Beautiful grey felted fleece ‘vegetarian sheepskin’ rug handmade from Astrid’s 2021 fleece…

This fleece is being offered to people on the waiting list first but may become available for sale shortly.

This wild rug is made from the fleece of beauty Astrid (she is pictured in the photos wearing this very fleece). Astrid is an Icelandic cross Gotland sheep who lives here with her mum Frieda, dad Sven, twin brother Ivar and many other sheep family and friends at our home on the Llyn Peninsular in North Wales. All the sheep are hand-shorn by myself with traditional blade shears taking great care not to harm sheep or fleece. Astrid’s felted fleece is a very beautiful slate blue grey colour. It has a wild rough appearance with locks of varying length and texture. The shorter wool down the spine of Astrid’s fleece contains many shorter fine hairs which are remnants of a primitive outer coat, these are more prone to moulting and so I have taken this into account when pricing this rug. This particular fleece is Astrid’s 2nd shear fleece aka the second fleece that she has grown in her lifetime. It is unique as each sheep’s fleece is never quite the same each year, many factors affect it, weather, age, diet etc.

Astrid’s fleece is all-natural 100% wool, animal-friendly and essentially over a year in the making, it has great provenance.

The reverse of Astrid’s rug is made from carded wool that is then hand felted to Astrid’s fleece. That felted wool is a mix of wool from some of my other sheep – Mochi, Daffodil Frieda and Bruno. The underside is very lightly decorated with some white wool locks from Noddy. I have also needle felted Astrid’s name on there with a little star and moon decoration as I always think of stars when I think of Astrid. The underside of her rug is quite hairy too and so it is more prone to moult than other fleeces.

This is a completely handmade product every element has been created by myself and Astrid and the flock at our farm in Wales. The sale of it directly sustains the sheep and enables them to live out their whole lives here munching away growing beautiful wool. You can’t get more ethical than that.

Astrid’s fleece is well suited to a display piece due to the fact that it does moult. It would be suitable to use as a floor rug or drape on a sofa for mostly decorative purposes. It is the sort of rug that should you sit on it you may leave a little hairier. The rug itself is very well felted and the hair loss is solely due to the type of primitive fleece Astrid has. Perfect to bring a touch of wilderness to your home! This fleece is a really beautiful slate blue colour. I also have a matching fleece from Astrid’s twin brother Ivar available on a separate listing.

Being made of only wool (and the odd bit of hay…) it is completely biodegradable and kind to our planet…

Felted fleeces aka vegetarian sheepskin rugs are best suited to light use but they really will last for years and years if loved and treated with respect and care.

Please note this listing is just for Astrid’s 1 fleece – in some photos it is pictured with other fleeces including her twin brother Ivar’s which are not included in the sale.

Dimensions: Measurements taken on the fleece side are approx at the longest 130cm long x 85-95cm wide. It is a good sized fleece rug.

Wool texture: The feel of this fleece is medium-soft/coarse in texture. It has quite a variation in coat type and length, some parts are more coarse and others silkier and softer.

Colour: The colour of this rug is a beautiful slate blue grey, with varying tones.

VM(aka hay/grass seeds etc): I spent a lot of time removing the most noticeable bits of debris Astrid collected in her fleece throughout the year, bits dried leaves mostly where she has foraged in hedges in the winter months.. However, you may still find little bits of dried leaves and grass seeds as this is a natural unprocessed handmade piece, with this particular rug they are few.

All felted fleeces moult or shed to some degree some more than others. With this particular piece from Astrid that is true, her fleece contains a mix of wool, guard hairs and remnants of outer guard hairs which are the ones that tend to moult. This rug is also a little hairy on the underside too and so does shed from the felted side a little.

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

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A lot of time, care and love go into all my items they are all individually made one at a time by just 1 pair of hands – from caring for and shearing the sheep, washing the wool and crafting an item to the packaging and posting – handmade in the truest sense of the word.

Any questions just send me a message.

Postage for this item is by myHermes courier Next Day Fully Insured and items are dispatched within 1-5 working days. If you require express postage please contact me before purchase to arrange.

Combined Postage I do combine postage on multiple items if it is not done automatically at checkout I will refund you any overcharges after checkout.

Post Packaging In an effort to be more eco-friendly most of the outer post packaging I send items in is reused aka recycled packaging that we have received parcels in ourselves or that has been gifted to me to put to good use.

OVERSEAS BUYERS will incur an extra postage charge which may vary depending on location.

RETURNS If you are unhappy with your item please contact me within 7 days of receiving it. All items must be returned in their original unused condition and buyer pays return postage.

If you have any problems with your order please contact me and I will do my best to help.

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We keep a well-loved, high welfare flock of pet and rescue sheep on the Llyn Peninsular in North Wales. Our sheep are a part of the family and each is known by name. All our wool and makes are vegetarian-friendly as we do not breed or sell sheep for the meat market and our sheep live out their natural lives with us. I am a full-time mum and shepherdess. In my (none existent!) free time I make things from wool from the sheep in order to sustain them.

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