Lambswool is wool which is 50 millimetres (2in) or shorter from the first shearing of a sheep, [1] at around the age of seven months.

The pronounced scales in the wool fibers makes woolen fabrics more prone to tangling and thus relevant for nonwovens like felt, but it also increases the tendency of shrinkage. The different breeds of Alpacas offer a wide range of natural colours, with five main colours, and furthermore twenty-two shades to choose from.The obvious choice of wool for affordable, high quality knitwear in today's active, modern life is 100% merino. While sheep’s wool is notorious for its potential itchiness, lambswool is generally softer and less likely to cause skin irritation.

See the next page for some more original lambswool recipes and some information on the practice of wassailing. This gets rid of the fatty grease lanolin, which is a by-product used in cosmetics, but it means that only about half of the initial fleece can be used in the production of a garment. True, many people do still depend on clothes for utilitarian purposes, but many also have the luxury of being able to hand pick their optimal choice of knitwear, whether it is light or heavy, natural or dyed, merino or cashmere. Although when we refer to a paint roller we think of it as a whole item, but in fact the most import part is the interchangeable sleeve as this is the part that gets the paint on the wall and determines how good the finish is.One drawback, however, is that wool and hair become weaker when exposed to water, with wool losing about a quarter of its strength when wet. Wool fibers are generally shorter, thicker and has more pronounced scales whereas hair is generally longer fibres, finer and has less pronounced scales. A paint roller is a painting tool used by decorators and painters to enable them to paint large flat areas quickly and efficiently, saving a huge amount on what it would take time-wise to cover the same area with a paint brush. Their 100% superfine merino has a registered trade name, it is recognised to be the first and unmatched superfine merino, and has been used by top knitwear producers around the world for over 30 years.

Paint rollers are ideal for covering large, flat surfaces with paint as they can make a huge difference to the time taken covering a wall with paint. The pile, or nap of a paint roller can be made of materials from 2 different sources that are either wool/natural fibres or man made fibre. The longer pile mohair sleeves are excellent for covering textured finishes such as orange peel, sand swirl, bare bricks and blocks and artex ceilings as the longer pile gets down into nooks and crannies in a much more consistent way. Although there are many similarities in both the farming procedures and general properties of wool and hair, they’re usually distinguished between what animal they’re sourced from. We only use five colours in our work, two of which have been specially dyed for us by Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgesesia SpA to replicate the natural colours so familiar in Shetland's textile heritage.Angora production is furthermore an industry that many people and animal welfare associations have had issues with in the past, due to a lot of Angora farming having taken place in countries with little to no animal welfare standards. The poem by Robert Herrick entitled, ‘Twelfe-Night’, or ‘King and Queene’ describes several practices seen at 12th Night. This gives mohair its distinct, frizzy look with the slightly stiff short hairs visible in the final product. People are often misled by the fabric content labels in clothing, and the difference between cashmere, lambswool and merino.

There is no correct or wrong width for any given job but the obvious thing to remember is the larger the surface, the wider the roller as this will get the most paint on the wall and save you the most time. However it is essential that you also use a paint brush, or paint pad to cut in around the edges and corners where the roller cannot get to without making a mess of the surface next to the one you are painting. Mohair is obtained from the Angora goat (sometimes confused with the angora yarn that comes from the angora rabbit). As we have stated above, the sleeve is the most important part of a paint roller as it gets the paint on the wall, however without a frame and handle to operate it, it’s essentially useless.

Some breeds produce a fleece with a high resilience which is hard wearing and therefore good for carpets, rugs, and upholstery while other breeds produce a fine fleece with a softer hand feel which is thus popular in clothing. And although Richard Cook in 1835 (see end of recipe) puts his sugar and spices in with the apple pulp, we will be following the earlier (traditional) advice of Herrick in 1648 among others, and put the spices in the ale to mull first and the apple pulp in later. A good tip to avoid transferring loose fibres from a roller sleeve onto your walls is to dab the sleeve with some masking tape before you dip it into your paint, this will pull off any loose fibres. Farming angora sometimes involves the rabbits being kept in separate cages and in near darkness to protect their undercoat. It features a foam, natural or man made fibre sleeve that slips over a cylindrical metal frame or cage and is held in position by 2 end caps that in turn rotate around a bar fixed to a handle.