Sheepies, Sheepies, Sheepies! (Jacob Sheep)

Spring is in full force here in the North Carolina / Tennessee / Virginia area and do you know what that means? It's time to shear all the poor wee sheepies so they'll be all comfy for the summer.

And, you know. Buy all their fleeces.

My sheep to shawl group (non-competitive) is using a Jacob fleece and I am just enamored by it. Jacob sheep are so cool, you guys. They're small, spotted sheep and can have between 2 and 6 horns. They're sheep that look like goats... but act like sheep. I like that as I've always found goats to be suspicious. They're very smart and often have a bad sense of humour. Also Goat's Cheese is unfairly delicious and expensive. I totally hold that against them and will continue to do so until I can afford to eat goat's cheese every day... But I digress.

The Jacob fleece we're working with is so nice. So, so nice. This is the first time I've ever worked with Jacob and I was under the impression that it's a little coarse but it turns out there's a lot of variation. We may even be working with a lamb fleece - it was donated so we're not sure. But I basically want to spread out this fleece and roll around in it. My cats also feel this way, which is why the fleece is hidden and I can't pet it at will.

So imagine my delight when a shepherd located within driving distance announced that they'll be shearing their Jacob sheeps April 18th. I immediately began hatching an evil plan and emailed her asking, "Are there good hiking trails near you?"

You see, boys and girls, Jaime is a lovely fellow. If I said, "This weekend I want to go stomp around a sheep farm, pet all the sheepies, and buy all their fleeces. You drive, okay?", he would probably go along with it. But I would feel just the tiniest bit bad, forcing him to spend all day drowning in my bizarre hobbies. Not very bad, just a wee little bit.

But Jaime is a hiker. A thru hiker, no less, which seems to involve spending a lot of money on gear so you can pretend to be in the bike-less apocalypse and walk hundreds of miles in the wilderness. So the weekend after April 18th, weather allowing, Jaime and I will go hiking and camping in the Peaks of Otter. I will show my travelling sock some beautiful sights while getting some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise...

... And then, on the way home... ALL THE FLEECES! MUAHAHAHA!