The Merida Wig

For those of you that do not know who Merida is, she is the new princess from Disney's 'Brave' movie. I wanted to make a yarn wig because I've always wanted to do that. Plus I figured with the movies popularity that there would be a lot of 'Merida's walking around on Halloween night. I wanted my daughter to stand out a little bit. I never dreamed that this project would take so long! You can click on pictures to enlarge them. Blogger hates me and would not let me put them straight. I used Lion Brand Yarn in DaVinvi super bulky wool and acrylic mix in the dark red shades. Here is their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LionBrandYarns?ref=stream

First I bought a hat, sewed the front up to allow for her face.

Then I weaved yarn in a horizontal weave pattern.

I sewed yarn to the wig in vertical strips.

back of hat/wig. I basically made it so I could loop strands in wherever I needed them.

The wig with hair, with most of the hair. This is 4 yarn balls in, I ended up needing 6 altogether.

Curled it with perm rods, I used 7 different sizes but the smaller sizes worked best. Next time I will not use the bigger rods.

Soaked it in water all night. If you just spray it down it doesn't get wet enough to hold the water in.

Baked it in the oven at 200 degrees for 3 hours. It was still not dry, I was kind of in a rush to finish this before her Halloween party. 

Put it a bag and dryer for an hour. I was desperate and I know this sounds crazy. I filled the dryer with dry towels to help it dry and to protect the rods. I made sure it was on delicate and low heat. I also checked it about every 10 minutes.

The hood dryer was too small. Hahaha.

The finished wig. It turned out great!

Also some pictures of it in action. I did put an elastic strap under her chin to make it fit well. The Winter hat did start to stretch after all that water and drying.

Sheep

I recently visited a family farm. One of those family owned ones with strawberry picking in the spring and a pumpkin patch in the fall. They also have local produce as well as hay mazes and fun thing for the kids.
When we arrived there was a homeschool group there as well. First off I want to say that I have nothing against homeschooling. I think it's totally cool and I have many friends that homeschool or plan to homeschool. That being said, I also feel it is a huge responsibility to be accurate in what you teach your child since you're are their teacher.
This is where the sheep come in. I usually refrain from petting zoos and farms because I do not agree with some farming practices when it comes to the treatment of animals. I have done a good amount if research on all animals used in farms versus their life in the wild. I try to explain some of that to my child when we visit these farms.
This farm had what would be considered farm pets. They had a cage smaller than my bedroom that housed one small horse, two sheep and three ducks. They had the horse on a leash with a saddle, and the sheep had collars and leashes. Basically the owners would get one out at a time for visitors to pet or feed. The horse would give small children rides.
Ok, the sheep. I'm standing there with my daughter next to one of the homeschooling ladies and her daughter. We watched by the cage as the owner walked in to get the sheep out. The sheep noticed this and started darting all over the place trying not to get caught. That's when I heard the little girl next to me say, "Mommy, those sheep are dumb." Here I am thinking how can you think these animals are dumb?? They obviously don't want to be pet by strangers while tied on a leash. That's when I hear the mother answer her with, "Yes, sheep are very dumb animals."
Seriously??? Is this what the world has come to? Where we teach our child that animals are dumb and deserve to be treated like this? Forced to be tied up and live in a 10' by 10' cage? And if they don't like it then they are considered dumb.