One of the most common questions that I get while I am teaching a workshop is, "Where do you get your wool?"

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It's not a huge surprise that people want to know where I get my wool since it is not something that is usually easy to find at the local craft store. In fact, I can only find some basic and limited quantities of wool for needle felting at one of the many craft stores even remotely close to me. When I got started, sourcing wool was one of my first challenges. I wanted to find a source that allowed me to support another small business, so I turned to Etsy. 

 

Batting Versus Roving

I also asked Purple Moose Felting to help me explain the difference between Batting versus Roving. In addition to core wool, which is a less processed and therefore cheaper wool that is used for the base shapes of needle felted items, there are a couple of other types of wool, including batting and roving. Here is what they had to say:

 

Batting is typically made up of shorter fibers that are all mixed up and going in different directions. This differs from roving, which usually comes in "rope-like" form and is made up of longer fibers that are all "combed" so that they are going in the same direction. I love to work with batting, since it's almost as if part of the felting work has already been done for me! I find that I can get a much smoother finish with batting, since there aren't all those "directional lines" that you would see when felting with longer combed fibers."

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I have to agree. I love working with batting, though I do have roving in a variety of colors for specific uses like adding hair. 

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It's All About The Wool

The more I get into needle felting and the more items I make, the more I learn about and respect the wool. One of my goals is to learn even more about the fibers that I work with. As I do, I will be sure to share them here with you!