Sheep #144: A knitter's one-year sheep, fleece, yarn and knitting adventure!

This is the story of a knitter unintentionally becoming the owner of freshly sheared wool and eventually using that wool to hand knit a blanket that is sure to become a family heirloom. 

A couple months ago a photo of a sheep being sheared caught my eye on Ravelry. The photo was part of Ravelry knitter Sophiefoofoo's project using my On the Porch blanket pattern.

Here's the one-year 'sheep, fleece, yarn & knitting adventure' of @sophiefoofoo.  All photos and her words (in italics) provided by and used with her permission.

This blanket began last January, the 19th, (2017) to be exact.  I went to watch a sheep shearer at work...shearing a small flock in town, thinking I'd stay an hour or so, - I spent the entire day!

January 19, 2017 - Shearing Sheep #144 

I had no intention of bringing a fleece home, I just wanted to see how the process began, - from sheep to skein.  I ended up coming home with a fleece, - sheep #144.

Fleece from Sheep #144

A spinner in town told me she'd be happy to teach me so I began by washing the wool myself.  She patiently tried to teach me carding and spinning, but in the end, I found a fiber processing mill in CT (Connecticut) that would process my single fleece. 

Washing the wool.

Carding the wool.

The 8 months flew by...and the wool returned, carded and spun into beautiful skeins! 3 lbs of raw wool returned 2.7 lbs...ten (10) 200 yard skeins.  Glorious!  

10 beautiful skeins - professionally spun

But what to do with this gorgeous girl? Hats for the whole family plus a sweater or two? I decided on a lap blanket, that way everyone can be warmed by it! 

I looked at many patterns but in the end settled on...5410 Studio's 'On the Porch' blanket pattern....because of the story of its origin.

Here's Sophiefoofoo's On the Porch blanket in progress....in October or November of 2017.

On the Porch - blanket knitting in progress with Sheep #144's wool.

And here's her finished On the Porch blanket! It's beautifully blocked and ready to be enjoyed by everyone in her family.  This blanket is sure to become a family heirloom!

 @sophiefoofoo's On the Porch blanket!

And...to bring the entire story full circle...in January 2018 Sophiefoofoo took the finished blanket back to visit Sheep #144...the sheep who produced the wool for this project!  

Here's Sheep #144 admiring the finished blanket made with her fleece...it looks like Sheep #144 approves! :)

Sheep #144 admiring the blanket made with her fleece!

Thanks so much to @sophiefoofoo for sharing her knitting story on Ravelry and for allowing me to share her story and photos with you here.  I am so touched that she selected my knitting pattern to use for this precious yarn. I hope this beautiful blanket is treasured by her family for years to come!

Her one year adventure in wool and knitting is a great reminder that it's fun to try new experiences and learn new skills because you never know what great memories you will create in the process!

Learn more about my On the Porch Blanket:

Read more about my On the Porch blanket knitting pattern here on my blog.  This blanket is very easy to knit with worsted weight yarn.  The pattern may also be used with DK or Aran weight yarn...or similar.

On the Porch blanket knitting pattern is available on Ravelry, Etsy, Craftsy and LoveKnitting.  

On the Porch - easy blanket knitting pattern

Share your Fifty Four Ten Studio projects!

I would love to see your knitting project made with one of my Fifty Four Ten Studio patterns.  

You may share your project on Ravelry, email photos to me at my email address in the pattern, or share your photo on Instagram. Be sure to tag your photo on Instagram with @fiftyfourtenstudio so I will receive a notification. (However, if your page is private I won't be able to see your photo.) You may also add #fiftyfourtenstudio and #5410Studio to your posts.

In case you aren't familiar with sharing a knitting project on Ravelry...here's the basic steps to add a knitting project on Ravelry...

1. Log into Ravelry and click on "my notebook" in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. Then click "projects" in the list under "my notebook".

3. On the next screen...look on the left side and click the button that says "add project".

4. Then you may name your project. Be sure to fill in "enter the pattern name" using the exact name of the Fifty Four Ten Studio pattern you used.

5. Fill in the fields for size made, yarn used and notes about making your project. 

6. If desired, fill in dates when you started and finished your project, rate the difficulty of the project and you may rate the pattern (1 to 5 stars with 5 being the highest). Be sure to click "save"!

7. Then click on the 'photos' tab to upload photos of your project.

It's a real treat to see what you create using my patterns...whether it's a blanket for your first baby or grandchild...or a blanket to send your high school graduate off to college...it's always fun to see what you are making to give love to the special people in your life.

Happy knitting!

Mary Lee

Fifty Four Ten Studio