Sneezy, Sheepy, Shaniko

(Originally uploaded over here)

Well, crud-olla! This post is already not going as planned. I was going to share with you my latest yarn purchase, but apparently I didn't download the pictures I had taken of it before losing my camera.

Anyway, it's a beautiful pure wool fiber made right here in Oregon on the Imperial Stock Ranch of Shaniko.
Shankio is located in a high desert area of our very diverse state and has a tiny little population. I remember riding through there as a teenager in our high schools van on the way to all kinds of different FFA functions. We always found it humorous that Shaniko even had a population sign up because about the only thing that you saw while driving through town was the little post office. I haven't been through there in years but understand that Shaniko has grown a bit, (not a whole lot, but I think the population is much more than 4 now), and is an incredibly cute little town. You know, we had to have another tiny town to laugh at since we came from the thriving metropolitis of Elgin...

I digress...This yarn is gorgeous. The little brochure that was attached when I bought it states that their yarn is specially colored to reflect the ranch's unique, high desert landscape. I chose the "fawn". Beautiful. I started my project a couple of weeks ago, knitting (oh wait, I'm actually crochetting this one!) away in the late evenings after dinner, clean up and dog walks have been completed. For the past several weeks I have had a terrible time with allergies - sneezing; nose either swollen shut so that no breath is coming through or wide open and running away with itself; eyes red, itchy, watery, swollen; ears hurting; throat sore. Medicine is not working, I'm not sleeping, because I absolutely can not breathe. What is going on with me??? It finally hits me. Could it possibly be this yarn?? I have allergies anyway, but maybe it's contributing to my complete and utter miserablness... Off to the doctor I go.

Fast forward to tonight at my dinner table ~
Brittany innocently asks, "When you went to your Doctor today for your allergies, did you tell him about the yarn you've been using?"

I answer, mouth full of scallop scampi, "huh-uh."

Brittany giggles at this response and replies, "Why the heck not?"

"Because I don't plan on going through all the needle poking allergy testing to find out what I'm allergic to, so there was no point. Allergy medicine is allergy medicine."

Riff has just decided to start listening to our dinner conversation and being the blustery Foghorn Leghorn that he is, belted out something like this ~
"What! You didn't tell him that you're using that raw wool stuff off the freakin' sheep from over yonder?! Good God Man!!"

Brittany almost wet her pants laughing so hard. Not hard to do when your nine months pregnant. Need a little comedy with dinner? Come to our house!

Sneezy, Snuffly and Sheepishly Yours,
Paula