There is a strong tradition of wool embroidery in Sweden, especially in the counties of Skåne and Dalarna. A variety of stitches are used and thus it is a freer style compared with needlepoint. Craftswomen in the past used their creativity and embroidered just anything they saw around them, like animals, people, plants and houses. Most often wool yarn on wool fabric was used, occasionally it could be silk thread. Embroidery was a highly esteemed profession, and embroiders moved around and made cushions and sledge quilts on demand. Wool embroidery is still popular and there are a variety of courses and a quite a few books with patterns. The beautiful and instructive pictures you find in these books could be useful even for a person who doesn’t know Swedish.
Two much used books one with old and one with more modern patterns.
Gallery of wool embroidery
A couple of friends asked me to make a wall hanging for their summer cottage. The cottage is in an area where a lot of rhubarb and old sorts of apples and pears are cultivated. So we decided the wall hangning should be an embroidery of a rhubarb plant.
