How sweet!!! Thank you! :)
I gave a Dear DG Friend a big Iochroma that I grew into a standard.. it was 3 years old.. We had to really hack the roots.. She sent me a pic today, it survived the transplant! I'm jazzed.. they really support the beezzz LOL
O WOWSER prettiful purple tubular flowers. Forget surviving; it's established!
Happy Belated Birthday Claire!
Beautifully contrapted contraption there, Fran. Does it card or is it an alluring deathtrap for curious kitties?? No wait, I believe I saw safety tips...
Love the beautiful blue yarn, C. I would say electric blue fuzzy socks are the order of the day.;-) When I get my electric blue llama I'll try catching up with you...lol.
Wellllllll, you know.. he and my sis explained it to me and said to but it on the market is close to $400... I don't think it cards per say.. but sort of.. i think it's kind of like a pre card?? Claire??
Oh... I did tell them "I WANT ONE" even though I didn't know what it was... lol.. it just looks cool and wore case, I could use it for unruly kitties..... nahhh better not.. right shoulder watching the left.
ps. ZeeZ --amazing and beautiful plant there you 'mommied' --whatever you did must have been right!!
You all crack me up - thank goodness I get my daily laughs here!
Fran - that's fab! It is what is called a "picker" like this one:
http://www.fancy-kitty.com/woolpicker.html
Your brother definitely has the talent for making them! Basically, pickers help open up locks of wool that then makes them easier for carding and/or spinning. There are YouTube videos showing how to use one.
Personally I think it's cleaner and easier to shave the cat first and then just put the hair in. :-D
ZZ - the batt would be used for spinning generally. It makes all the fibers line up so that you can spin easily and not get all tangled messes of wool. Some wool is not as nice for spinning - it has short fibers or it's lumpy. Then, you can use it for felting. Felting is generally one of two types - wet felting or needle felting. I do both. Wet felting is like when you put a wool sweater in the washing machine by mistake and it comes out barbie doll sized. Hot water plus agitation makes wool shrink. You can take advantage of this property to make things like table runners and mats, as well as decorative items formed over things, so that you have felted bowls and such.
Needle felting is more intricate and is done using needles with barbs on them that make the wool fibers mesh together. You can either do flat pieces or sculptured pieces.
Here are a needle-felted sheep and rabbit that I made.
Here is a felted "owl" ornament I made.
And here is a blog post I did of how to do needle felting, and I show a hedgehog being made from the beginning to the end.
http://chooksiniowa.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-is-needle-felting.html
This Etsy artist has a bunch of wet felted bowls for sale, so you can see what wet felting can do. You can make flat sheets or hats or even shoes!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7143650
Those are just the cutieputootiest little animals. I think my fav is the hedgehog with his quurly quills.
You can also felt your goats soap.. it makes a fabulous gentle loofa and continues to shrink the entire bar.
Ash, my dd needle felts.. I love to, she is so much better at it though.
Go figure the brand name is "fancy kitty".. and where exactly IS their kitty???
Sorry I am late dear claire..... Hope it was a good day...
