Hard to believe ...

that this amorphous blob of tan wool is going to look anything like a sheep someday.

Knitters are optimists ;-).

The wool is positively yummy; made from the icelandic sheep (and in this case, made in Iceland).

(Sorry, all ... I removed the photo and I'll do a link instead to Tongue River Icelandics. Hopefully this won't be a copyright infringement, 'cause I think having the photo here was :-) ... )

Icelandics are the only real triple purpose sheep, making them an ideal sheep for the small homestead. They have a luxurious, primitive fleece with a very long staple; excellent for spinning. In Iceland, they separate the fleece and prepare baby clothes and undergarments with the soft underfleece, and make rugs and outerware with the tog (guard fleece)They are hardy and thrifty and provide an excellent carcass with low input necessary. And they have loads of milk for their own young and for the kitchen as well. (In most dairy sheep, fleece quality has been reduced significantly, and carcass size is also smaller). Lastly, they average 200% lambing rate (twins are expected; triplets not unheard of).

And, it turns out the tog also makes excellent felting wool :-). We shall see.