I created this knitting pattern when I needed a flock of knitted sheep... and why did I need a flock of knitted sheep? 

...well, it all started from characters in one of my books, But I'm Not Sleepy. I was doing a lot of book signings and my little flock of sheep were a great ice breaker to draw in customers, as well as a great talking point. I knitted a lot of sheep! I knitted so many sheep that they were in danger of overrunning my writing, so the obvious solution was to produce a knitting pattern so that I could get back to my writing.