The Shepherd's Rug

Letty Klein and Ann Brown, authors of The Shepherd's Rug, presented a workshop using the technique to make small mug rugs. At right are some of their larger rugs.

We braided wool roving and then sewed the braid with waxed linen thread into a circle to make the mug rug or hot pad. It was surprisingly easy. We have the option of felting these mug rugs or leaving them as is.

The roving we used was from many different kinds of sheep, as if I knew the difference...

The brown roving I used had a tendency to pull apart. Letty told me that was because it had some buffalo hair? fur? fleece? in it. And in case you're wondering, I do know that buffalo are not sheep.

Here is my mug rug:


Letty and Ann and their friend Janice were on their way to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. Letty and Ann were going to teach a two-day workshop on making a shepherd's rug that would be about two-feet by three-feet.