Worked in thread, this winsome trio perches nicely on your shelf. For larger crochet dolls, work in a worsted yarn.

Long ago, in the frozen North, a woman went out in search of her ewe, which had not returned from grazing. She carried her child wrapped in a shawl, protecting it from the blowing snow, which was quickly gathering in drifts about her feet.

As she followed the sounds of the ewe's bleats, the storm worsened. Soon the wraps of shawl were not enough to keep her babe from shivering.

At last, she found the ewe and the lamb that had been born that day, whose spindle-legs could not climb through the snow to get home. The ewe regarded the mother with her mewling bundle. "Strap your babe to my fleece," she said. "I will keep her warm, and your arms will be free to carry my lamb home."

The mother nestled her wee one into the fleece of the ewe and wrapped the shawl around them. She lifted the lamb out of the snow and held it close to her as they walked back to the warm cottage at the far end of the fields.

They spent that and every following winter together by the fire, the babe's hands growing to spin fine threads from the lamb's downy fleece.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Designer: Sarah Read

Finished Size: Baby doll: 2¾" tall; sheep: 3¼" tall; mama: 3¾" tall.

Yarn: Nazli Gelin Garden size 3 (100% mercerized cotton; 136 yd [124 m]/1¾ oz [50 g]): 300 11 medium blue (A), 300-04 light pink (B), 300-02 cream (C), 300-25 black (D), 300-07 cabernet (E); 1 ball each. Yarn distributed by Universal Yarn.

Hook Size: B/1 (2.25 mm) steel hook. Adjust hook size if necessary to obtain correct gauge.

Notions: Yarn needle; fiber fill; st marker (m).

Gauge: Rnds 1-8 = 1" in sc spiral rnds.