Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Using Your Dog's Hair

Dog hair (called chiengora)can be spun Dr Strange yarn, much like sheeps's wool, alpaca, or any other animal fiber. The process is the same. Dust and oils can be washed out of the spun hair, so there is no "doggie odor." Amazingly, the spun yarn is warmer than wool, easy to care for, and has an angora-like fluffy texture. Until recent times, most dog owners didnt realize the beauty of the colors and texture of their dogs hair could be barbie com in the manner of sheeps wool.

It's really as easy as brushing your dog. There are some guidelines to getting the best and softest yarn possible.
When brushing your dog, be sure to collect from the parts where the hair is the longest and softest. This is undercoat. Hair must be 2 inches or longer for best results. Hair should be clean and dry, with no grass or debris in it. Brush the hair from the longest, softest parts of the dog, saving only this hair. It is the undercoat you want, not the coarse top coat. Clippings will not work well for spinning with dogs that have double coats. There is too much guard hair, and the yarn quality will not be as nice as the pure undercoat.

Remove dog hair from the brush and save it in a paper bag. Save hair that is completely dry, and as clean as possible. (Do not attempt to clean it once it is brushed off the dog!) Bathe your dog first, and brush when the hair is dry.
Paper allows the fiber to breathe and not be trapped with oils in a plastic bag. The best way to store the hair from brushings, is in a paper sack, or cloth bag, such as a pillowcase. Despite what your mother or grandmother used to do, NEVER USE MOTH BALLS! Moth balls contain a toxic chemical that is dangerous to breathe, and it is impossible to remove the mothball smell from the hair. How much do you save? It depends Friendship 7 what will be made with the finished yarn. Most small projects use about 6 ounces of hair.

Transforming dog hair into yarn takes much time and care. First, the yarn is evaluated for spinning. Depending on length, and how the yarn will be used, I determine if the hair needs blending with a soft merino wool. Blending minimizes shedding out, and produces a more durable yarn. Although most people want 100% of their dog's hair to be used in a product, this isn't always possible. The dog's color can still be seen and the fluffy texture is still present in the finished yarn.

From this point, the process is the same as spinning sheep's woolI use a drum carder for the blending process. This carder has metal teeth on it, that comb the wool, so the fibers are lined up and ready for spinning. The fiber is lifted off the drum carder, loosely rolled up, and set 1975 Topps baseball cards by the spinning wheel.

The yarn is spun into single strands on a spinning wheel, and then plied for strength. The yarn is then cleaned by hand, using a mild conditioning detergent or dog shampoo, and air dried. It is then wound into balls or skeins and is then ready to be knitted or crocheted into a scarf, Archie Comics ornament, and many other things.

Because it is handcrafted, and personal, a chiengora gift makes a sentimental remembrance. It is better to begin collecting hair while your pet is healthy and younger. People have often told me that it is comforting to have a soft, "pettable" scarf, hat, teddy bear, or other item made from their dog's hair, and it brings back happy memories.

Fran Pike spins and knits with luxury fibers, including angora, alpaca and chiengora. She founded Rover's Comb to enable people to have beautiful keepsakes made from their dogs long, brushed hair. Her work is showcased at http://www.roverscomb.com

Bangles For People Who Want to Give a Bold Fashion Statement

Generally, fashion jewelry Bratz dolls also known as junk jewelry. Why is it so? Because they are made of less expensive materials namely plastic, synthetic glasses & imitation stones. Due to its cheap availability many can afford these materials and due to its nature they are sometimes referred to as fake jewelry. It is normally bright as well as flashy also. The use of items made of bangles balances the tone of outfits and can also be stylish accessories for special events i.e. engagements, parties, weddings, anniversaries.

Sometimes they are also used for stage performance (as generally costume is only made to look flashy), even in some movies you will find use of these materials (as it is required for cost cutting), which serves the Manglors of attracting the audience due to its flashy nature. Famous First Edition jewelry is a synonym of change so precious metals such as stones, gold, pearls, and diamonds are avoided in it. As the price of these materials is really cheap, it is possible now days to have different kinds of jewelry with you rather than just going for that routine old expensive jewelry. So, you get choice to use different set of costumes with different occasion. Generally bronze & white metal is used in this category.

If you ask any jewelry designer about the trend, definitely they will tell you that use of these materials in bridal jewelry is increasing. In the context of Indian scenario bridal jewelry is really a costly affair, because it contains very costly metals like gold, silver, diamonds etc. Leather is also used in the jewelry business which is popular with teenagers. Young boys & girls wear bracelets of leather which gives them a fashionable look among peers. Leather lockets are also very popular with youngsters.

Lac is one kind of wax & is also used to make different variety of costume jewelry. Lac pendants, lac bracelets, lac chokers, lac armlets and earrings are very popular and definitely are in fashion. Apart from this bones are also used for making fashionable ornaments. Generally polished bones of animals are used but even sometimes they are used rough to have stylish look. Fashion jewelry is also available for hair which includes clips, hair pins, hair sticks & bands.

Main object of the costume jewelry that it should be less expensive so the end user will be interested in it, so very inexpensive materials like shell, stones, plastic & non precious metals are used. The stones used in costume jewelry are mainly colorful stones and crystals. Beads used in jewelry are also Famous First Edition inexpensive way which includes ivory beads, wooden beads, crystal beads & bone beads. Wood bracelets are mainly used in jewelry.

If you look through the eyes of history glass is used in jewelry since centuries and it is most promising one all over the world. If anyone has seen the movie devdas you can see the costume of aishwarya rai, it is epitome in this glass jewelry. With different combination of colors very nice & gorgeous look can be achieved with it. One more advantage of glass is that it is an inexpensive material & lovely too.

Glass bangles, bracelets, earrings, armlets, necklaces can be manufactured with different color combination's. Plastic is also an inexpensive material which is widely used.

Life of fashion jewelry is really a short but it can be durable if you take care of it.

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