Sheepish
Page 20
I’m still sort of lost some days, which I guess is normal. Nothing is certain. I can’t predict the future of this farm. It may rise dramatically like a phoenix from the ashes, or it may lumber into the air like a Muscovy duck. I’m not sure if the yarn will work as a business—plenty of others are doing the same thing. Instead, maybe we’ll run a Farm Camp for Adults: “Pay $100 a Day to Work Your Bumfitt Off”! Or maybe we’ll go big into beef. The point is that I don’t see an RV in our immediate future. But I might see a new novel. I think I’ll call it “The Love of Ewe Sings.”
I finally receive my pair of wool underwear in the mail. They are heavenly. Seriously. If we can produce underwear this soft from wool, the possibilities are endless. I must therefore add one more item to my earlier sheepish list, an item that can be enjoyed by urban and rural alike: wool undies.
Everyone sheepish will be wearing them.
Acknowledgments
Some authors can write in a vacuum, but I would be lost without feedback from my talented writing friends. They come through for me every time. Many thanks to Cindy Rogers, Phyllis Root, Pat Schmatz, Bonnie Graves, Maggie Morris, Alice Duggan, Kathy Connelly, and JC Koepsell. I so appreciate the support and direction of my editor, Renee Sedliar, and my agent, Faye Bender. Copy editor Michele Wynn made me look amazing. (Sorry about all the lay/lie issues, and constantly misusing “while.” Being so grammatically challenged makes me feel ... well ... sheepish, in the traditional sense of the word.)
Amelia Hansa, Mary Hoff, and Bonnie Mueller shared their perspectives on this story with me, and I’m grateful for all their help, courage, energy, and laughter. Annie Modesitt, Joanne Seiff, and London Nelson were incredibly helpful, and, it must be said, in large part to blame for my conversion from normal person to fiber freak. Thanks, also, to my super-speedy knitters Jan Gugino, Laura Billings Coleman, and the above-mentioned Phyllis and Kathy.
Although this farm nearly derailed my writing career all those years ago, it’s redeemed itself by providing me with a wealth of writing material ever since. I am grateful, since it turns out that an easy life isn’t worth writing about. Melissa sometimes asks me if I regret our decision to farm. Even though my bank account thinks fondly of our prefarming days, I myself have no regrets. I may always be a “city girl,” more interested in reading and wine than in mucking out a barn or birthing lambs, but I wouldn’t have missed this life—with animals, with nature, with Melissa—for anything.
Sheepish Mitten and Hat Patterns
Designed by Annie Modesitt, author of Confessions of a Knitting Heretic, Romantic Hand Knits, Knit with Courage, and several other knitting and crochet books
Notes: For best fit, choose the correct hand and head circumference for your size and work to desired length. In each item, alternate working charted colorwork patterns #1 and #2 so placement of the motif is staggered in relation to the motif below it.
Skill Level: K 2 Easy
Mitten: To fit hand circumference 7 (8, 9, 10)“ / 17.9 (20.5, 23.1, 25.6) cm, length 9.75 (10, 11.25, 12.75)” / 25 (25.6, 28.8, 32.7) cm.
Hat: To fit head circumference 17.0 (19.0, 21.0, 23.0)“ / 43.6 (48.7, 53.8, 59) cm.
Fiber: Worsted weight yarn, approx 100 (110, 120, 140) yds of each color required for entire set.
Yarn A: Dark Orange
Yarn B: Purple
Yarn C: White
Needles: One set of double pointed or 2 circular needles size: 7 US/4.5mm
Gauge: 18 sts x 24 rows = 4” / 10 cm
Notions: Darning needle, approx 12” of smooth waste yarn.
Special Stitches
K2tog-L: Knit 2 sts together so the working needle is pointing to the left as it enters the stitch (dec will slant to the left) aka SSK, k2togTBL or s1, k1, psso
K2tog-R: Knit 2 sts together so the working needle is pointing to the right as it enters the stitch (dec will slant to the right) aka k2tog
VDD—Vertical Double Decrease: Sl 2 sts as if to work k2 tog R, k1, pass slipped sts over (decrease of 2 sts)
MITTEN (Make 2)
Ribbing
With A, cast on 32 (36, 40, 44) sts and begin working in K2, P2 ribbing in the round. Place marker to note start of round. Work a total of 12 (12, 14, 16) rows, then change to color B and continue in ribbing for another 12 (12, 14, 16) rows, 24 (24, 28, 32) rows total.
Hand
Change to A and cont in 7 row charted colorwork patt #1, working contrasting motif in color C. After 7 rounds of motif, work 2 rounds in B.
Thumb Placement
Next Round: With waste yarn knit 5 (5, 6, 6) sts, then slip these waste yarn sts back onto the left needle and knit 2 more rounds in B (working across the waste yarn stitches—4 rounds of B total).
