A few scenes from my morning:

  I've named Helena's black ewe lamb "Mistral"  (one of yesterday's suggestions, thank you!). She spent her 4th night indoors, after making new friends in the barn yesterday. Following her midnight bottle feeding I brought her back to the studio with me as I did not want to return to the barn for the  2  & 4 a.m. feedings. She doesn't stay in her basket anymore, wants to sleep on the floor beside the bed with her head tucked under the bedskirt. I put a woolen blanket there for her and she has made it her own. Holly's just now taken her back to the barn for morning chores.

As precious as it all looks and sounds (and is in many ways), I've made of list of very good reasons I'm thinking of right this minute why lambs do not make good roommates. If I happen to forget this next year, please remind me of this post.

1. The Mess – You can't paper train a lamb. Once things start moving through their system it's nonstop.

2. Lamb-proof? – The most dangerous objects the most intriguing for a curious lamb: a teetering stack of books, the electrical wires under my desk, the outlet under the nightstand. 

3. Nocturnal Habits – At 2:30 I was awakened by the lamb foraging under the bed.

4. Never a dull moment – Mistral hates the playpen in the living room. While I was brushing my teeth this morning she tried to scale the walls of the playpen, snagging her pointy-tipped hooves in the nylon mesh. 

***

 I cant' believe how quickly time passes during lambing season. In just under three weeks there are 30 new members of our flock. And because it's Friday, it's time to announce last weeks winners and a new Giveaway.  Today's lucky winners:

– The winner of Amanda Blake Soule's latest book HandMade Home goes to CatieP.

– The winner of two skeins of handpainted Cormo Alpaca lace yarn is Sue K. (from comment posted April 11, 9:19 a.m.)

– The winner of the little lamb notecards: The Other Kristen.

Congrats to all – I'll be contacting you via email for your mailing address so I can send your goodies.

This week's Give-Away celebrates wool. After all, it's spring, the sheep have been shorn, and we have thirty + new wool bearing arrivals to our farm.

Last fall's release of Clara Parkes' A Knitter's Bool of Wool (Potter Craft) was an important milestone for yarn farmers. We're grateful for Clara's shining a light on what we do and what gives farm yarns their special identity. Kudos to Clara – her book has made Amazon's  Best Books of 2009 list!!  I am really proud to have one of my yarns featured in Clara's book, in the Nara scarf designed by the talented Sheila January and humbled to be mentioned by Clara as one of the farms that helped inspire this awesome resource. 

This week's giveaway:

A copy of Clara's book and 2 skeins of  Cormo Silk Alpaca – to make your own Nara Scarf.

But there's more.

Pardis Amirshahi, editor of Living Crafts magazine, has sent me complimentary copies of her spring issue (which features more adorable photos of my lambs and my article about spring lambing here at my farm). I'll be giving away 5 copies of this issue to an additional 5 lucky winners.

To be entered in the drawing for one of this week's prizes, leave a comment here on this post. What's your favorite wool? Is it a breed of sheep, type or yarn or roving? Or maybe a memorable wooly-tactile experience? Remember to include your email address where it asks for it so I can notify you if I draw your name. Entries close next Thursday at the stroke of midnight (est) and I'll announce more winners and another giveaway next Friday.

As I've sat here typing, I've been monitoring Holly's progress in the barn. Carrera's just delivered one lamb and another is on the way! Holly just gave me a big thumbs up on the lambcam. I'm heading over now with my camera to check it out. 

More lambs, what a happy ending to the week