The day we first talked about bringing in books, I went directly home and looked through my bookshelf for one particular title; Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. The book was written in German and translated into English back in 2005, so it had been awhile, and I couldn't quite remember the title but I knew it was there. What I did remember was the premise - a flock of sheep investigate the murder of their shepherd George. The sheep were called things like Miss Maple, Othello, Melmoth and Mopple the Whale. There was a winter lamb and something about cloud sheep. And a dolmen.
Clearly we had to have this book, and it ended up being our first purchase.
I like these excerpts from the Guardian's review; "With sheep as detectives Swann solves one of the major problems in crime fiction, which is how to avoid the stereotypical jaded, cynical, alcoholic deadbeat gumshoe with relationship problems... As befits ruminants, they ruminate...The denouement occurs at Glennkill's Smartest Sheep competition, in a scene reminiscent of something from Father Ted. The English, according to Brecht, 'have long dreaded German art as sure to be dreadfully ponderous, slow, involved and pedestrian'. Three Bags Full is ponderous, slow, involved and pedestrian, but it is also genuinely odd and affecting, and without a doubt the best sheep detective novel you're going to read this year."
Our project this month is also a little ponderous, slow and involved- and very much useful in the end. The Traveling Stitch Legwarmers by Lisa Myers, "more closely resemble close-fitting leggings than the slouchy legwarmers of the 1980s. They hug the leg from the cuff to the thigh in an elaborate traveling-stitch pattern that come from traditional Austrian knee socks. The calves are shaped with increases and decreases hidden in the lozenge-shaped motif. Warmer and more comfortable than tights, you want to pull these on with your favorite skirt all winter long.”
This pattern requires 3 balls of Nature Spun Sport by Brown Sheep- one of our favorite standards. Click here to see available colors.