Wool on the hoof

As a knitter, I love the feel of different fibers while I'm knitting. The way different yarns respond and perform is a constant source of intrigue for me; a person can knit the same pattern over and over and, depending on the fiber chosen, the entire character of the piece shifts and evolves. Seriously, how cool is that?

Wool is the foudation, walls and roof of my own stash. In my knitting fantasies, I develop a relationship with the sheep that is about to be shorn, whose fleece will be spun into the ultimate skein of goodness for my waiting needles.

Author Catherine Friend, a fellow Minnesotan, currently lives the life I don't think I could: she and her partner run a working sheep farm. Her memoir, Hit By a Farm, is a wonderfully entertaining read about daily farm life (which was not her first choice, BTW). Her accounts remind me of my dad's stories of growing up on a dairy farm. I laughed out loud often, sometimes uncontrollably. Even though Catherine isn't a knitter, and their flock isn't purposed for wool production, I loved reading about the lives of these women and their sheep. If you're looking for a humorous nonfiction read, stop and pick this up.