As a stay at home parent, I spend a lot of my day reading kids books. And, since my kid’s one and a half, and getting into the “Again! Again!” phase, I’ve been reading the same books over and over again. Sometimes it’s an absolute chore (I’m looking at you, Follow that Truck!), but sometimes it’s great. Especially when the book has a nice story, fun rhymes and detailed pictures. Enter: Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw.
It’s a delightful book about sheep who are remarkably bad at driving. In 26 pages, they manage to 1. stall out their Jeep on the top of a hill, 2. get their Jeep stuck in a mud puddle, and 3. crash their Jeep against a tree. It’s all very dramatic.
Anyway, on read-through 1,325, I noticed that one of the sheep has a knitting bag with her, and it goes flying when the car crashes. She’s got 5 colors of yarn, and a half-finished… something. Maybe it’s the beginning of a sweater or a scarf, or maybe it’s just a swatch. Either way, it was super cute colorwork. 
I noticed reddish ribbing on the bottom, then a row of… maybe blue and white circles, before a row of white triangles and red circles… and maybe some green on top with black dots? It wasn’t too clear, but I had a little time in my knitting schedule and some of the kid’s crayons to try to chart it out, so away I went.
But halfway, through, I realized the red, white and green shapes weren’t just shapes… they were turnips! (Or maybe radishes? It’s hard to tell the difference.)
I went back through the book to see if I could find another picture of the knitting. And, wouldn’t you believe it- right on the back, clear as day, there was another view. And now that I know they’re radishes, I can’t not see them. Obviously- a row of radishes and a row of green dots. How didn’t I see it before?
Now that I was this far, I had to keep going- And another swatch later, I’ve got a very cute little radish design. I’d change the colors so the contrast is there, but it’s a good start.
Now I’ve just got to decide what to use this for. Right now, I’m thinking a little pullover for the kiddo. Maybe with a light blue background “above ground” and a nice chocolate brown heather for the dirt. I think I might stagger the dots and the radishes, and the leaves still need a little work, but I like where it’s going.
This whole Sheep in a Jeep project is getting a little out of hand (but maybe that’s fitting, considering the source material…).
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve gotten knitting inspiration from?
And I think I’m liking how these colors are playing together for the most part. There’s still a part of me that’s a little skeptical of the pink-yellow variegated, but I think that’s because it’s just so far outside of the colors I usually pick. And, I am a little concerned about the contrast between the pink and the gray in the big “arrow” section of the yoke. (Though, honestly this picture makes it look pretty nice. It’s a little less clear in real life.)
I’m almost to the end of the yoke, which is both exciting (yay! I’m that much closer to finishing), and a little sad (boo! I’m that much closer to finishing). It’s a fun little project, and with no sleeves and not much body to knit, it’ll be done before I know it.
On the Needles 