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It Happens

Sometime in mid-July I completely and thoroughly fell into a l-o-n-g stint of writer's block.  All the same daily knitting updates were being read, social media was filled with new and at least to some interesting ideas about the craft, but I didn't care.  Not that there is ever anything earth shattering written here, but at least I seem to find something to say about the most trivial of things.

Being too busy with other things could not be used as an excuse either.  I was knitting on very simple patterns that I deemed to not be worth commenting on; so like others things I do for fun, I just didn't write for almost six weeks.  And true to form, some of you concerned about me asked if I was OK either by writing, calling or e-mailing.  Thank you for your concern.  Writer's block can have a full recovery.  I think it has now passed.

I was preparing during that time to take a 14-day tour of Ireland and Scotland, taking everything I needed in one small carry-on suitcase and backpack.  More about this trip as time passes.  Suffice it to say it was beyond wonderful and somehow I managed to be there for the first 14 days all summer when it did not rain.  I know, a completely dry (as far as rain is concerned) trip to two places that truly have 40 shades of green due to plenty of rain, lucky me.

So as an appetizer for the first of many courses regarding this trip I will post this one picture from the first day in Dublin.  Although I have roughly 50 photos from that first day you get this one, which I think is the best.  You are looking at the Grand Canal on Mespil Road.  It is a canal that cuts through the city of Dublin and back in the day horses would pull the barges along the canal to move goods throughout the city.  Today the barges are self-propelled, probably only there to serve tourists, and the one I was riding on even served up a fine dinner.  It was a lovely and peaceful way to end a day that started about 8 pm on Friday evening in Chicago and ended about 8 pm Saturday in Dublin.  It took a couple of days for me to make the transition in time zones as we lost six hours flying east.  This was a moment of zen at the end of that day.






Finally since this is a knitting blog and I was in the land of sheep, how about this look on a sheep?  



This poor fellow is named Shrek, a renegade merino sheep from New Zealand.  The story goes he was not too fond of being sheared so for six years he would hide in a cave while others endured the process.  As you can see above, his wool continued to grow.  In fact it was reported after he was sheared there was enough wool to make 20 men's suits.  So from my humble point of view this story begs two questions:

1)  Do sheep really dislike shearing that much?
2)  Does sheep's wool continue to grow indefinitely?

As for the first question, Dave Thomas, head of sheep studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says yes.  He states sheep enjoy shearing about as much as humans enjoy going to the dentist.  He adds, however, that as they mature sheep tend (Shrek not withstanding) to fight the process less and less accepting it as an inevitable part of being a sheep.

Thomas also states in answering the second question that domesticated sheep's wool will continue to grow, it is possible to blind them, (as you can see was the case for Shrek) or cause them to lay down and not be able to get up because of the size and weight of the wool surrounding their body.  (Shrek yielded 60 pounds of wool when an annually sheared sheep offers about 10 pounds.)  Thomas adds however that wild sheep do rid themselves of wool on their own thus NOT requiring an annual shearing.

And here's what Shrek looked like without six years' worth of wool.  It must have been quite a load off his back!


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