In Good Company

September 17, 2021

We have 200 knitters coming to our event this weekend, which has far exceeded our expectations! We modestly set out to break last year’s record of 47 knitters and to hold onto our undisputed world title of “The Most People Knitting in The Company of Sheep.” Morehouse Farm in the Catskills is holding a similar event in October with the express purpose of taking away our title. Ha! Good luck with that!

There is something very endearing about creating a tongue in cheek competition between rival gangs of knitters. Could there be anything less threatening, or less competitive, than a group of knitters?

Like any event there are always things that need to get done before the big day:

answering emails,
fielding questions,
finding people to help with parking,
making signage,
renting a portable restroom

And then there are those things that are fairly unique to a public event involving farm animals. Such as:

Relocating the white-faced hornet’s nest.
Remembering to shut off the electric fence.
Locking the ram up, securely, in the barn.
Repairing the gate so when we open it to let the knitters in, it actually opens (and they don’t have to climb, or vault, over it as Anne and I have become rather adept at doing)
Removing the over abundant supply of sheep poop from the pasture (which is not unlike vacuuming just before your dinner guests arrive – except with a leaf blower, shovel, and a 5-gallon bucket)

The overwhelming enthusiasm for the event, I think, speaks to people’s need right now for playful inconsequential community spirited fun. So, as we get ready for the big day, we look forward to the lightheartedness and try very hard not to dwell on the fact that we have opened our pasture gates to a bevy of innocent bystanders and have a testosterone addled ram locked up inside the barn. What could possibly go wrong?