If I were a koala bear, I’d apparently find a gumnut tree irresistible!
I’d also be irresistibly cute and everybody would love me and want to cuddle me.
Fortunately, I’m not a koala bear.
Still, I also find certain gumnutty things irresistible – specifically, the colors and fibers of Gumnut Yarns, which hail (of course) from Australia.
In our ongoing exploration of wool threads, we’re going to look at some threads from Gumnut Yarns up close and compare them to previous wools that we’ve already explored. But before we get into the details, let’s do a General Overview of Things.
See what I mean about delectable?
As we dive into these threads together, we’re only going to look at the threads from Gumnut Yarns that I actually have on hand. They have a wider line of threads that includes silks, and as much as I’d love to show you full sets of all their fibers in all their sumptuous colors, alas! Woe is me! I cannot. They are not inexpensive threads, and my access to them is limited by my budget.
So, since we’re concentrating on wool threads, we’ll be looking at the threads from Gumnut Yarns that have wool in them.
Inspirations and Designers
If you are familiar with Inspirations Studios (especially their gorgeous magazine Inspirations and their embroidery books), you may very well have come into contact already with Gumnut Yarns.
They show up quite frequently in projects in Inspirations magazine, especially – and understandably – in designs created by Australian designers.
I know the threads have garnered a lot of attention in the US lately. When Inspirations 121 came out not too long ago, with its cover project by Margaret Light embroidered in Buds (a perlé silk from Gumnut Yarns), I received innumerable inquiries about where to find this thread, since it’s not too common here.
Margaret Light designed with and used the thread in many of her projects. If you’re familiar with her books (I reviewed A Fine Tradition here, and A Fine Tradition 2 here), you’ve likely seen Gumnut Yarns in her materials lists there, too.
Maree Talbot is another Australian designer with some exceptionally beautiful designs that incorporate Gumnut Yarns. To my knowledge, she doesn’t have a website, but this embroidered bookbinding is just one example of her stunning work.
Alison Cole – whose books Stumpwork Masterclass and Goldwork Masterclass are highly sought after – has many exquisite pieces featuring threads from Gumnut Yarns.
If you’ve been exploring the Wide World of Embroidery for a while, then, you’ve probably come across Gumnut Yarns! They are not new, and chances are, everything we’re going to look at here, you already know if you have explored these threads at all.
This might serve as a refresher in such cases, and for those of you who are new to the threads, I hope you find the information here helpful
There are three types of threads from Gumnut Yarns that have wool in them: Blossoms, Daisies, and Poppies.
All of the threads are hand-dyed. Each skein has slight variations in shade throughout the thread. Sometimes, the variation is so subtle that you can hardly tell it’s there. Other times, you’ll notice a stronger contrast in shade in a particular color.
In the image above, the pinks up top are Blossoms, the central greens are Daisies, and the blues below are Poppies.
Let’s look at the differences (and similarities) of the three threads.
Blossoms is marked as their crewel-weight wool. It’s a two-ply wool, and, as put up on the skein, it is their fattest and fluffiest thread. A skein of Blossoms looks decidedly larger than both the Daisies and the Poppies.
Blossoms comes in 200 shades, with the 40 color families having at least five shades per color family.
The put-up is a 25 meter skein. In the US, the retail cost of the skein is about $7.
Blossoms is a 2-ply wool. It’s used in canvas work and surface embroidery.
We’ll talk about the weight of the wool, stitched, in the next article on the subject.
The greens lined up next to the pinks above – these are Daisies, which is also 100% wool. It’s a finer thread than Blossoms – half the size! – and it stitches up into a much more delicate line.
Daisies is made up of two very, very fine plies. It is available in 200 shades in 40 color families that correspond with the same shades and color families as the other Gumnut threads.
The skeins are also 25 meters, and in the US, they’re around $6.10 / skein.
And then, there are those blues!
These are Poppies – a 50% wool / 50% silk blended thread. When you look at the skein, it falls somewhere between the Daisies and the Blossoms, size-wise.
Poppies seems to have a slightly tighter twist than the other two threads above, as well as a much more noticeable sheen.
Like the other threads, there are 25 meters on each skein. The color families correspond to the colors in the other thread lines, and in the US, Poppies clock in around $8.10 per skein.
And That’s the Intro
That’s the introduction to these threads. The next time we look at them, we will go up-close and personal with the threads, stitched. We’ll compare them to each other. And we’ll also compare a couple of them to other wools we’ve already played with.
If you would like to read more about wool threads and see the comparisons that we’ve already discussed, you can find a list of articles on the topic here, in this Index of Articles about Wool Embroidery Threads. As the topic develops, I will add more articles to the list!
If you are looking for Gumnut Yarns threads in the US, they are available here through AP Needlearts, which is the online ordering platform for Thistle Needleworks, a shop located in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Coming Up!
Don’t forget! On Monday, we’re launching the new Stitch Snippet stitch-along materials kit for Cornflowers, a scissor envelope!
You can find details about the project and the stitch-along, as well as information on the kit launch, in this article from earlier this week.
The kits will launch on Monday, June 3rd, at 10:00 am Central Time (Kansas), and you’ll find them available right here in the shop at that time.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I’m so happy to see Gumnuts wools being featured. I have been ‘playing’ with Daisies and Heathway crewel wool for the last few years. They work beautifully together although Heathway is a bit thicker.
The Gumnuts colours are incredibly rich and gorgeous. They are also washable (as are Heathway).
I know that the Gumnuts threads are expensive but you are getting beautiful quality threads. If you’re at all interested in crewel you must try them. Crewelers should also try Heathway rather than Appleton’s. The stitching experience is much better with Heathway as they seem to be a higher quality wool.