No Sheep were Harmed in the Making of this Pelt

I’ve finished my first Shave ’em to Save ’em project! You may remember I nuno felted a base for a felted pelt, and I thought I didn’t have enough Karakul locks to complete the project. I really didn’t, but I altered the shape a little to make up for it. It turned out amazing!

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I decided to needle felt the locks to the base. I got this little board and an awesome multi-needle tool from a big box craft store. The needle felting took all of two evenings.

Karakul locks are usually on the long side. They also taper down pretty thin. I liked this about it, I could spread out the cut side of the lock a good three or four inches and get great coverage.

Once the lock was laid out where I wanted on the base, I put the board underneath the two and started stabbing away.

I started to believe needle felting is literal magic.

I did this in rows, and I unintentionally filled the center in less than the outside edges. This is what saved my whole project. When I started running out of locks, I started working on one side after another, just making sure it was somewhat symmetrical. After I ran out, I just tore out the part of the base that didn’t have any locks on it. It looks more like an actual pelt and drapes better on my shoulders this way.

I’m ridiculously happy with how it turned out. Thank goodness for this conservancy initiative that got me looking at different sheep breeds, because I’m not sure I would have found Karakul without it.

I have a confession, when I knew I didn’t have enough locks to completely cover my base, my gut reaction was to buy something I could add in to the project. I got A POUND of gorgeous black Lincoln Longwool locks. They do coordinate very well, but I’m glad I didn’t mix them for this project. That said, what do you think I should do with a pound of locks? Let me know in the comments!