Continuing in our explorations of wool embroidery threads, today we’ll talk about Array Wool, which is a wool thread (crewel weight) that’s produced here in the US. The wool comes from sheep raised in the western part of the US, and it is processed and dyed in North Carolina. This thread came to my attention through Zollie, a company that produces basic embroidery kits and counted cross stitch kits using Array Wool. Besides the fact that Array Wool is made in the US, there are other aspects of the wool thread that are somewhat unique. The most obvious is that the wool is put up on cones and s ..read more

Friday strikes me as a great day for some Thread Talk, don’t you think? Today, we’re going to wiggle our toes about in the waters of Wool Threads to get familiar with them, and then we’ll take the plunge into thread comparisons and explorations. First, I’ll introduce you to my plan for discussing wool threads and talk about them in general. We will look at four popular brands of crewel wool up close and see what’s different about each of them. Down the road, we’ll go further with stitched samples and comparisons, and then we’ll bring in some lesser-known brands and work with them a bit, too ..read more

I’ve had a couple pleasant afternoons this week, concocting and then stitching, a wee embroidery project with which to test the wool threads that I mentioned here a while back. I’ve not finished the project yet, but it won’t take too long to finish it, I reckon. That’s a Great Thing about most wool embroidery thread (crewel weight wool) – it stitches up really fast! The first test stitching I’m doing is with the new Eco Vita line of crewel wool from DMC. I doodled up a little design that I thought would work well with the more muted, almost vintage-like natural hues of this thread. Eco Vita i ..read more

Lately, I’ve been chomping at the bit to finish the project I’m working on so that I can start playing with some new threads!! New Threads! Hurray for New Threads! I tend to go a bit batty over needlework threads in general – they’re my One Weakness (among oh-so-many other weaknesses), and when I get some, they consume my thoughts. So, while I’m finishing up one project, my mind is gurgling over with plans for playing with two different types of wool thread that have come my way. I’ll be working with them both in depth, soon. Very soon. Last Autumn, it came to my attention that DMC is now off ..read more

I’m back in the studio! Happy 2023! It’s lovely to be here! Golly, life has been crazy for the past 2.5 months. It started with the big Needle ‘n Thread Studio Move, which aligned with the launch of the last Stitch Snippet of 2022. Lesson learned: never upheave when you’re launching a project! (Not that we had a choice, but…) Just as we began shifting the studio, I found out, on the home front, that I’d have a full house move at the beginning of January. But we settled into work in our new space, and all was well as the holidays approached. Then we all took turns with sickness of various sorts ..read more

Something Jacobean-ish must’ve been rumbling about in the embroidery world in the last month or so. I always surmise there’s a workshop or a new kit out or a new article or tutorial out there on a specific subject, when I suddenly get an influx of multiple requests for more information (or tips, or tutorials, or instructions) on that particular technique or topic. I’ve had a number of emails lately requesting tutorials for Jacobean embroidery. Here’s one question (used with the author’s permission): I’m doing Jacobean embroidery and I’m struggling with the instructions. Can you do some tutoria ..read more

Recently, a friend dropped me an email to find out if I had ever gotten ahold of Erica Wilson: A Life in Stitches, which reminded me to mention the book to you sooner, rather than later! It’s been on my reading list for a while, and I go back and forth to it, reading it in small increments when I can, but I haven’t finished reading the whole book yet. I generally like to read the complete book before I review it, but some books take much longer than others! This book requires a quick mention, because it’s one of those “get it before it’s gone” publications. Erica Wilson: A Life in Stitches by ..read more

A Fine Tradition: The Embroidery of Margaret Light hit the market a little earlier than expected, and once I saw it was out, I was so anxious to get my paws on it! It was the exuberance of the cover of the book that caught me, of course. Yes, yes! I know! Never judge a book…. But! You’ve got to admit, if you’re an embroidery enthusiast, if you like historical embroidery but with a contemporary flair, if you are fascinated by stitches and the way they work together, if you like crewel work, if you like interpretive possibilities… the cover on this books speaks volumes. So, yep. When I first saw ..read more

Real thread color cards – they are such a magnificent tool for the embroiderer! Today, thanks to The Wooly Thread, I’m giving away a set of Appleton’s real thread color cards! If you love working with wool (crewel or tapestry wool), if you do a lot of crewel embroidery or other fiber art with wool, then this will be a handy tool for you! I’ve written about real thread color cards several times here on Needle ‘n Thread. This article, for example, focuses on why they’re great to have. In a nutshell, a real thread color card is a collection of all the colors in a given line of embroidery thr ..read more

Happy Monday, from a snow-covered Kansas! Today’s give-away for A Stitcher’s Christmas #7 is very timely! Just when the weather is perfect for pulling out my wool mittens (these felted wool mittens that I embroidered and showed you here), we get to chat all about gorgeous hand-dyed wool threads from Renaissance Dyeing. And I’ll announce the three recipients of last Wednesday’s gifts – the yearly subscriptions to Inspirations Magazine. Ready? There is something absolutely fabulous about having a complete collection of any kind of embroidery thread! But what makes Renaissance Dyeing’s Eliza ..read more