Pearl, Hey Teach and, Why is the Grass always Greener on the other side?

Speaking of bringing in the hay, ;)

Here's Pearl:

 

She showed up one day with a litter of kittens.  Very feral.  She was barely a kitten herself.  We found homes for her brood and made sure she didn't have any more.  She lives in the hay barn now and loves it!  She used to live in the old sheep barn, but moved when it burned down a few years ago.  She doesn't much care for the new shiny sheep barn.  She is the fatest outdoor cat I've ever seen.  Then again, Sassy and Sophie get dry food, and she gets canned.  ;)  Paul and I think she is probably 10 or 11 now.  She hardly leaves the barn unless the dogs are there (they love her too) and/or Paul or me.  Then she comes out for her petting and goes back in.  She has become less and less feral over the years.  We've discussed bringing her in the house, but I"m not sure Sassy or Sophie would get along with her or if she would even like being in the house.  Heck, Sassy and Sophie don't like each other!!!  They each have half of the house as their territories, and I swear there is an imaginary line that cannot be crossed without cat hair flying.  Back to Pearl.  I have seen her at night in the side yard stalking little animals, so she does know there is life outside the barn.  She also has a grey friend, Smoke, who shows up to keep her company mostly in the winter (snuggle time).  He's pretty busy in the spring and summer and doesn't show much interest in her then (hmmmm.... can you guess why???)  :)

In Knitting news....

I finished the back of Hey Teach:

 

The lace pattern chart was easy to follow, until I got to the armhole shaping.  At that point I just couldn't figure out how many stitches I was into the chart to start the rows.  I tried visualizing the pattern, and congratulated myself profusely until I realized I had knit ten rows of lace that looked really neat, but were NOT the pattern.  Then, there was much ripping, cursing, reknitting and more visualizing until I finally figured it all out...... right about the time I got to the neck shaping.  Sheesh!  I did change the armholes somewhat to make sure the yarnovers were not part of the last two stitches (or three ..), so when I piece it together I can have full stitches.  It is bad enough that my finishing-up is for crap, at least give me full stitches to work with!

 

See.  Those first few rows will definitely be gone.  Trust me.  I think.  In any event, the Knit Picks Comfy in Flamingo is great!  It is so soft for being partially cotton.  Try it!

In other news, I'm still washing fleeces and sending them to be processed into roving.  I've mostly been working with white and cream, but I just have to show you Charlie's fleece:

 

This picture does not do it justice.  It is lovely.  It is a "hogget" fleece, which means it is his first lamb fleece.  Charlie is half Border Leicester and half Jacob.  His staples (length of the wool) are about five inches long.  The tips are lightened from the sun.

Charlie would be the brown butt on the left, feeling good without all that wool on him. 

 

This is apparently what the sheep think of my attempts to take their picture today.

Also, Daphne's fleece is looking good too, although it is still on her until next spring.  :)

 

Can someone please explain to me why the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence???

Comments

[Ida]

Well, I'm sure you know that I'd prefer you bring Pearl inside. She's very pretty. Hope she doesn't get to the ducks.

I love the fleece. It is absolutely gorgeous. Do you have plans for it?

And The Teach--beautiful.

[opal]

Pearl reminds me of my Pressie. so pretty.

you sure have made a lot of progress on 'hey teach!'. lookin' good!

[Andrea]

I have never in my life seen a better example of the greener grass thing, LOL, that sheep sure knows it.

You made me remember I never finished my onw Hey Teach! you do have to fugdge the armhole decreases a bit, I think it happened to everybody. I should finish that, hmmm.

[Toni]

Ha! Ha!

[Traveling Ann]

Hey Teach looks good so far. Sounds like it's a good thing you are on vacation so you can fight with it.
Pretty kitty. But when I was younger, someone gave my brother a white cat and it was infested with fleas! And mean. I think we ended up taking her(?) to the shelter after all. So I don't trust white cats anymore.
Charlie's fleece looks lovely. Can't wait to see what you do with it.