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Natural wool jewellery

Have you ever heard aboutthe benefits of natural wool? I bet you have - but what about the wool felting and natural jewellery made of wool? Sounds interesting? I'm very glad you find it this way!

Firstly, in this article I would like to discuss the characteristics of the wool - one natural, well known and universal raw material, which is been used to make clothing, footwear, rugs and even some type of shelter! Because of its amazing and universal characteristics the wool has been employed in many human daily life areas – it is amazing, but the wonders discovered by ancient people are widely used today. The second part of this article will unclose another side of wool, maybe not so well known to the general public – basically it is about how the raw wool becomes an eco friendly, beautiful and warm piece of jewellery, still gifted with all the original worth of natural wool. It may sound distant and complicated to people who aren't that much in jewellery making but the truth is – wool felting and felted jewellery is pretty easy to create, although might require some patients, thoroughness and love.

Well, I don't want to annoy you with long and boring preludes so let's get moving forward!

Natural wool - wonderful gift from the Nature.

The wool is defined as the pelage (fleece) of domestic or wild animals, which would help them to keep warmth and protects from the cold or heat as well as other harmful environmental factors. This is a natural wear and protection from the sun, wind, cold and dampness. The Nature took care of its children and made sure that these living in different and volatile climatic conditions and affected by the change of seasons or the weather conditions wouldn't feel too much stress and discomfort.

The ancient people many thousand years ago have noticed benefits of natural wool and realised that these attributes could meet not only the needs of the animals but the human beings as well…As the raw material the wool has been readily available since the widespread of domestication of sheep, goats - another major provider of wool - the use of felted or woven wool for clothing and other fabrics characterizes some of the earliest civilizations. People used the fur and wool in their daily life – made clothing, footwear, accessories and even jewellery!

Probably the most popular and best known is the wool of sheep, however depending on geographic region and culture there might be used the wool of goats, camels, lamas, yaks and other animals. It can sound strange but even the wool of dogs was once widely used.

On another hand, even the wool of sheep is classified into different types depending on the quality (fibre diameter, crimp and strength) or the breed of the sheep. The finest and best quality wool is considered to be Australian and New Zealand Merino sheep wool. Some types of wool are most suitable for felting and spinning, others for stuffing and production of building materials.

As it was mentioned earlier the wool is eco friendly and healthy (stimulating) natural raw material which is also hypo – allergenic. Furthermore, because of the crimp, wool fabrics have a greater bulk than other textiles, and retain air, which causes the product to retain heat. Insulation also works both ways; Bedouins and Tuaregs use wool clothes to keep the heat out. Wool fibres are hygroscopic, meaning they readily absorb moisture. Wool can absorb moisture almost one-third of its own weight.

Wool ignites at a higher temperature than cotton and some synthetic fibres. It has lower rate of flame spread, low heat release, low heat of combustion, and does not melt or drip; it forms a char which is insulating and self-extinguishing, and contributes less to toxic gases and smoke than other flooring products, when used in carpets. Wool carpets are specified for high safety environments, such as trains and aircraft. Wool is usually specified for garments for fire-fighters, soldiers, and others in occupations where they are exposed to the likelihood of fire. Besides, the wool has got curative and health building characteristics – natural thermal warmth and comfort given by wool relaxes muscles, helps to restore blood circulation which then will help to reduce pain naturally. This characteristic has been used to cure rheumatism and injuries.

Natural wool jewellery and accessories – fashionable and eco friendly approach

Some readers might ask - why should we make jewellery out of wool? It is so many other ways to make your own creations and some of them are much easier. OK, say, you just buy some plastic, wooden or glass beads from the shop and strung them all together on the cord? Simple, isn't it? But the objective of article is not to tell you about how to make plastic brooch or glass beads necklace…This article is for people who care about environment and would like to CREATE (not to make) a unique and fashionable piece of jewellery from the sustainable and ecological Natural material, which, during the process of hand – crafting is filled with good emotions, love and patients. The offspring of this work is a piece of jewellery which is sweet and snug, has got its own soul, characteristics and charm. Remember – there is no need to kill animals to get raw material for wool jewellery. The wool is not made, nor is extracted – in most cases it is naturally grown by happy and free range animals. Crafters work with the living material and just transform it into the unique creation!

