Beautiful Felted Sheepskin Rug ‘Sprite’ – Handcrafted in Wales

Made with the fleece of a teeny tiny sheep called Sprite who is a Gotland cross Shetland/Leicester Longwool sheep. This beautiful felted sheepskin fleece is very pretty and soft and very versatile. It is a very good example of a felted fleece rug. Made with the whole of Sprite’s fleece in the natural shape. A good even size with thick warm felt on the underside. The felt features a unique pretty design created from handspun wool yarn that colplements Sprite’s pretty fleece and features her name needle felted into the felt.

The rug: This fleece is one of my favourite’s it is wonderfully pretty and a grown by a very special little sheep. Handcrafted using the whole of her fleece and backed with wool from other sheep in the flock. This is a medium-weight fleece. The rug itself is a medium/big size natural shape. The backing felt is wonderfully thick and features a unique design made from handspun yarn. This design is carefully created prior to felting so it becomes one with the fleece during the felting process. Sprite’s name was needle felted on as a finishing touch. The fleece itself is soft with tighter curls down the centre and very pretty wavy locks on the rear and front of the fleece. It has a lot of the characteristics of a Gotland fleece like the loose wavy curls and beautiful glossy shine. This fleece will make a special luxurious rug but equally, it would be wonderful to place on a bed or a sofa or large chair to sit upon. This is a very versitile fleece it is naturally minimal moulting thanks to the quality of Sprite’s fleece and so suitable for a variey of uses.

The sheep: Sprite is a tiny little thing shes very sweet and loves a cuddle. Her mum is Frieda a pure Gotland sheep and her dad is Shamrock who is a mixed breed of Shetland/Soay/Gotland/Leicester Longwool. Sprite was the teeny little runt of triplet girls and her sisters Sprite and Campion live here too. When she was born she was very weak and tiny and needed a bit of help to survive and thrive.

The process: This rug has been made with the whole of Sprite’s fleece. Sprite may be tiny but her fleece is big in comparison to her! Carded wool from some of our other sheep including Tawny, Marmalade and Clover’s mum Frieda is placed on the back and then the swirly yarn pattern is arranged upon this. Everything is then felted by hand to become one. It is made with a lot of care and time entirely by hand. Working the felt slowly like this makes for a much stronger even smooth felt. No felting machines or rollers are used to speed up the process nor washing machines or driers.  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. Made as naturally and as nature-friendly as possible. The sale of this item directly sustains the sheep it pays for their feed and upkeep of the land and barns enabling the flock to live long happy lives here munching away and growing wonderful wool.

Details:

Size: Measurements taken on the fluffy fleece side. The rug is a natural irregular shape it measures approx 120-130cm in length and 80-105cm in width with the narrowest measurements at the neck and places where the fleece draws in and the widest parts being across the middle and rear leg area.

Wool texture: The feel of this fleece is soft and silky.  Sprite’s fleece has many of the characteristics of a Gotland fleece but it is a little longer and more wild-looking. The backing felt is lovely and soft but may feel a little prickly in places where the roots of the fleece poke through the felt, this is normal and shows how well the two halves (fleece and carded backing wool) have become one.

Colour: Natural warm cream and pale greys. Predominantly pale grey and browns on the backing felt. Please see all photos of the rug in different lighting conditions.

Hair loss: Minimal – there is a little loss of hair which is normal. Sprite’s fleece is a particularly good minimal moulting fleece due to the type of wool. All felted fleeces moult or shed to some degree some more than others. Moulting typically lessens over time.

VM(aka hay/grass seeds etc):  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. There may be the odd bit of hay deep in the spine/center curls of Sprite’s fleece but they are few and far between. 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 naturally get washed during the felting process and then they all get a proper 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. Hence I do not wash fleeces in a washing machine or use a tumble drier to dry and fluff them up.

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

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