About Me
I am Anjela, a knitter in her late 20s who is madly and wildly in love with her husband. :) I have many hobbies: reading, writing, playing World of Warcraft, exercising, puttering about on the Internet... but I am also a collector of sheep and a knitter, and here I shall combine those hobbies by knitting things and blogging about them, complete with companion pictures of Sheep On My Stuff.
Conventional wisdom often holds that knitting skipped a generation -- our grandmothers did it because everyone knit back then (indeed, during WW1 literally everyone knit; machine-knit socks were a newfangled thing of the future, so if you weren't fighting, you were knitting woollen socks to send overseas), our mothers skipped it because they were too busy fighting for women's lib/associated it with years of staying at home whether you wanted to or not/etc., and then we're picking it up again because it's damn fun, and it's not every hobby that nets you handmade sweaters, socks, and holiday/birthday gifts.
This is true for me; my great-grandmother on my dad's side knit and crocheted, and my grandmother on my mom's side crocheted. My mom does counted-cross-stitch, which I do as well, and I can certainly crochet (I started out with that and learned to knit later), but mostly I knit. I started in May 2001 (5/26/01 -- just found the specific date!) when my husband and I bought our first condo, and haven't stopped.
Now, as for the sheep... I've been collecting sheep since summer 1997 (with one bonus sheep my mom got me in 1992, because she is prescient as well as a genius). Most knitters start knitting first and develop a love of all things woollen (including the animals from which wool comes) afterward, but I think my love of knitting may have been inspired by the fact that I could use a sheep product in the craft.
I am allergic to mohair and alpaca. I cannot imagine how devastated I would be if I were allergic to wool!
The origin of my love of sheep is this: Years ago there was a computer game called "Worms". In this game, your intrepid team of worms used a variety of weapons to destroy other teams of worms. We're not talking about balls of dirt, here; we're talking about bazookas, shotguns, dynamite and land mines.
And sheep.
Sheep were an explosive device that ranked among the most powerful in the game. If you picked up an ammo crate containing a sheep, your opponents were in trouble. If you also got the double-damage bonus (which popped up a message reading "SHEEP ARE NOW SUPER STRENGTH!"), your opponents were doomed. A single well-placed sheep could easily take out an entire squadron of enemy worms, bleating woolly death at them all the way. ("Baa... baa... BOOM!")
I was enchanted by the juxtaposition of woolly, cuddly cuteness and FIERCE BLEATING DOOM! I found a plush sheep at a grocery store that summer, and from there on it just sort of...
Well. At the height of my collection (when my collection included ceramic sheep, metal sheep, sheep containers, candles in the shapes of sheep, and other sheep things as well as plush sheep) I had well over 700 sheep items. I've cut down since then, but let's just say I'll have sheep to pose with my knitting for a very, very long time before I have to start repeating sheep.
Happy knitting, and my sheep and I will see you around the blog!
Related pages/More About Me:
Hi There. After 2 weeks of frantically searching to replace my daughter beloved lamb, I am a least close. I am certain that "Lobby" is a Woolo. I've found a few on eBay, but they don't all look the same.... and I can't remember the details! After stumbling upon your website, you mentioned that many are in the Woolo family. You woundn't happen to know which style was sold in or around 2003 would you? I would REALLLLLY appreciate your help, the tears won't stop, and you appear to be the only Woolo expert out there! Thanks! Kathie
Hi Kathie! I just got your comment regarding your daughter's lamb. :)
I took a couple of pictures of all the Woolos in my collection. They look very similar to me... they just vary in terms of size:
http://gallery.sheeponmystuff.com/v/200803/woolos/
The first picture is all four of them, the second picture is just the smallest three so you can see a little more detail on them.
The one on the left is HUGE, though he measures only about 15" tall when sitting. (If he were sat up straighter, he'd be taller, but he's so big that I couldn't get a picture of him "pulled up straight" on my own!) The second one is about 12" tall when sitting, the third one is about 9" tall when sitting, and the fourth one is about 6" tall when sitting.
Woolo comes from the Russ Berrie company ("Woolo" is the name on the tag), and 2003 seems like about the right time for him.
I hope this helps, and that eBay comes through for you! I've had pretty good luck finding sheep there myself. :)
Our 'Woolo' is called Haggie,a much loved constant companion of my little boy. Today we've had to come to terms with the fact that we have lost Haggie whilst away for the weekend at Amroth Pembrokeshire. The tears are still flowing!! any ideas of where we can find a replacement.
Hi Alison!
My best suggestion would be to try eBay; I've seen a lot of sheep come up there over the years, even replacements for dearly-loved ones. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, but it seems to be everybody's best bet. Good luck to you and your little one!