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Step one: Come up with a plan and possible design. Get a model, make some really bad sketches, and take measurements to keep proportions
 Step three: I wrapped core roving around the aperture .  I want my Mummy! In step four, a felting needle was used to anchor in the edges in preparation for the covering.  He needed to look somewhat like a realistic dinosaur, so I blended natural dark roving with some hand dyed green roving on my Brother drum carder. I wanted to have plenty so I didn't run out. He has been slimed. End of step five.  Step six: More blending was done to get the underbelly coloring. Natural gray roving was mixed with hand dyed yellow roving.  Step seven: Hand carders were used to get the red color blend that was used for the inside of the mouth.  Step eight: He needs upper AND lower teeth! Points will be shaped on each individual tooth. 
 Step ten: Yes, that is a cherry pit. I was sizing for the eyes and getting ready to needle in the lower dentures.  Trying to escape. He heard there was chocolate upstairs.  Eyes, nose, toes, and claws were needled in to give him more character in step eleven.  Posing for a finished shot. He stands about 13 inches tall and is 23 inches long from nose to tail tip. He took about 24 hours to complete.  The big T-Rex was the 3-D model. The felted T-Rex is roughly 1/2 the size and will be a "desk buddy" for my son at work. Of course artistic license was taken ....  ROAR!
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5/24/2016 0 Comments New Baby Lambs!It can get a little hectic when the new lambs and their mothers go out into the pasture for the first time. There is lots of crying out to each other and muffled replies as the older (by a week or two) mothers try to call out to their babies with their mouths full of grass. The newest moms have a panicky tone to their call as the babies get mixed up or stay in one place while the older mothers move to another spot in search of a delightful bite full. The baaaing went on for most of the day. Check out the video below.  Violet tries to imitate her mom, Ana, by sampling grass too. Lamb names this year came from the British TV show Downton Abbey which could be watched on channel 45. Sadly, the season and the series ended after eight years.  Here is Mr. Bates taking a nap after a romp in the grass. Like us on Facebook!5/17/2016 1 Comment Wool Fact SheetWhy wool do you ask? Well here are some facts from American Wool, Division of American Sheep Industry Association, Inc.
CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL- Adapted from American Wool BENEFITS
Each wool fiber is a molecular coil- spring making the fiber remarkably elastic. Nature has folded the chemical polypeptide chains back upon themselves in such a way that they act like a coiled spring which elongates when it is extended and retracts when it is released. This molecular crimp, along with the 3-dimensional fiber, allows wool fibers to be stretched up to 50% when wet and 30% when dry, and still bounce back to their original shape when stress is released. But be careful: When wool is wet the fibers are weaker. Recovery from stress takes place faster when the fiber is in a humid environment; that’s why steaming a wool garment will freshen the fabric and why a steam iron is recommended for pressing wool. The flexibility of the wool fiber also makes it more durable. A wool fiber can be bent back on itself more than 20,000 times without breaking, compared to about 3,000 times for cotton and 2,000 times for silk. The natural elasticity of wool also makes woolen fabrics resistant to tearing. In addition, the outer skin of the wool fiber acts as a protective film, giving wool cloth improved resistance to abrasion. FIBER ABSORBENCY Wool is a hygroscopic fiber; it takes up moisture in vapor form. Tiny pores in the epicuticle make the fiber semi-permeable, allowing vapor to pass through to the heart of the fiber. Wool can easily absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling damp or clammy. The capacity to absorb makes wool a “temperature regulator” because it can protect the body in both cold and warm conditions. Wool always absorbs moisture from the atmosphere of greater humidity and releases it to the drier environment as it creates a balance in moisture conditions. This characteristic makes wool a versatile all-season fabric. Wool absorbs perspiration; thus it keeps a layer of dry air next to the skin which, in turn, helps to hold in body heat. As wool absorbs atmospheric moisture, the hydrogen bond of water is broken and chemically reacts with molecules of the wool to generate heat. Wool garments are therefore regarded as good protection against hypo- thermia... a condition that occurs when sudden drastic lowering of body temperature causes the body to lose heat faster than it can be produced. The same principle of moisture contact on the skin acts to protect against hot weather as well. The body cools itself naturally with the evaporation of per- spiration. Wool expedites this process by absorbing perspiration and keeping the same dry air next to the skin. This is why wool clothing is worn throughout the desert regions of the world where it’s hot during the day and cool at night. FELTS NATURALLY The physical structure of the outer scaly layer of the wool fiber contributes to wool’s unique property of felting. Under the mechanical action of agitation, friction and pressure in the presence of heat and moisture, the scales on the edges of the wool fibers interlock, preventing the fiber from returning to its original position. Felting shrinkage is irreversible. The felting property of wool is both an advantage and disadvantage. In a con- trolled situation the felting quality is called fulling or milling and creates a softer finish for woven wool fabric. Felting is also an advantage because it provides for a wide variety of non-woven felt fabrics for hats and for industrial uses. Felting is a disadvantage because it makes the washing of untreated wool fabrics difficult. Treatments have been developed to prevent felting shrinkage, allowing wool garments to be machine-washed. The SUPERWASH ®mark certifies that fabrics have been treated for machine-washability and dryability under strict standards set by The Wool Bureau, Inc. Technically, the process involves a mild chemical treatment applied to the fiber to form a microscopic film of resin that spreads evenly over the fiber surface. The film reduces friction and thus eliminates entanglement. The resin can’t be washed or worn off; it is held in place perma- nently by chemical adhesive bonds. TAKES DYE BEAUTIFULLY Wool absorbs many different dyes deeply, uniformly and directly without the use of combining chemicals. Wool is an amphoteric, which means it reacts with both acids and bases; thus it accepts both acid and basic dyestuffs. Dyes penetrate into the inner medulla core of the fiber where a chemical reaction occurs making the color change permanent except under extreme and prolonged fading conditions. RESISTANCE TO FLAME Because wool contains moisture in each fiber, it resists flame without chemical treatment. Instead of burning freely when touched by flame, wool chars and stops burning when it is removed from the source of fire. Wool is self-extinguishing. It will not support combustion; this is why wool blankets are recommended for use in extinguishing small fires. CHEMICAL STRUCTURE Wool is a natural protein fiber that grows from the follicles of the sheep’s skin. It is like human hair in that it is composed of keratin-type protein. Chemically these proteins contain 5 elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. These 5 elements are combined into 19 amino acids linked together in ladder-like polypeptide chains. RESISTANCE TO COMPRESSION Resistance-to-compression values are useful in assessing the suitability of wool for specific end uses. Resistance to compression (R to C) is the force per unit area required to compress a fixed mass of wool to a fixed volume. Resistance to compression is related to fiber diameter and the form and frequency of crimp. For instance, low and medium R to C wools tend to be softer, more lustrous, more susceptible to felting, easier to process and produce strong fabrics. On the other hand, high R to C wools have a harsher handle, are resistant to felting and are bulkier. Two resistance-to-compression studies conducted by Texas A&M University prove American wool is well-suited to produce the finest of fabrics as well as wool batting for the production of futons and other bedding materials. These studies confirmed that there is a good variety of wools available in the U.S. with low, medium and high resistance to compression. The majority of the wool finer than 28 micron in this test was analyzed as being in the middle resistance-to- compression range (53%). On the other hand, some 73 percent of the wool coarser than 28 micron was evaluated to be highly resistant to compression. American Wool Division of American Sheep Industry Association, Inc. 6911 South Yosemite Street Centennial, CO 80112-1414 (303) 771-3500 • Fax (303) 771-8200 www.sheepusa.org |
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