Knitting Sheep

Miss Damson the Sheep is a little creature I created last year, who missed out on being on the blog due to the flurry of moving house. I knitted her to gift to my lovely friend Kellie, and have been intending to blog about her ever since.
She was such a fun little project, involving a few new techniques and also a method of toy construction that was new to me. You stuff this sheep while you are still knitting it, something I didn't like the idea of at first, but now I see that there is a time and a place for such a method and for this pattern it works.

Miss Damson is the first toy I've knit in-the-round. I've made a heap of toys over the years (I used to sell them), but they were always knitted flat and all the construction was left until the very end. I really enjoyed the methods used in this pattern and the cleverness of the design. And I loved getting to try my hand at Kitchener Stitch for the first time. (That technique is used across the back and down the face).

I chose Alpaca yarn to knit Miss Damson's body, legs and face from. It's a rustic yarn which gave the look and finishes I was after. For the sheep's jumper, I used organic merino, the perfect choice for colour work as the fibres sit so closely together.

I'm really happy with the finished result and plan to return to this pattern eventually and knit some more sheep. There are three different options in the pattern, giving you a choice of what kind of "jumper" your sheep will be wearing. I naturally chose the Fair Isle one, as it's the most enjoyable form of knitting for me. I love the classic look of the Fair Isle patterning on this design and had a lot of fun knitting it up. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you probably already know how much I enjoy colour work knitting. I'm excited to be sharing my passion for it with other knitters soon in my next Bellingen workshop on the 5th May*.


Project Details:
Pattern: Sheep! by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Adagio Mills Alpaca 4ply in Clouds, WOOLganic Merino 4ply in Kundalini & Grapefruit Moon
Ravelry project here

What have you been making lately?
Have you tried your hand at Kitchener Stitch, Fair Isle or stuffing-as-you-go?

Sarah x


*If you're interested in learning how to knit colour work designs, bookings are open for the Introduction to Fair Isle Knitting Workshop in Bellingen. All of the details and how to book is here.

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