Christmas KAL Overview, Lambie Update

This week calls for celebration on many levels - mother's day was well spent by many including new sheep mothers with wee lambs at their flanks, we launched a new website without any computers exploding (literally and metaphorically speaking), and the 12th marks TWO years that Maritime Family Fiber has been at it. 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Now, it's time for our second Christmas/Holiday KAL! This year I'm adding another component as well, featuring a winsome way to wrap or present each handmade gift. So often when the glitz of the season rolls around, our slowly and deliberately crafted items seem dull and lifeless next to the shiny, inflatable offerings at the dollar store. However, we know that after the plastic and cardboard has been tossed away the most used and cherished gifts tend to be the home made ones. And certainly after our loved ones themselves are gone, those are the vestiges we cling to.

This simple little duck couple might not seem magnanimous beneath the tree, but I proudly display them year-round to remind me of my grandmother, who taught me how to crochet. 

But this year let's dress those hand-made gifts in worthy attire! For our first gift, the free Reversible Boot Topper Sock pattern, I've found this absolutely adorable deer wrapping paper from Craft Berry Bush. It's free, you just download it at her site. It comes in multiple colors too. How sweet! 

I've made two pairs of these toppers in Mulberry and Fern, and I am currently working on a pair in Red Heather. I love how they fit and I think they are going to be practical and stylish this winter.

Though it may be hard to envision frosted sugar plums at the moment, (and yet they are calling for snow here tomorrow) we'll appreciate this pile of gifts come December. Presently, there are little lambs dropping here and there, a busy time of year for the shepherd. 

This little man, about a half-hour old, waits patiently for his checkup while mom looks on. The best way to handle a birth is as hands-off as possible. There is a short window of time after birth where the maternal bond is cemented, and human involvement during that time can cause a ewe to reject her lamb. We stand by in case she needs help, then after the lamb is born we ear-tag the lamb (required by law and for organization), shorten the navel and spray with iodine, give a pump of minerals if needed, and give them back to mumma. She is equipped to provide him with everything he needs to grow strong and healthy. 

Davey looks on an assisted birth.