W is for Wool!

Today, let’s explore the archives here on the Needle ‘n Thread and focus on W, for wool.

Oh my Word. Wow! Wool can be a Whopping & Weighty subject here, because it’s come up a lot over the past 20 years!

To keep things a little simpler, I’m just going to highlight key wooly articles – some that have to do with stitching with wool threads, some that have to do with embroidered wool (you’ll see what I mean), and some that have to do with other (kind of like the miscellaneous junk drawer in my kitchen).

So, come, come! Let’s talk about wool! As Alfred Doolittle would say, I’m Willing to tell you! I’m Wanting to tell you! I’m Waiting to tell you! … all about wool.

First, we’ll burrow deep into the archives and resurrect this first full wool-related project that was ever featured on the blog. In fact, this is one of the earliest step-by-step development projects that I wrote about!

The Crewel Rooster was an exploration in stitching with different types of wool thread that I had on hand at the time I started the project.

As a project, the poor fellow wasn’t planned out particularly well or anything. He was just doodled and cobbled together.

I explored stitches and threads while I worked him. And I learned to like him by the time he was finished. I suppose other people must have liked him, too, because he is the most “stolen” image from my website. He shows up on all kinds of AI-generated needlework book covers on places like Amazon.

But at least the rooster got finished – unlike this Pomegranate Corners project that I started working on and blogging about, but never finished.

Things like that happen sometimes. I can’t remember what exactly de-railed that project, but I think it was a combination of the design and the thread choice.

A couple good thing came out of it, though – this satin stitched dot tutorial is one, and this free embroidery pattern is another. So that’s something!

I know this is a shameless plug, but I feel like I need to vindicate myself. I have finished other wool projects, after all!

This Wildflowers in Wool project, for example, was developed into an embroidery kit that we carry regularly here in the shop.

If you’ve never stitched with wool and you want a beginner-friendly project that comes with everything you need – beautiful preprinted linen twill, full skeins of all the wool threads, needles and printed instructions – then this is the project for you! It’ll give you a good feel for working with wool, and leave you with a very pretty finished piece.

Now, if you want to stitch wool – as in, stitch wool, not stitch with wool or stitch on wool – over the years, I’ve touched on a couple ways to do that.

Perhaps the most notable and more realistic way I’ve stitched a wooly coat on a lamb was on this Agnus Dei project.

Ironically, it’s embroidered with silk, not wool.

In this article, I explained how I embroidered the wool. Now, keep in mind, this really was Early Days on Needle ‘n Thread. The photos aren’t that great, and the explanation is all text, not step-by-step photos.

Funny how things have morphed.

Embroidered wool doesn’t have to be complicated, though. On these tiny little things – from Lavender Honey & Other Little Things, which was my first e-book way back in the archives – I used chunky French knots for lamb’s wool.

And then there’s Other – more specifically, embroidering on wool.

Here on the blog, you’ll find a lot of projects that involve wool felt in some way or another, either as a ground cloth or as fabric used in finishing.

You’ll also find felted wool projects, like these embroidered mittens that I made from knitted wool mittens that I felted in the washer and then embroidered.

You’ll also find embroidery on felted objects, like these Easter eggs and these felted wool hearts.

And you can find an article here on tips for stitching on 3-D felted objects.

Those aren’t deep in the archives, in fact – they’re just over a year old!

And that, my friends, is W in the ABC Archives series here on Needle ‘n Thread! If you want to read other articles in this series, you’ll find the ABC Archives Index available here.