Happy Easter

For all you lovely AY knitters, here is a free Easter pattern for you. It only takes an hour to knit and then you just stuff it in the washing machine. Get egg-cosy happy!

Easter Egg Cosies

100% wool yarn - one 50g ball will do two or three cosies

8mm circular needle with long-ish cord, or 8mm double points (dpns)

Tapestry needle

As these cosies get felted, accuracy is not in the least bit imperative. If you have a 9mm or 7mm needle, that's fine. If your stitches are uneven, it really doesn't matter. It all comes out in the wash.

Cast on 26 st and join in the round. Either use dpns or magic loop method. (You can also knit these flat and seamed before felting if you really can't bear knitting circularly.)

Knit in the round for 2.5 inches in st st.

K2tog 4 times evenly spaced in the round – 22 st

Decrease 4 st in the same manner every 5^th row two more times – 14 st

Decrease 4 st every 4^th row two times – 6 st

Knit three rows

K2tog three times – 3 st

Knit five rows of icord (you can do this on the circular needle)

K2tog, K1

K 2 tog

Pass end of yarn through final stitch and pull tight.

Weave in end hanging from cast off edge. Leave 3 inches or so of yarn at the top and break off leaving a rough end. This will felt in an interesting curly crimpy manner.

Felt in the washing machine at 40-60 degrees with a towel / pair of jeans in the machine. The felted fabric will still be mouldable when it comes out so pull and stretch it to make the shape you want – be tough!

Leave to dry thoroughly.

Happy Easter to you all!

Lambing

My mother is very naughty. The other day a big box of yarn arrived from one of our suppliers, sent in error, but in between ringing to tell them and arranging to return it, she’d dived in and had a look through. Which if course is fatal, because she now has arranged to keep some of it, but can’t decide which, so I suspect she will end up keeping most of it. It’s yet to be determined whether it will be for personal use or actually to sell! Tut.

Lambing continues apace. We lamb around 500 ewes in the barn, and once they’ve lambed they go with their babies into a little pen for a day to get to know each other and so we can keep an eye on them. Then, out into the fields!

Family transportation is made much easier by use of the Lamb Pram. Here is one of our vet students demonstrating. It’s very hard to drive ewes and lambs because the ewes keep turning around to check where their babies are. If you move the lambs though, the mums will follow. You can make your own with some wheels off a broken wheelbarrow, some plyboard, some mesh netting, and a bit of pipe for the handle. Oh, and of course some bailer twine. Where would we be without bailer twine?