When it comes to needle felting, the wool you choose is one of the most important factors in achieving the desired result. There is a big difference in how well wool feels. Here is a guide to  common  wool types  and what they are best suited for. There are many types of wool fiber, but we concentrate on the ones we use and know, and which all come from Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk AS. 

Carded wool

Carded wool is wool that has been carded, or combed, so that the fibers lie in all directions. This means that carded wool filters quickly and evenly, making it ideal for needle felting, both for 3D and 2D. It is easy to shape and is particularly suitable for building basic shapes and making larger projects where you need a firm structure. In our opinion, Hillesvåg has the best carded wool, we at Ullnåla only use it and it is the one we have in the online store, this wool comes from Norway. We only sell washed wool. Carded wool can also be wet felted or you can spin your own yarn. With us, the minimum order per color is 50 g.

Merino tops

Merino tops are made from merino wool, one of the softest and finest types of wool. In "tops" the fibers are long (about 75-80 mm) and lie parallel to each other, which gives a smooth and even surface. Merino is shinier than carded wool. Merino tops are perfect for adding details, e.g. eyes. Remember that it can take a little longer to felt merino because of the fine fibers and it is important to felt with a fine single needle at the end. Great for making long fur, that probably requires a separate blog post or video. The fibers are about 75-80 mm long and if you are going to remove fibers, do not cut, but grab them with about 15 cm between your hands and gently pull them apart. Merino tops can also be wet felted. Merino tops can also be used for hair/forehead bangs on figures. Many people use merino tops to make wool angels. We have some Merino tops in the online store and these are from Hillesvåg. Hillesvåg states on its website that "Our supplier purchases merino wool from South Africa. This guarantees that it is mulesing-free, as this is a practice that only occurs in Australia."

Wool tops/carded wool

Core wool is a coarser and thicker wool that can be used as a solid base inside figures or other larger projects. It dries quickly and provides a stable structure, making it ideal for building up volume before covering it with a finer type of wool. Since it is in ribbons, it is also great for wrapping around, for example, a fixture made of steel wire, wire or pipe cleaners.

Carded merino wool

This is NOT suitable for needle felting, but is great for wet felting. This is no longer sold at Hillesvåg and not with us.

A little about colors in carded wool

In our online store there are "washed white" and "bleached white" the one that is bleached is somewhat whiter than the one that is only washed, the degree of whiteness of the bleached one can vary. Those of you who knit and crochet are familiar with the fact that it is a good idea to take skeins with the same dyeing, also when dyeing carded wool the batches can vary, but we do not think this has been a problem at Hillesvåg.

If you are going to make elves, angels or children, "light apricot" is a nice face color. Ullnåla makes a lot of figures that resemble mice or rabbits, for this we use a lot of "beige", but it is also nice with, for example, "washed white" or "light gray" here you just have to find your favorite. Hillesvåg has 3 gray colors, light, medium and dark gray. We have all these gray colors in the online store, in washed versions.

If you want to make a pair of Snipp and Snapp you can use beige, light chocolate brown, brown or maroon, or if you want to make a Grinch, Grass Green is great. For Christmas we use a lot of Heathered Santa Red, Heathered Santa Blue, Moss Green, brown, dark gray, charcoal gray, light gray and medium gray. If you want to make a carrot, Heathered Orange is great. There are many nice colors, but if you have a color that you don't use that much, feel free to use it inside the head/body and use another color around.

Some colors say "melted", which means that it contains gray wool, which gives a nice melange and depth to the color.