Homegrown, sheep-friendly “sheepskin” tippet scarf – natural creamy beige with touches of brown – lined with soft cotton – Coloured Ryeland fleece provided by Sparkle – 40.5” x 3”

Description

Just like the rugs I make, these scarves look just like sheepskin but are in fact totally “sheep friendly”.  No sheep are harmed in the process of making them, hurray!

I made this scarf wool from Sparkle’s fleece.  First I selected the nicest locks which I laid out in a long “scarf shape” and felted in the normal way with soap and water.  Once the piece was dry, I lined it with soft, cotton organic fleece so it feels nice against the skin.  I then added a discreet elasticated tape on the back so you can pop one end through the other and won’t have to worry about it falling off.

Sparkle is one of the more elderly members of our flock of friendly Coloured Ryelands and spends most of her time sharing stories of her youth with the younger members of the flock.  She also enjoys snuffling.

She has a pretty fleece which is silky soft to the touch.  Her wool is creamy-beige with touches of brown here and there.  Each lock of wool is “crimpy”, like a concertina, which gives her wool a springy feel.  At the tip of each lock there is small curl which you can see if you zoom into the pictures.

Coloured Ryelands are a short-woolled breed.  While not sporting the long, glamourous locks of their longer woolled cousins who swish by shaking out their wavy manes, Ryelands have bouncy, oh so soft wool which is at the finer end of the wool micron scale and classed as “medium to fine”.  Coloured Ryelands have the added appeal of being a variety of different colours from black to brown to beige to grey, through to silvery white.

While not being the easiest of wools to work with, Ryeland wool takes a little longer to felt than other fleeces and the shortness of the wool means it’s quite fiddly to handle, I always think it’s worth the extra effort because of the pretty colours and soft texture of the wool.

Being wool from our own flock, this scarf is totally chemical-free as we don’t use pesticides.  Click here for more info:

I’m a huge fan of using homemade and/or organic products for everything, including washing wool.  This scarf is washed in “Sonett” olive oil laundry liquid for wool and silk.  It is then rinsed in spring water with a splash of our homemade apple cider vinegar with a few drops of organic lavender oil (as a moth repellent).

A little disclaimer; although I soak, wash and rinse all the felted items I make, (sometimes several times over depending on how adventurous the sheep has been on her travels through the pastures and what she has collected on her fleece over the year), it’s likely you’ll still find little “meadow reminders” hiding away in the wool.  Hopefully not too many though!  I do go through each fleece after it’s been washed and dried and pick out any remaining “meadow bits”, but as you can imagine, it would be impossible to remove every single little seed.

Finally, if you’re wondering how to look after and wash your scarf, please don’t worry, I include care and washing tips with every felted item I send out.