For most of embroidery history, wool and silk were the only threads. Cotton came later, and it came for reasons of cost and convenience rather than craft quality. This is a guide to what wool and silk threads do that cotton cannot, which base is right for your work, and how to care for hand-dyed fibers so they last.

The 2026 Storyteller Stitchery advent calendar is open for preorder. The River Bank in Winter is a Wind in the Willows advent in two editions: a yarn advent and, for the first time ever, a needlepoint advent calendar. Twenty-four days of hand-dyed color, one beloved literary world, and your choice of how to make in it. Limited presale — ships November 2026.

Hopeful Bunny is a beginner needlepoint kit on a printed 13ct canvas, stitched with hand-dyed Awen merino wool and silk thread. In this post I walk through every stitch I used, including Tent Stitch, Staggered Diagonal, Balloon Stitch, and the Turkey Rug Stitch technique that gives her tail its fluffy, 3D finish.