Wool texture help please~

[Skybluepinky14]

I found a cute little yarn shop in my city and bought this beautiful green wool, but it seems to have a very different texture than the wool that I've seen people use here. It also seems much thinner than the wool I've seen around.

The wool I have says 60% New Zealand Wool, 20% domestic wool. There was no merino wool at the store.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with wool like this and could give me some tips. :3







Thanks for looking~

[Skybluepinky14]

Oh, and the woman I talked to directed me to this when I asked for wool to wet felt. :3

[Phoenix]

I'm not a wool expert but the reason Merino wool is so popular is because it felts relatively easily and is soft to the touch. It's possible to make dreads out of other wools; I know Corriedale has been used before. While I cannot help you directly with the texture of the wool or it's ability to felt, you will end up with very skinny dreads because of it's thickness.

[MrsEss]

yep, the only thing you can do is try it.

various wools felt though, Vixen sings black put a lovely wooly FAQ together, you should read that

[Skybluepinky14]

Gracias. :3 I read it before I posted, but I didn't see anything for New Zealand wool. I also figured someone might be able to tell from looking at it what kind it was.

But yeah, I'm planning on throwing some palmrolled pieces into the washing machine soon. :3
I'll post to show how they turn out.

[MrsEss]

"new zealand" wool could be any type of wool though. corridale, merino etc. it's incredibly vague for a wool label.

[Skybluepinky14]

Ah. >.> I think I'm gonna order some merino online next time.

[miasmahair]

The wool I have says 60% New Zealand Wool, 20% domestic wool.

I wonder what the other 20% is?
It's pretty thin, so you probably won't have to split it, and yeah, it does look like Corriedale cos it's nice and fluffy, but that means it will felt really easily, so start off by trying it in a cool, delicates wash

[Skybluepinky14]

Yeah, I put it in on warm the first time and they shrunk to half the size and matted together. I managed to tug them apart, but initially I thought I had lost some. xD



Too little~

[..::AtomicLox::..]

Super weird labeling, for sure. looks like it felts up great though! The size in commonly referred to as "pencil roving" and it most often used by spinners to make chunky yarns without having to draft (pull the fiber apart slowly and evenly) first. I use it quite often for felted dreads using the washing machine method, and if I want a thicker style I just double two strands up before twisting initially! Works great.

[VixenSingsBlack]

Agreed with Atomic Lox above, it's "pencil roving." Maybe the wool's label is only referring to which country it comes from. ? Either way, pencil roving is great for making Dread Braids--check out tutorial here:: viewtopic.php?f=65&t=15123 Remember that because you have pencil roving, you don't have to split the wool at all!