Experience a Feltmaker’s dream… Exquisite Finnish Wool

This beautiful, rare wool was introduced to us by our artist friends Karoliina Arvilommi and Roderick Welch of Finland. In their remote, scenic village of Värtsillä along the Russian border in North-Carelia, there is a local effort underway (www.villivilla.org) to preserve the original Finnish Landrace breed. This wool is very soft and fast-felting. The fine-diameter fibers create felt that is smooth and firm with a tight, flat surface. This makes detailed surface design possible, something not so easily attained with other wools. It’s perfect for art, home décor and low traffic rugs. Karoliina’s and Roderick’s work can be seen at www.4felts.com and visit www.andrea-graham.com to see outstanding sculptural pieces made with this wool.

The Plant-Dyed, Natural and Organic wools are prepared by hand and taken to the carding mill “in the grease” which means the lanolin is left in the wool. Usually the Dyed wool is washed more thoroughly before carding, although some colors are occasionally available in the grease. All of the wool is essentially vegetation-free.

The gorgeous array of soft colors available as Plant-Dyed wool come from local mushrooms, lichens and other plants collected from the Finnish forests. The uplifting, bold Scandinavian palette of Dyed Wool colors are irresistible and the saturated hues work perfectly when layered with the natural colors to create a subtle heathering that gives the felt complexity and depth.

This wonderful wool is only available in the U.S. through NEFS. If you would like to order Finnwool, please e-mail sales@feltingsupply.com and we will contact you as soon as it arrives.

Part of the value of this wool is its large, thick batt preparation which is required to create larger-scale artwork and rugs. For this reason, we do not divide batts into small pieces, but the wool is available by the ½ pound if desired (there may be slight variations in weight).