Stella looks like she's straight out of the book Where the Wild Things Are! She's been a very accepting knit wear model for me thankfully! It's great to be back in the shop, which in all reality is much like home with visitors! During my days at home I was successful in accomplishing some knitting, after the first initial few days of much needed sleep and recovery. I never thought that laying in bad all day would feel soooo good!

I know you've read the previous posting about Stella's birth, but i would like to add my own words about that amazing experience. It truly couldn't have been a better birth, I can't believe I'm writing that since at the time I couldn't believe I was going through that much pain. Since it was such a quick labor (thanks to 4oz of castor oil and orange juice) I didn't have much time to get ready for the contractions before they were every 2-3 minutes and then within a couple hours every minute or less! I would like to say I was able to accomplish this on my own, but the reality is that my husband Keith was an incredible help and talked and held me through the whole day, and I never once thought of blaming or smacking him for my pain! But now as I look down at beautiful little Stella I know it was all for good reason.

She is now almost 3 weeks old and has gained at least 12oz since she was born and is quickly losing that newborn look. Currently she's struggling to wake up, so I must take leave and put the last skein in the dye pot before she opens her eyes for good!

Welcome sweet Stella Rose!

If you've been following this blog, you know full well how ready Kathryn was for this darling baby to be born. Well, she made her entrance, and very gracefully and beautifully I might add, March 19, a few minutes before 8pm, just as the last rays of the glorious sunset were fading.
Seven pounds, four ounces, and 21 inches long, she's a robust, alert (can't you tell!) baby who seems delighted to be here and delighted in everyone around her.
Kathryn and Keith are exceptional new parents. Their beautiful home birth experience has made a seamless, comfortable transition to life with with their little one.


Stella Rose peacefully sleeping sandwiched between her loving parents.

Great Grandma Gloria!

This is how we announce new babies in the country!
Actually, it was more formal at Ewetopia - balloons on the Open sign - thanks to great grandma who held down the fort on the birthday!

A rainbow of colors!

Sock fanatics rejoice! There are LOTS of new color on the sock shelves at Ewetopia. I have been busy with a pre-baby dyeing effort to get all the natural sock yarn in our inventory dyed up before my hands are full with something else, ahem this baby if it ever decides to enter our world!

Doll Pattern is finally finished!

Our beloved bendable, anatomically proportioned dolls are now available in pattern form! Yes for some pregnant women "nesting" means taking an inventory of the entire house, mine meant finishing a few patterns that had been put aside!

June the Shepherdess is now available at Ewetopia or online at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21937300

No baby yet, but more lamb pictures!

Top: Willa and Willow
Middle: Willow
Bottom: Eli and Ebony

With 6 lambs total born this spring it has been our least stressful lambing season ever, despite the cold weather and fact that we had no idea they were due in early February! All 6 lambs are getting quite large and have tons of fun now that they are all together and can play. We have one lamb named Willa who looks more like a Holstein cow than a lamb, who absolutely adores us for some unknown reason! She loves a little scratch under her chin, and will come running up to us when we come to the barn. This is really truly amazing behavior for a lamb who is not bottle fed and has a mother who wants nothing to do with us. Much to the dismay of many other shepherds we have decided to not dock their tails this year as an experiment. We feel that it causes much stress and distrust between us and the lambs, and since we shear late and will take extra precaution to shear their buttocks if needed throughout the summer to prevent fly stike, which in all reality is more of a management issue with dirty living conditions. We hope this goes well and don't foresee a problem.

New Spring/Summer Hours

Due to having a baby any day now, and the hectic and abundant spring and summer work that happens on a farm, Ewetopia will have abbreviated hours starting March 1st. They will not be too much different though, and of course please call if you're coming through at a time we're not here and I'll do whatever I can to be here!

Monday: 10-7pm (4-7pm is Monday night knitting!)
Tues-Weds: 10-4pm (Tues morning knitting from 10-1pm)
Thursday: 10-6pm
Fri-Sat: 10-4pm (Friday morning knitting from 10-1pm)
Sunday: Closed

I've waited years to witness this adorableness!

One warm morning last week, my husband Keith woke me up with a start by exclaiming "There's a lamb out there!" He had a puzzled tone and my first thought was one of our 2008 lambs (Betsy, Tacy or Martin) had escaped and was frolicking about the yard! I soon realized that he meant a brand new lamb and my next worry was that since the ewes we had purchased over the winter were not due until April it was a stillborn and we would have a sad morning ahead of us. Still half asleep I quickly dressed and ran out the door to the barn with a towel from my own birthing equipment stash. The lamb was not at all premature, and was in fact quite dry and lively as we caught him and brought him and his mother (who we have nicknamed Llama due to her size and stature) inside away from the chilly wind. He seemed quite used to nursing and had no trouble finding her teats, even through all her wooly coat, which since they were not due until April had not been sheared yet!

The next morning Keith went to work, without any more lambs to find. This morning it would be my turn! Just as I was leaving I checked on the lamb, and as an after thought decided to leave through the other door in the barn so I could count the ewes outside eating hay. The wind was much stronger and colder this morning and as I turned the corner I saw not only the 2 brown ewes and "24" the large white ewe, but a brand new pure white form on the ground! She had just been born maybe a minute earlier and her mother was just beginning to lick her off. Unfortunately I could not leave her where she had dropped because of the cold, she was chilled and must be inside with a heat lamp in an order to survive, ah February lambing! After a few frantic phone calls to Keith and my mother who would need to open the shop that morning. I ran and got the same towel as the morning before and toweled her off and watched her closely for signs of hypothermia as I waited for Keith to arrive and help me set up yet another lambing pen!

Both lambs are now just a few days old and are quite strong and lively! There is truly nothing better than watching a young lamb frisk and leap about! Last night when we checked them for the last time before going to bed we witnessed something I have seen in pictures and have ALWAYS wanted to see first hand. Leo (the first lamb) was warm and nestled in warm wooly fleece right on top of his mother! Thankfully they both were content enough and too cozy to move while I took a few pictures!