Friends, I'm feeling a bit like a Harlem Globetrotter juggling basketballs in a Scooby Doo special celebrity episode, except that I am not special, nor am I a celebrity. I'm just a sleep deprived wreck of a new mom that hasn't showered in days, but at least the baby's diaper is clean and there is food in his mouth. Don't think too carefully about that last bit. Anyhoodle, I'm not getting as much work done as I'd like, but my fancy new laptop arrives next week, which will hopefully write my posts for me. More importantly, I'm planning to spend some time catching up on all your awesome blogs and showering you with my witty comments. Until then, I'll be stalking your blog one handed on my phone. You may not see my presence, but it will be there...

wooly chair

Yes, much like the subtly creepy face embedded in Jason Miller's bison fur Wooly Chair, I'll be watching you.

As you may know Erin is out of town and she's left me here all alone to Run the DC headquarters. Just to prove to her, as I have proven to all of you, that I am a big girl and can be trusted to stay home all by myself I'm totally going to stay up late, watch R rated movies, eat tons of sugar and possibly throw a party that ends with every object in the DCHQ painted (almost klien) blue. With all of these scheduled activities how can I possibly be expected to write an entire post about boring old design? Huh? Huh? So, I've decided that, in Erin's honor, I will dig up one of my favorite posts of hers from back in the day when Design Crisis was just a wee little baby inside it's mommy's tummy. Don't worry, I fully plan to wake up bright and early Friday morning from a mind blowing sugar crash surrounded by piles of glitter, empty cans of gold spray paint and artfully arranged photos of Michael Phelps 100% ready to bring you the best damn design post of your scene-loving-life. Until then, without further ado, I give you: Flock Watch, by Stacy (yep!) Erin Williamson I heart sheep -- and especially their silky soft skins. I know, Peta is probably coming to splash my front door with faux blood, but I really can't help myself. I have, like, 500 (ok, two) of the Ikea sheepskin rugs covering suboptimal chairs, and I loooooove my Costco sheepskin rug. I used to have a flokati rug, but I couldn't vacuum it properly without fumes of burning rubber issuing forth from my workhorse machine, and shaking the stupid thing out usually induced a seismic allergy attack, magnitude 8.0. Yuck. Happily, my sheepskin rugs are a dream to clean, and they are so, so cuddly on my feet.

Yes, I love my pretty little pelts, but lately I've noticed sheepskin recalling its original form. Witness these stools from Sam Brown at Leigh Harmer:

sheep stools

These cute poofs would make a comfy landing spot for a guest when seating is limited, or perhaps as accessories in the little tot's playroom. I like the headless hybrid form and the juxtaposition of wood and fur.

Hanns-Peter Krafft's vintage design in current production at Moss moves closer to the zoological end of the animal/furniture spectrum:

moss sheep

His stool evokes the designs of amazingly brilliant husband/wife team Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne, who have spent much of their lives creating animal-themed furnishings and objets d'art. In particular, Francois' sixties-designed Moutons are enjoying a contemporary revival:

lalanne

I am loving the life-sized sheep on abstracted "grass" carpet, and it helps that the chrome coffee table reminds me of a totally stylin' water trough! (Image courtesy of Topsy Turvy).

While Les Moutons are sheepishly cute and fuzzy in a stuffed animal kind of a way, a couple of newer designs may belong in the cabinet of curiosities. Check out this three-headed monster courtesy of freshome:

3 headed chair

I don't know. I love me some taxidermy, but I'm not sure I want to sit on it. On the other hand, it's kind of awesome. I'm torn.

I feel less ambiguously repulsed by this meat chair, a gruesome creation of Italian artist Simone Racheli featured at Paola Maria Deanisi Gallery.

meat chair

That's really the point, though, right? I definitely think of this one as art, designed to provoke a strong reaction, and on that level I find it to be extremely successful. And gross. And kind of mesmerizing.

I think I'd most like to have this fabulous lucite and sheepskin chair at Waazwiz, a Japanese design site:

sheep and lucite