There are few techniques for making wool jewellery and accessories but probably the best known ones are knitting and wool felting. I'm not very good at knitting and because of this fact would like to leave this subject to the experts and speak only about wool felting as the technique for creating handmade jewellery and accessories.

I have discovered wool felting few years ago and since then it became important part of my life - my hobby and passion, interest and fun. Moreover, because I am more familiar with this hand crafting technique I also I think (personally) that it is very interesting and original though can be demanding and time consuming occupation. In wool felting the pile of loose wool fibres is used as a crafting material and, gradually, during the felting process it turns into the unique piece of jewellery or shape which design is highly dependant on the crafters mind and skills.

Needle felting involves poking loose wool fibres many times with special barbed needle until the desired form is achieved. This process is also called dry felting as is conducted without the use of water. Another wool felting technique – the wet felting involves applying hot soapy water on the loose wool fibres and repeatedly rubbing them until the fibres bond together to form a cloth.

During the process of wool felting (both needle and wet felting) the wool would shrink and the final work might be half the size of original pile of fibres so it is worth keeping in mind this fact when planning the design.

‘OK, that's fine – we know a bit about wool and wool felting' – might say the reader – ‘but what's so special about wool jewellery?' This is a good question, so let's try to discuss and explore the natural benefits of the felted jewellery.

As we already discussed earlier the wool fibres used for felting are absolutely natural and even though they are usually coloured – only natural and eco friendly dyes are used (natural plant dyes). This is the first and I believe most important characteristic. Another positive thing about handmade jewellery is that it is possible to choose your own colour of wool fibre or even dye them the chosen tones manually! There are hundreds of different colours and tones available to meet the needs of artists and what is even more interesting – it is believed that the colours chosen can influence the mood and being of the wearer. Maybe you've heard of this old saw – ‘we are what we wear' – happy and healthy individuals choose bright and warm colours, when dark and cold colours are often chosen by depressed and poorly people. The entire science called ‘colour psychology' researches how colours impact moods, feelings and behaviour. The data of these researches are adapted in alternative medicine field called colour therapy – using colours to heal (different colours held responsible for different conditions).

Another positive thing – the jewellery we talk about is 100% hand made – everyone can create a lovely and sweet piece of jewellery of their favourite colours and fibre types and actually it is not necessary to have a lot of equipment, most of these, essential for wool felting, are possible to find around the house – container, soap, bubble wrap are the must have ones. Even for the basic needle felting only a sponge and special needles are needed. The wool is very kind material and can be transformed into almost any shape or form. On another hand (especially wet felting) it is always a small surprise and the final creation is different and unique every time - it is not easy to crate two identical pieces. Wool felt elements match and look very nice when combined with other natural materials such as wood, amber and leather – although everyone would have their favourite ones for making one of kind jewellery. Overall - the felted jewellery is soft, sweet, colourful, warm and alive creation which rewards its owner with natural beauty, elegance and unique appearance.

Generally that is all I wanted to tell about wool and natural jewellery in this article and I honestly hope you found interesting and revealing reading this article. In conclusion it is worth remembering that though the wool jewellery is environmental factors resistant and enduring but as every other piece of jewellery needs to be treated with love and great care. Wool is a material that has kept its popularity for many years and taking time for proper storing, caring and wearing of your wool jewellery and accessories will mean years of great service.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This article is written by Ruta Augutaviciene – faithful wool felting enthusiast and jewellery designer.

If you are interested in wool felting and natural felted wool jewellery, accessories or ornament, please visit my website at: www.woolfelting.co.uk

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