Crocheting a Kerry Hill Sheep by TOFT

If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know that in 2019 I took part in TOFT's advent, which was my first attempt at crocheting one of their animals. Prior to that I'd actually purchased this kit at Yarndale, which is when I was first introduced to the brand.

I'd been a bit nervous that this project would be too difficult, which is how I ended up working on the advent project before this one. I didn't work on any crochet projects for a while after advent, but when it got to spring I finally got started on this sheep. It was much easier than I'd expected, so I probably should've just started it sooner.

I really enjoyed crocheting the sheep, but obviously I didn't get it done in Spring - it ended up taking me until the end of summer. The reason it's taken me months to get it finished is that I've absolutely hated sewing it up. I followed TOFT's tutorial videos but I'm just terrible at it! I knew I'd had a difficult time sewing together the advent project, but didn't remember it being quite so tricky. I truly wished I could get someone else to sew together the finished sheep for me so I could just work on the crochet elements. I had such a hard time sewing the head on straight that after hours of numerous attempts, the piece of yarn I'd been sewing it on with snapped in half due to it wearing out. I eventually settled for a slightly wonky head and put the sheep away for a few months. In late August I decided I wanted to just get through sewing it together, so I could finally get it finished and out of my pile of WIPs. The completed sheep definitely doesn't look perfect, as I struggled so much with sewing everything on in the correct locations. The ears are too far apart and the arms are too close together, but overall I think it looks alright so I decided to just leave it as is.

Thankfully after the sewing up was done I could get back to the fun crochet part of the project, where I needed to add the fleece. It took a lot more time than I'd anticipated but I'm really happy with how it looks.

Overall I'm pleased with the finished project, I think I've given up on making these kits look exactly like the photos. I find sewing them together so frustrating, I think as long as it's close enough to looking like the animal then it's fine. It's a shame I had such a hard time with sewing the sheep together, as I really loved crocheting it. I'm not sure if the sewing up step will be enough to put me off crocheting more animals, but other than that I really enjoyed making this sheep and would recommend it.