First, the blue. Yesterday I started and finished the first lady-mitt (#2 is on the needles). This blue-grey is not a very exciting color, but looks good with faded jeans and U.S. Postal Service uniforms, and most importantly, was something in my stash of the right gauge (9 wpi) for the pattern. I'm using the same pattern as for the manly mitts (which I modified), with the addition (as well as the modifications) of a cable up the back of the hand to dress them up a bit. It's a bit small for me, but I have BIG hands for a woman. I'm hoping our mail lady has smaller paws!
Brian is asking for a pair of fingerless mitts, too. I have some sport-weight navy yarn in my stash that I think I'll use. I don't know if he'll really use them after the newness wears off, but it's a quick knit so no biggy if he doesn't.
This is the Baby Surprise Jacket I started New Year's Day for a KAL (knit-along), set aside until the fingerless mitts are finished. No intended recipient; it will be put in my "gift stash." The boucle yarn is a challenge, and I'm not even to the picking-up-stitches part! Hopefully I will be successful with it, because I think it will make a beautiful cardigan.
As for the black in the title, look who's home! Franna brought Blackberry back this evening, and all the boys were moved into the new Ram-ada Inn. Unfortunately, in spite of all Rick's work to make it ram-proof, the boys proved it otherwise - all after I left for a meeting. Rick had to rearrange and repair more than once, enlisting Franna's help, and ended up putting Browning back in with the girls for the night. As tough as they were making it for Rick, I guess I can be thankful none of them were in the freezer by the time I got home!That's it for now from . . .
12 comments:
I love the color of the mitts! Great job!!!
Sandy
Michelle, the mitts look sooo warm! I really need to make me some.
Sounds like Blackberry's homecoming was a bit exciting.
Beautiful mitts Michele!
I don't mean to sound like I'm belittling your issues with your rams, so if it sounds like that, I'm sorry. And then comes the 'but', I have two rams that weigh about 225lbs each and the only thing between them right now is a pen with last years lambs in it (one's a ewe lamb), no climb fencing and hog panels. When I separate the ewes out again, I will put them back in their pen with the addition of two 8 foot sheep panels for the first three days, so they can't get a running start on each other, then will remove the panels, and they will be in 16' hog panels again.
At any rate, I hope it works out, it is frustrating to see your fences beat up because the rams are being, well rams. I quit having problems when I put them all in the same small pen.
Love the mitts! What pattern did you use?
Thanks for the compliments, everyone! I am pleased with them, too, especially since my teeny little foray into adding a design element and altering the pattern worked. (Kara, there is a hot link to the pattern in the previous post; those black mitts are made from the same pattern.) I'm having to put my thinking cap back on to get the cable to turn the right way for the second mitt, but I think I'm getting it.
Becky, I was all for throwing the boys into the 12x12 together, but Rick was just sure I was asking for broken bones or worse and overruled me. Of course, if I HAD broken bones or worse he would be called upon to fix them, euthanize them, and deal with the distraught wife, so I guess I can't blame him for being cautious!
Maybe the boys decided to take down the barrier between them; tight penning is the best that we have found for reintroductions. We are facing that now....when Constantine rejoins the ram-group. Can't wait for spring and some modicum of peace!
Lois, I'm thinking I could create a tight corner to squeeze all three into. From what Rick and Franna related, first Braveheart tried to demolish the divider panel and got it knocked partially over. Rick straightened that out, left for a minute and came back to see that Braveheart and Blackberry had switched sides. (How Braveheart squeezed through is beyond me.) Then Browning (wether), now with Blackberry, started attacking Blackberry in earnest, to the point Rick was sure the little ram would get hurt or worse. That's when Browning went back with the girls and the center panel was reinforced with pallets to keep one ram on each side. But Browning is sometimes rough on the girls, so I would rather have him in with the rams. Maybe I'll go out there and do some rearranging right now....
Your ram events sound like someone trying to separate teenagers with raging hormones at a party!
And I love the lady mitt - beautiful cable work.
Nancy in Iowa
I don't have to deal with the horns, but have found that squeezing the rams up so they can just barely turn around and leaving them that way until they all start to smell the same (in a day or two) stops the really rough stuff. Then I gradually give them more space until I can turn them out into the field. It's an bit of trouble, but less trauma in the long run.
Your lady mitts look great!
Your mitts are just beautiful!
I have often joked that I want to set up a ram quarters made out of guardrail - kind of like the bucking bull pens at the rodeo! We had a hard time reintroducing our boys this year. We always use the small pen method, but one of the 4-horn boys was grabbing legs and smashing and I was afraid there was going to be a broken leg, so we tied each of them in a corner. They were smashed against each other but couldn't get at each other with their heads. We left them like that without food and water for 24 hours. When we untied them we had piles of food for each of them and they were more interested in those than fighting and they were fine after that. Good luck!
It was all rather interesting - you could have titled their part of this post as "Trading Spaces".
We, too, use the small pen method, and if needed, add tires and chunks of RR ties to stop the long charges. They still sideways bash and push and shove, but generally get it worked out over 24 hours or so.
I forgot about the no food for 24 hours and that they tend to bash worse on adjacent sides of a panel.
It's hard to watch them beat up on each other.
Franna
The mitts are even nicer in person :-)
... and the boucle is just yummy!
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