MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

This one popped up on Swami-ji's instythingy and I felt it appropriate to share. While the Govardhan reference may fly over most heads, the important message of curbing the ego comes through...

Menokreatikkul; Saturday Stitches

A couple of weeks back, I posted two images created with PixlR's AI assistance. There were quite a few comments that loved the heart-shaped item. So much so that I think the reference to AI may have skipped notice.

It got me thinking. Could I produce a heart shape in crochet that looked remotely like that one from AI?

I had to have a go, right?

Kinda, sorta... I had planned to sew them together and create the slightly puffed look of the image prompt. I ran out of steam when I realised that I was probably reinventing the wheel, even if it were heart-shaped! It took all of ten seconds to type into the search engine, "crochet patterns for hearts"... sigh. Silly Yamster. My own pattern worked, but you don't need mine when you can pick from many others. A good place to start might be with the ten patterns on offer if you click the image below. 

Back next week with more focus on Men In Yarn... Like I said before, plenty of men are keen on knitting and crochet... 

Menoturals; Sheep 101

Joining in with the LLB Gang for Nature Friday... and here's a pretty flower to start us off.

Today's breed of sheep began life in the harsher, boggy lands of the Netherlands. First noted as a breed around 1800 a.d, it is thought to have been developed from a more lanky old breed crossed with the shapely Texel. The Dutch Spotted Sheep was used to help solidify bog-lands into more stable land that would then keep cattle.

Look at that lovely square formation on the back. That is natural and inherited from the Texel lineage. These are a good, all-round commercial stock animal, primarily kept for their meat and for their milk. Wool is a strong secondary product. The fleece fibre is very springy, giving good loft to spun yarn. The wool is tightly packed, so it does not gather kemp and has an excellent crimp, with a staple length of about 10cm/4in, sometimes longer. The yarn produced is of medium to coarse quality, good for worsted fabrics suited to outerwear and furnishings.

Isn't that a lovely face? The pens where I took these photos had lots of ribbons hung on them. I took note of the farm presenting them. Cannon Hall Farm. Imagine my delight, then, to find this little video which featured these very sheep! Enjoy listening to the Yorkshire accent and the pride of showcasing this beautiful animal.