Working with wool is such a delight. What’s not to love about wool? It is warm, soft, and durable, has a great hand, and is covered in scales. While being covered in scales might not sound appealing, it’s those scales that allow wool to full during wet finishing, which opens up a whole new world of possibilities, especially for weavers.
Of course, weavers aren’t the only ones who love wool. All the other editors here at Long Thread Media share my love of wool, which is why we worked together to create a special wool-centric bonus eBook for our All Access subscribers. (Not an All Access subscriber? Click here for more information about the program and benefits.) I’m so happy to present The Wonders of Wool: Weave, Knit, Embroider, and More with One of Nature’s Most Versatile Fibers. This eBook contains a whopping fourteen projects from back issues of not just Easy Weaving with Little Looms, but also Handwoven, Spin Off, PieceWork, Farm & Fiber Knits, and even Spin+Knit. The projects cover a variety of fiber techniques, including three weaving projects for small looms and one for loom-less fingerweaving.
Constance Hall used fulling to create differential shrinkage in her Sunset View Scarf.
The eBook also has three articles about wool, including one by Anita Osterhaug that gives the full story on fulling (pun intended). In her article, Anita provides historical and scientific background on fulling, then dives into the practicalities for weavers: choosing the right yarns, weaving fabric for fulling, and steps and strategies for fulling by hand or machine. It’s such a good article, and even better, two of the small-loom projects in the eBook use fulling, so you can read the article, then put it straight to use. Constance Hall’s Sunset View Scarf showcases the magic of fulling for differential shrinkage while Brittany Wells’s Snow Mittens project has you full your weaving until it becomes a solid fabric that can be cut without raveling.
For her Snow Mittens, Brittany Wells fulled her fabric to stabilize it, then cut out her mitten pieces before sewing them together into warm, wonderful mittens.
I could go on and on about how great these projects are, and how you can take the way they strategically use fulling and apply it to your own original projects, but I’d rather you check the eBook out for yourself. Of course, Anita’s article and these two projects are just a small part of this incredible eBook, so go ahead and do yourself a favor. Download the eBook from the Little Looms Library today!
Happy Weaving!
Christina
