If you are a crafter, you have probably worked with wool in one way or another. Wool is available as yarn, fabric, felt, and as the fibre itself. We spin it, knit it, crochet it, weave it, sew it, or felt it. Wool is everywhere in the crafting world.
Some people use the word wool to describe fibre from all fibre-producing animals, but I am going to use it here to only describe fibre from sheep. Even then, wool is a very broad term when applied to the fleeces of over 250 registered sheep breeds, dozens of recognized but un-registered breeds, and dozens more regional and farm-specific variations made to each of those breeds. Each sheep breed produces a distinct style of wool, but there are variations within the breeds and more variations within each individual fleece. However, there are certain characteristics that we can assume exist in every type of wool.
Find more detailed information on the structure of wool fibres:
woolmark.com/fibre/
woolwise.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WOOl-472-572-14-T-02.pdf [PDF]
All photos by Michelle Boyd.