sun was starting to set, I finally got everything together to start knitting.  I picked out the bag I wanted to use, wound the yarn into balls, dug out my red lantern, ...

The needles I'm using are the same needles I used for the first Liddy shawl.  See that crooked spot in the blue cable down towards the bottom right?  That's the spot Liddy chewed on as a baby and I had to sand the teefer marks off :-).

Auntie Reg gave me these darling sheep - a momma and a baby who are actually hot cold packs. Wait, what?  You can't put sheeps in the microwave :-o.  They tuck in perfectly at the top of my knitting bag and will be great mascots for this year :-).

By late afternoon Liddy felt up to going out for a little bite.  "Liddle?"

"Yes, momma?"

"It's time to start knitting."

"Okay, I'm ready!"

We're Ready!

Finishing up the yarn - here is one the batts from Wednesday drafted/pulled out into spinnable roving. It's mate is sitting just above it and one more pair off to the right.

I usually spin all my "singles" and then at the end mix and match thicks and thins to hopefully end up with a consistent batch of yarn.  This time I plied each batt as I went along.  It actually worked out pretty well and probably not significantly different than the mix and match method. 

My trusty sled dog, resting up on her comfy rock pillow ;-).

20, getting ready to wash the finished yarn this afternoon - 975 yards.  That should be enough even if my gauge is a bit off. 

The pattern I picked is a shawl from the same designer as the first Liddy shawl, Tales from the Isle of Purbeck.  I started her Stories from Snoqualmie Valley shawl a year or two (?) ago, but got sidetracked and never picked it back up.   Not really sure why as every time I look for shawl patterns it catches my eye.

Pretty, eh?  And I think it kind of looks like an icy river with chunks of ice floating along a snowy bank :-).

Washed and drying in the wintry air.  It actually spit snow for a bit this morning.  Looking at the 10 day forecast, that looks like the only snow this Iknitarod run is going to see :-(.  You never know though. We've had a least some snow every year I've done this knitting challenge.  Maybe there will be an Iknitarod miracle this year, too!

 I'm very happy with the yarn :-).  Whew!

I'm even happier with my ravatar (Ravelry avatar).  Liddy was such a snuggle bug lamb who loved nothing more than taking naps curled up in my lap.  I miss those days.  She was just one of the sweetest lambs I've raised.  

I'd thought all along that my ravatar this year would be her sleeping out on the trail curled up on a straw bed like the sled dogs do.  It's sort of her theme.  She was the sleeping baby Jesus in the manger  on last year's Christmas card ;-).  

It didn't seem right to just have a solo sheep sleeping unprotected in the Alaskan wilderness.  Should I put Hank on there with her?  I usually put myself in the design.  Would I be sleeping, too?  Wait...I'll be knitting...by the fire...under the Northern Lights!  

I. just. love. this.  

And I love the yarn.  And the pattern.  And Liddy of course.  I think it's going to be a great race!

If you are interested in following along I'll be posting updates quick updates throughout the race on Instagram (which auto posts to Twitter and Facebook).  Instagram and Twitter are easy to navigate and enjoyable.

There is a wonderful Iknitarod group on Ravelry full of knitters, spinners and weavers of all experience levels. Several members have direct ties to the race, whether living along the route or at a checkpoint or even have relatives who have raced.  Getting on the spot updates is Very Exciting!  You are welcome to lurk even if you aren't a knitter.  You'll probably need to sign up for full access, but that's easily done.

If you are interested in learning more about the Iditarod, Iditarod.com is a fabulous website.  I highly encourage you to watch some videos and read the daily updates.  I think there is quite a bit of free coverage, but the Insider packages are worth every penny.  I hope they have the daily commentators like they did last year.  Fun!!!

Here is the "funnest" part.  I have a couple very sweet stories to share about Liddy.  I have some very cute stories to share about Buddy.  I also have a funny story about  spinning the yarn.  Since the name of the shawl is Stories from Snoqualmie Valley, I am going to share stories.  It can be Stories from Equinox Farm.

We all cast on tomorrow.  Stay tuned!