Little Lamb

I've been in swap mode for the past few days. I got one package out in the mail today and I'm feverishly working on another. When that one is done I'm taking a small break from swaps. I need some "me" time. Odd Ducks is doing a villains swap in January though, and I HAVE to be a part of that. So, the break will be small, but it will be nice.

I have a surprise finished object to post about today! I say it's a surprise because I didn't know I would be making it until this weekend. I thought I had my favorite animal swap package all done. Then I received MY package in the mail. It was so good that I figured I had to do one more thing for my partner. She had Christmas ornaments on her wish list, so I went with a little sheep for her tree.

Pattern: Sheep in Sheep's Clothing by Frankie Brown
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in White
Mods: I used a fingering weight yarn and size 0 needles

This little lamb came out really cute! The pattern was easy. The body and legs are knit in one piece and the head, ears and tail are done separately and sewn on. Embroidering the face was tricky. It took several false starts, but I made some admirable french knots in the end.

The head was the only difficult part. You knit it flat (it looks like a diamond shape), then make a running stitch along the edge of the piece and pull tight to gather it up into a round shape. I had to do it twice because my first attempt looked like a piece of chewed bubblegum. I got it eventually though - the trick was to be really careful to make your running stitch neat and even and to gather the stitches with a light touch. Stuffing the head with a little bit of batting helped as well.

I have another project done, but that is for a swap partner who knows who I am so I can't post pictures here! Now to get back to being productive . . .