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When thinking about Irish wool, many automatically think of the traditional high quality Aran sweater shops in the West of Ireland – but Annika Berglund, artist and member of Feltmakers Ireland says, “It’s fair to say Irish wool is an extremely underutilised resource.”
“From January 2021 to May of this year, myself and the members of Feltmakers Ireland worked hard researching and writing the book ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’.
“Our book explores how little Irish wool is used in felting and goes through some of the problems when sourcing wool. It features wool from 40 different breeds of sheep raised in Ireland, while giving an analysis on how each individual breed can be used for feltmaking. Readers can also gain an insight into different felting techniques, such as wet felting and needle felting.”
A personal touch
When asked what sets the book apart from other felting books, Annika says, “There is a chapter in the book that interviews the farmers who supplied the wool so they can tell their story. This gives the book a personal touch, a local connection to the farmers supplying the wool.
“I also think what sets the book apart is the large number of people working on it. Myself, Breda Fay and Sinead Doyle put the book together and then there was a sampling team of around 40 people.
“The extraordinary thing is that the sampling team found they couldn’t find a single breed of wool we couldn’t felt with, even if it couldn’t wool felt well, it could needle felt.”
Bountiful Exhibition
“We are delighted to have the book finished in time for our annual Feltmakers Ireland exhibition ‘Bountiful’ which started 30 September and runs through to 29 October.
“The exhibition will run from 10am to 4pm in the Phoenix Park Visitors Centre and we were lucky to get Pippa Hackett, Minister of State and the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine, to open the event. Pippa also wrote us a beautiful foreword in the book”.
Speaking about the importance of utilising Irish wool, Minister Hackett said at the time: “As a sheep farmer myself, It won’t come as a surprise that I believe that if you are in Ireland and using wool as a raw material, it should be Irish wool.
“We expect French wine to be made from French grapes, and I feel the same about Aran sweaters and Irish wool. I am very aware of the challenges in the sector, but very confident that the development of many potential functions for this sustainable, indigenous resource will see a reversal of its fortunes.”
Feltmakers Ireland is a non-profit craft organisation, founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Bonner. For more information, check out https://feltmakersireland.com/
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