Beautiful slate grey felted fleece ‘vegetarian sheepskin’ rug handmade from Astrid’s 2023 fleece…

This beautiful slate grey felted fleece sheepskin rug has been made with Astrid’s 2023 fleece. Sometimes called ‘vegetarian sheepskins’ or ‘felted fleeces’ this is a sheep-friendly craft handmade from natural wool.

The rug: Astrid’s fleece is a beautiful slate grey colour. This rug is made with the whole of Astrid’s 2023 fleece. As fleece rugs go it is quite small in size but beautifully formed and would make a wonderful bedside or hearthside rug. This fleece felted a lot on Astrid before she was shorn as such it is very thick and solid and doesn’t have the ‘drapey’ qualities of some fleeces hence I think it makes super rug as opposed to being ‘draped’ on the back of a sofa or chair. I also reckon this little rug would be a great one to bundle up and take on wild walks and picnics and park your bum on to keep you cosy. The center of the rug or ‘spine’ as I call is shorter wool and has been brushed out to remove field debris (grass seeds and leaves etc). The edges are longer and hairier and I’ve left them natural to show off the beautiful colours and structure of Astrid’s locks. The back of the rug has a gorgeous unique felted design of stars and swirls and a theme of the cosmos.

The sheep: Astrid is a Gotland cross Icelandic sheep. She is a medium-sized sheep who has many characteristics from both breeds. Astrid loves her grub and is forever her head through fences to reach tasty greens on the other side of the fence – as the saying goes ‘the grass is always greener’! The wool used for the backing felt of this rug come from Astrid’s mum Frieda and flock mates Mochi and Daffodil.

The process: This rug is made using the whole of Astrid’s fleece. Her fleece is laid out and prepared then flipped over and prepared some more before carded wool is placed on the back. The pattern and decorations are then carefully arranged and laid out onto the carded wool. The rug is then felted – a very slow and careful process. Afterwards it is thoroughly washed and left to dry naturally in the Welsh sunshine and winds. The felted underside is unique and very carefully made. Decorated with a starry pattern and Astrid’s name needle felted on making this magical felted fleece even more special. The backing felt is made from carded wool from our other sheep, as is the yarn.  This is a completely handmade product every element has been created by my hands and the flock at our farm in Wales – from shearing the sheep to washing and carding and spinning the wool to the felting process itself. The sale of this item directly sustains the sheep it pays for their feed and upkeep of the land enabling the flock to live long happy lives here munching away growing wonderful wool.

Details:

Size: A natural fleece shape at its largest it measures approx 108-115cm in length and 70-85cm at its widest with these measurements taken on the top fleece side.

Wool texture: The feel of this fleece is medium soft some of Astrid’s fleece is fluffy and soft and other parts are more hairy.

Colour: Natural slate greys with some brown highlights.

Hair loss: Minimal – there is a little loss of hairs which is normal. All felted fleeces moult or shed to some degree some more than others. Moulting typically lessens over time.

VM(aka hay/grass seeds etc): It has been brushed out and picked through to remove as much as possible. But as always you may find the odd wisp of hay or grass seed from the Welsh Hillside within the fleece and felt I have done my best to remove the ones I came across. This is a natural item gently made by hand and sheep. There is a whole story behind it! The wool it is made from has spent a whole year outside growing on a sheep. It’s been through a lot, it’s seen a lot, it’s kept a sheep warm and dry and even cool at times.. its probably been dragged through a hedge (or two!), splattered with mud at some point, sprinkled with hay at another and rolled around in the spring clover as it naturally started to rise and break away from its 4 legged creator and I got my shears out – all that and the wool still looks beautiful.. none the worse for wear.. isn’t wool amazing!

Fleeces get washed during the felting process and then they all get a thorough wash or two after they are felted so they are thoroughly clean and smell divine. They are left to dry in the open air or sometimes draped beside the stove in winter. I am passionate about keeping things natural and energy use to a minimum when making my woollen crafts.

If you have any questions or queries at all please send me a message I will be happy to help.

You can meet Astrid and read more about her and her pals here.