Demi's rug

So I dipped into the yarn stash under the bed and pulled out three bags of wool yarn to do felting swatches on. I crocheted up a patch of the gold, the black and the cream and threw them in with the laundry load. The cream and black felted up beautifully and equally. So, I started to warp the loom. After 17 passes, I discovered that every skein of black yarn in the bag was a different brand!! I may regret it, but I didn't want to take the time to swatch test each one, so I just kept on warping.

The resulting warp is very pretty, though it took longer to thread on the loom than I expected. The weaving is going a bit slow, too, but the rug looks gorgeous right now.

 I'm using Demi's fleece. Demi is one of Lena's bottle babies. She is half Icelandic and half CVM. She was born black, but is now a silvery grey with black undertones - a truly beautiful fleece. We have to shear all the Icelands and crosses twice a year, because their wool grows so long and thick. 

Nilly talking to Demi through the fence

We keep a Matilda fleece cover on her, and many of the angora goats and other sheep through the winter to keep their fleeces clean while we are feeding hay. The Matilda covers fit well and are breathable, so the fiber grows well underneath and the animals stay healthy.