In Which the Pirate Crochets a Sheep.

In my car I have a small stuffed gargoyle – a CARgoyle – named Sparkplug, who comes along on all my drives. Sparky was given to me as a good-luck companion when I got my very first car, and he’s ridden along with me in every car I’ve owned since then. My brother asked me if I could knit or crochet a companion for his drives, but not a cargoyle – no, he wanted a sheep.

I was reminded of the scene from the beginning of Le Petit Prince:

“If you please–draw me a sheep!”

“What!”

“Draw me a sheep!”

I found the Sheep Etu pattern on Ravelry and bought some Red Heart Buttercup, which practically looked like a fluffy sheep already. But when I tried to start crocheting the little sheep, I was quickly frustrated – the fluff of the yarn made it impossible to do a magic ring, never mind being able to see the stitches.

What to do, what to do… a-ha! Another Raveler suggested using a smoother yarn to make the body of the sheep, and then surface-crocheting the fluff onto it. The smoother yarn turned out to be some of the leftover Jacob I’d spun for the Winterlude Hat a few years ago. What’s more fitting than making a sheep out of sheep’s wool? The face and feet are also made from a small amount of leftover KnitPicks Andean Treasure.

In an afternoon of watching football (how ’bout dem Cowboys?), I made the components of a sheep:

Crocheting the sheep parts took a surprisingly long time. The dark face and feet were particularly challenging, as I was working with a smaller hook than the yarn called for so that the stuffing won’t peek out. But now the sheep is ready for me to sew on its little feet… and then, the floofifying can begin.