Work 7 rounds in colorwork patt #2 as below thumb placement, then work 4 more rounds in B. Break B.
Mitten Top
Alternating A and C, knit 4 rounds of A then 4 rounds of C, continue knitting even with no shaping until piece measures 3.75 (4.25, 4.75, 5.5)“ / 9.6 (10.9, 12.2, 14.1) cm from thumb placement (or just beyond top of pinkie finger). Break C.
Fingertip Shaping
Next Round: Change to color B, [k2, k2togL, k10 (12, 14, 16) sts, k2togR, k2] twice—28 (32, 36, 40) sts rem.
Next Round: Cont in B, [k2, k2togL, k8 (10, 12, 14) sts, k2togR, k2] twice—24 (28, 32, 36) sts rem.
Next Round: Change to color A [k2, k2togL, k6 (8, 10, 12) sts, k2togR, k2] twice—20 (24, 28, 32) sts rem.
Cont as est, working 2 rounds in A, 2 rounds in B and decreasing 4 sts in each round, continuing to alternate A and B every 2 rounds until 12 (12, 16, 16) sts rem.
At this point you may either bind off all sts and sew the tip together, or divide the sts into 2 groups of 6 (6, 8, 8) sts and join using the Kitchenner stitch, 3 needle bind off, or any other grafting method.
Thumb
Return to the waste yarn stitches and carefully slip the 5 (5, 6, 6) sts color B sts above the waste yarn and 6 (6, 7, 7) sts below the waste yarn onto dpns or 2 circs—11 (11, 13, 13) sts.
Leaving a 8” / 10cm tail, join color B and begin working around, picking up 1 extra stitch at either edge of the thumb opening to tighten up the possible “hole” there—13 (13, 15, 15) sts total.
Cont in B only, knit in the round with no shaping until thumb measures 1.75 (1.75, 2, 2.25) sts or reaches to the bottom of the thumb nail.
Next Round: [K2togR, k1] rep to end of round, knitting 1 extra st if necessary—9 (9, 10, 10) sts rem.
Next Round: [K2tog] rep to end of round, knitting 1 extra st if necessary—5 (5, 5, 5) sts rem.
Next Round: [K2tog] rep to end of round, knitting 1 extra st if necessary—3 (3, 3, 3) rem.
Draw yarn through rem sts and tie off end.
Finishing
Weave in ends, using tails to sew up any holes around the thumb base.
HAT
Garter Cuff
With color B cast on 80 (88, 96, 104) sts, join and knit 1 round in color B, place marker to note start of round.
[With A knit 1 round, then purl 1 round, change to B and knit 1 round, then purl 1 round] rep 5 (6, 6, 7) times to create a total of 10 (12, 12, 14) rows, or 5 (6, 6, 7) purl “ridge stripes.”
Sideband
With C, begin knitting 7 row charted colorwork patt #1, working contrasting motif in color B. Repeat motif 20 (22, 24, 26) times around all hat stitches.
Knit 4 rounds in B.
Continuing in B and C as est, repeat last 11 rounds 1 (1, 2, 2) times more, a total of 22 (22, 33, 33) rows rounds in pattern / stripe design, or until side of hat reaches about 2” / 5cm above ear tip.
Tip Shaping
Join A and begin knitting 7 row charted colorwork patt, working contrasting motif in color C. Repeat motif 20 (22, 24, 26) times around all hat stitches. Break C.
Join B and knit 1 round in B.
Next Round: With B [k17 (19, 21, 23), VDD] 4 times—72 (80, 88, 96) rem. Knit 1 round in B.
Next Round: With B [k15 (17, 19, 21), VDD] 4
times—64 (72, 80, 88) rem. Break B.
Join A and knit 1 round in A.
Next Round: With A [k13 (15, 17, 19), VDD] 4 times—56 (64, 72, 80) rem. Cont decreasing 8 sts as established in every round, working only with A until only 8 sts rem. Draw yarn through last 8 sts and tie off, weaving in end.
Finishing
Weave in loose ends and steam block hat.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Da Capo Press was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial capital letters.
Copyright © 2011 by Catherine Friend
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.
Design and production by Trish Wilkinson
Set in 11 point Goudy Old Style
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Friend, Catherine.
Sheepish : two women, fifty sheep, and enough wool to save the
planet / Catherine Friend.—1st Da Capo Press ed.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-0-738-21409-2
1. Friend, Catherine. 2. Sheep ranchers—Minnesota—Biography. 3. Women
shepherds—Minnesota—Biography. 4. Women farmers—Minnesota—Biography.
5. Wool industry—Minnesota. 6. Sheep ranches—Minnesota. 7. Farm life—
Minnesota. 8. Minnesota—Social life and customs. 9. Minnesota—Biography.
I. Title.
SF375.32.F73A3 2011
630.9776—dc22 2010048194
First Da Capo Press edition 2011
Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com
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