This stout little sheep is made almost entirely from just one piece of roving – only the legs and ears are added.
25g white or cream merino roving
2 × size 40 triangular needles, for shaping
1–2 × size 42 triangular needles, for surface finishing
Small amount of black merino roving
2 × 2mm black glass eyes or seed beads
Thick black cotton thread
Finished size: 10–11cm from tip to tail
1 Take a big length of white or cream roving measuring 50 × 4cm. Tease the fibres apart and mess them up so that you have a loose ball. Using two size 40 needles, make a roundish sphere for the body. Use small amounts of the body wool at either end to shape a head and tail.
2 Use just one size 40 needle when finishing the head and tail, to sharpley define them.
3 When the sheep is fairly firm but still has some softness, add the legs. Take a length of white or cream roving measuring 15 × 4cm, divide it into four equal strips and shape the legs roughly on the felting mat, leaving the joining ends loose. Spread the loose ends onto the body to make a strong join and finish shaping them into stumpy cones using one size 40 needle.
4 Still using one needle and two equal-sized scraps of wool, shape the ears directly on the head.
5 Cover the sheep with thin layers of wool using one or two size 42 needles. This will neaten the surface and hide the leg joins. Wrap the layers around the body, so that the line of the fibres accentuates the roundness.
6 Twirl tiny wisps of black wool around the bottoms of each leg to make hooves, using one size 42 needle to fix them in place. Sew in the eyes using the front-facing method and stitch a nose (see here).