Rug Hooking Sheep-The Easy Way

Rug hooking has always looked so tedious to me, with all those tiny strips of fabric pulled through a piece of cloth, forming intricate patterns, details and pictures. Though I love the result, the process seemed intimidating, until a few weeks ago, when I discovered hooking with washed wool locks.

I am working on my second piece. Before deciding on a design, I looked through pictures I have taken of our sheep through the years. Ewes love to snuggle up with their lambs close by their side. A look of shear bliss radiates from the pair. With this photo and a little artistic license, I drew my next pattern onto my burlap backing.

I wanted to keep with the Gotland theme, so I used two different shades of curly gray Gotland wool locks for the ewe and her twin lambs. Their faces and legs are hooked with a double strand of worsted weight black yarn. For the grass, I purchased a generic wool yarn as I found working with my Romney yarn, in my last project, a little difficult. The Romney yarn has so much luster and silkiness, that it does not hold as well as I would like it to as I work. The wool yarn I purchased, has a little more body to it, so that it grabs the burlap as I pull it through.

Hooking with wool locks goes very quickly leaving a primitive, textured look. Within a short period of time, three precious sheep sit in my lap. Check back in-as I will post pictures of the finished project!

Thank you Nicole for sharing my post at Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On day!