Knitting Books and Fleece

Ahhhh.....what a glorious week! I received BOTH books that I'd ordered from bookstores in England (I've been lusting after these two books for several months) as well as my nine pounds of Rambouillet Fleece. I'm in knitting and fiber heaven!

The fleece is just beautiful! It's a lovely white with a staple length of about 3"..... and should wash up quite nicely. I'm anticipating a very soft fiber that will be an absolute joy to spin. Rambouillet is the next best thing to Merino for softness and "cuddle-ability".

The Beatrix Potter Knitting Book is absolutely beautiful! I like all the characters (especially Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and the Tailor of Gloucester)....guess I'm just a kid at heart and will never grow up. The patterns and colors are absolutely delicious! There are so many luscious projects that I'm aching to tackle. I believe that first I'll try my hand at one of the Tailor of Gloucester's "Three Knitted Cushions" - these are the perfect complement to my antique couch and overstuffed antique chair. Once I've mastered the Fair Isle pattern, perhaps I can then move on to attempting the Tailor of Gloucester Lady's Fair Isle Sweater. (I prefer learning on a relatively small project that doesn't require much shaping....and more imporantly, a project that I don't have to wear in public. That way, if it turns out well, I will move on to the more challenging sweater project....and if I fail, I won't even attempt the sweater and I will hide the deformed cushion UNDER the couch - far from the prying eyes of the public and no one need risk exposure to a hideous creation!)


I can't wait to make the wonderful sheep in Jan Messent's book, Have You Any Wool? (Hmmm....now you know where I got the inspiration for the name of this blog....not very subtle, am I?) A dear friend of mine has made a couple of these darling creatures and they are quite charming. The most challenging part of this project is that the directions for making them are somewhat generalized rather than detailed, so there may be some creative stitching required....I'll keep you posted on that.

The sheep pictured above is from the pattern in Jan's book and was crafted by my dear friend Elizabeth (I cropped this image from a picture on her website.....I hope she doesn't mind!)