What Is Merino Wool?

Merino wool is a natural fibre grown by Merino sheep consuming a simple blend of natural ingredients including water, sunshine, fresh air, and grass. The hair of Merino sheep’s coat is made up of light, thin hairs which are much thinner and softer than those on regular wool, and can handle extreme temperature changes.

The Australian Merino wool is the finest and softest wool in the world. This type of wool has many natural benefits and it’s suitable for making a wide variety of clothing products, high-performance sportswear, wool beddings, and different textile artworks.

Where Does Merino Wool Come From?

Merino sheeps first originated in Spain introduced in the 12th century by a tribe of Arabic Moors called the Beni -Merines. These sheep were considered so valuable to the Spanish people that selling them was punishable by death. Later in the 18th century, Merino sheep were introduced to Australia and today they have found their way around the world. They can be found in many places such as Asia, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, and other high altitude and mountainous areas.

Australian woolgrowers have made an important contribution to the development of the Merino wool industry using sustainable farming practices. Having a trained workforce of 20,000 farmers who prepare, clean, and process the wool from over 60,000 Australian rural and regional farms, they have the world’s most advanced wool industry delivering its products to the rest of the world and fashion industry.

Now that we outlined the most important aspects of the origin of this wool, let’s proceed on by explaining what makes merino wool such a popular and widely used fabric.

What Is the Best Chunky Merino Wool for Textile Artwork?

The Merino wool fabric is highly renowned as one of the best and most versatile natural fabrics. It is particularly well suited for creating different kinds of textile artworks, such as knitting big chunky items and weaving cozy blankets and other types of accessories and clothing such as sweaters and hats. Most often, super chunky merino wool yarn is used for creating these exquisitely soft and super comfy blankets and clothes.

Whether you are new to this craft or you are already an experienced blanket maker, we’ve selected for you the best super chunky merino wool yarn that can be found on the market today.

Malabrigo Rasta Wool Yarn

You can make the perfect throw of your dreams with this super chunky merino wall yarn which is incredibly lofty and exquisitely soft. Malabrigo Rasta is a super chunky merino wool yarn that is perfect to whip out super cozy accessories in just a matter of hours. This yarn comes in a range of unique colours as well as rainbow or semi-solid basics. The skeins are lovingly hand-dyed, unbelievably squishy, making them an excellent option for staple cold-weather projects.

Merino Wool Super Chunky Yarn

For people who just started arm knitting, this is a super chunky wool yarn made of 100% Merino Wool. It is most commonly used for knitting big throw blankets, pillow and pouf cushions, or chunky knitted scarfs, hats, and other garments. It’s a wonderful yarn for beginners who want to learn and practice their skills in crocheting or knitting.

Glasiart One Merino Wool

The Glasiart One wool uses a unique handcrafted process passed down through generations of families known for their crafting abilities. Each package includes 20 pieces of roving in different colours, from candy pink to forest green for creating beautiful wool projects. Each is about 21 microns thick and has a satisfying airiness. You can also try wet felting this wool, but it is best to use darker colours for this as the bright ones may bleed during the process.

Fiddlesticks Peppin 

The Fiddlesticks Peppin is a bulky 100% merino wool yarn. Soft and bouncy with a lovely twist, it’s perfect for a wide range of knitting and crochet projects such as blankets or throws, chunky hats, and scarves. This is the perfect yarn for beginner crocheters and knitters.

Benefits of Merino Wool

If you are wondering what merino wool is really good at, we’ve provided for you some of the benefits associated with this type of fabric. Let’s consider each of the numerous advantages associated with this type of wool.

Merino Wool Is Soft

It has a soft texture and it isn’t itchy as regular wool can be. Merino wool fibres are so thin that they are well below the human itching threshold of 25 microns. This makes it very comfortable to wear and for generating non-itchy cozy sweaters, blankets, and other garments.

Durable

Merino wool has super durable qualities and is 6 times stronger than regular cotton. Each fibre can be bent onto itself over 20, 000 times, in comparison to regular cotton which breaks after 3200 times.

Sustainable

Merino wool is also 100% natural fabric which makes it highly sustainable and eco-friendly. All that is needed for these natural fibres to grow are the use of freshwater, air, sun, and tasty grass which is all pretty basic stuff.

It Helps Regulate Body Temperature

Merino wool has a number of wonderful, natural properties. The fibre composition has an insulating and temperature regulating effect which keeps you cool and dry in summer and warm in winter.

Odor Resistant

Since this wool has antibacterial properties it absorbs well all odour molecules and releases them upon washing. Furthermore, moisture is absorbed directly into the fibre so you can feel fresh and clean all day long. This is great news for all those dependent on deodorant for a fresh smell. The keratin-protein molecules in the merino fibres simply break down the odour of bacteria so we can enjoy the benefits of its self-cleaning function, so we don’t have to wash our merino wool clothing as often.