Anti Sheep?

I remember reading a long time ago at the Yarn Harlot, that Anti Sheep is an anagram of Stephanie. Well it would be hard pressed to say that this or that Stephanie is Anti Sheep. I'm a big Wool Fan - as my Ridiculous Stash can attest.

So can these guys:



Who could possibly resist those guys?! I have to confess to not following my stash reduction plans - I was at JoAnns looking for something - I don't even remember what (I think it might have been 6mm eyes, but I'm not certain) - in any case, the yarn used for those guys was on sale. And I was between projects. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Details?

Of course, they are more Crochet Amigurumi - from Amigurumi Collection Vol 1 (no, I've not moved off of Volume 1 yet, but I do have plans to). ISBN 4309265723.

Yarn: JoAnn Exclusive - Sensations - Icee and Dolcetto in Off White and Cream, respectively. Incidentally, I've still got plenty of Dolcetto (the non fuzzy part) but I've used almost 2 skeins of Icee to make that small herd of Sheepies.

Hooks: That's right - hooks! Plural! The Dolcetto (for the bottom, ears/horns and face) was crochet using a 3.5mm (US E4) hook (for the small sheepies) and a 3.75mm (USF5) hook (for the big sheepie) - I prefer how it came out using the 3.5mm hook - that and the holes were small enough for me to put some polyfil beads in the bottom (for stabilization) without them leaking out. The Icee was hooked using a 6mm (US J10) hook.

Comments: They come together mighty fast and they are wonderfully adorable - I have to say crocheting the Icee (a feathery chenille-like yarn) was a royal pain (because I couldn't see what I was doing). I recommend putting polyfil or other weighted beads in the bottom of these guys, or sheep tipping may prove to be in your future. The horns were a little challenging on the big guy - I didn't have any white pipe cleaners, so I had to wrap polyfil around the black one I did have, and I had to use 2 since the pipe cleaner (craft variety) was not very rigid and wasn't cooperating in helping me shape the horns. Assembly was fairly easy, with the face being the most difficult - who would think getting three stitches centered and even (for the nose & mouth) would be so difficult?? The collar also took a little bit of time, as I could not find cord similar to that used in the book, and none of the yarns I had on hand looked good as a collar - I opted to go a little fancy and each is sporting a flower trimmed red velvet ribbon...and don't forget the bell :)

In case you're wondering - the big one took almost an entire skein of Icee. The pair of lambkins can be had from a single skein of Icee.