So what's this wool used for?

If you are new to woolcraft, or  want to try your hand with a new technique, here's a few reasons you might want to buy my wool!
Thick and Thin and Novelty Yarns
Merino fibre can be used for any fine novelty yarn you can think of! Consult books, your local spinning group or one of the excellent spinning magazines available (Spin Off comes to mind)

Thick and thin yarn is very popular for hats in particular at the moment, and makes a wonderful effect yarn for garments. See my photo tutorial on this technique - with my own take on finishing the yarn.

Fine Spinning

Heavenly Wools  merino tops are ideally suited to spinning. They can be used to produce a medium to fine yarn suitable for babywear and light cardigans, scarves and hats scarves, lace knitting and fine knitwear. This fibre is not superwash treated, so is not shrink-resistant. Treat it with care while washing.

Spinning tips:
  • Always split the fibre lengthways to decrease the density. I usually divide the fibre into four-six equal splits
  • Drawing the fibre out by hand before spinning makes it easier to spin
  • Using a fast whorl or specialty lace spinning wheel makes the job go faster! 
  • Remember that merino will increase in volume when plied, so spin finer than your desired final yarn
  • Do put in enough spin – too little spin will give a poor wearing yarn. Remember also that plying will decrease the spin
  • Don’t overspin – this causes the individual fibres to break and will again produce a weak yarn (as well as making you work harder)
  • If this fibre is plied on itself, a subtle, changeable marled yarn will result. Picking out the colours by Navajo plying* will give more obvious colour changes.
  • Remember to wash your yarn to set the twist.
  • Spinning onto a core will make your sliver go further, and produces a variable yarn with little marling.
* Navajo plying is a technique of plying one thread on itself, resulting in a 3-ply yarn. 

No-Spin Knitting

This technique, and the closely related Kiwicraft, is used to produce knitted items straight from fibre. It's useful for making hats, scarves and heavy outer garments, and is particularly applicable to post-kintting felting techniques. See my no-spin knitting videos.