a tale (tail?) of two stuffed sheep.....

Two years ago Kohl's featured farmyard animals as their "Kohl's Cares for Kids" campagin mascots. In a moment of weakness I hunted down a cow, a duck and two sheep - the sheep were the most difficult to find. I called around to several stores before learning that a shipment was due in the following Saturday morning. I was there when they opened, and at the customer service desk I managed to convince every customer that they too needed a stuffed sheep.

This trio was intially introduced here and they lived with me for many months before finding new homes.


The reason for getting two sheep? One was procured in honor of my parent's new mattress - she still sits on their bed during the day, and has affectionetly been named Berta.

(I'm not sure which my mom was more excited about - the finished sweater I knit her, or the new sheep....) (original post with this picture is here)



Eventually the animals found their way to other places. The cow went to live in my friend's research lab and last I heard was doing okay (despite living with master/phd students who, sometimes, on occasion, mumble to themselves).

The duck stuck with me until the end, and made the cut for deep storage. She's not in there alone - there's a stuffed pig (not pictured) that I hold onto for sentimental reasons, and there's probably a bear in there too.

The sheep?

I wasn't sure what to do with the sheep. I enjoyed him, and loved how soft he was, but I didn't think I needed to hold onto him. At some point during my board studying, on a whim, I put it in the mail to my local yarn store owner. The package would never get through security today - imagine a stuffed sheep smooshed into the fetal position in a plastic bag wrapped in brown paper and taped with as much clear packing tape as I had. I even had the audacity to write "do not use scissors to open!" all over it.

A few months later (being that I'm only in town where this particular sheep lives every now and then) I stopped in and saw the him modeling a sheep sized scarf. The next season he looked dapper in an infant sweater sitting in a pile of Dale of Norway yarn. Every time I go in I look for him, and it's always a surprise where he is and what he's wearing.

Yesterday I went in to pick up some red yarn (for the red scarf project) and while I was there I looked high and low for the sheep. After a few minutes the owner saw me looking and then she started to look in the usual places - he wasn't in with the Dale yarn, nor overlooking the pattern binders. He wasn't nestled in the Lamb's pride or sitting at her desk.

It was then that she confessed that her other employees liked to dress him up and move him, and that they must have re-accessorized him and put him somewhere else. Then she thought to mention the front window....



which is exactly where he was!



I'm so glad that he went to live with them - no only is he not smooshed in storage, but right now he's front and center in a shop window.

(I do believe he needs some socks.....)