Mountain Merino Wools and free pattern by Mollie Johanson
Hello all! Recently the nice peeps at Mountain Meadow Wool sent me 4 shades of their beautiful Mountain Merino wool, in a new weight made especially for crewel embroidery. And not only did they send me the wool for review, they are also doing a giveaway on Feeling Stitchy - stay tuned for the details later on in this post!
But first off, let's have a look at that lovely wool!
The wool comes twisted into hanks, like pearl cotton. Also like pearl cotton, the thread is comprised of two thin strands that are twisted together:
I was afraid it would be super-chunky to stitch with - not so! It fits easily through the eye of the crewel needle I embroider with, and the lines were a bit chunky, but not as thick as I'd assumed. I'd say it's equivalent to stitching with 6 strands of cotton embroidery floss. If you need really fine detail, you could divide the strand into 2 as necessary.
Here's a comparison of thread weights I had on hand, Mountain Wool on top, Appleton Crewel Wool next, DMC floss - 6 strands next, and DMC floss - 2 strands last:
Like other crewel wool, it has a nice, springy texture, and since it is hand-dyed there's a natural color variation - almost a heather texture to all the shades. I did notice it knots up a fair bit when pulling through the fabric - so my suggestion is to work with short lengths of thread.
The 2 ply thread makes it stronger than 1 strand of crewel wool, so it won't break when you pull it tightly. Since it's merino wool, it feels softer and less scratchy than regular wool under your fingertips - it's very nice to work with.
I used 3 of the shades they sent me - Geranium, Silver, and Teal to stitch up this wonderful free pattern by Mollie Johanson:
I used a back stitch and lazy daisy stitch on the leaves - You can really see the nice pearl texture. Knots were made by wrapping the needle once with the wool. The large letters were stitched with a split stitch.
So, to sum up my review - this is a very nice quality wool, with a wonderful hand-dyed texture that looks beautiful when stitched.
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This color card shows the full range of colors - please forgive the lighting in this pic and be aware that the colors may not be an exact match, but this is close!
To Win:
Tell us what your favorite shades are - for example - blues, reds, greens, yellows, neutrals, etc. Click here to see a larger version. Leave a comment on this post
Thanks again to Mountain Meadow Wool for making this review and giveaway possible!
