Hollyhocks and Beatrix

 Hollyhocks
Nothing says "country garden" like the old fashioned Hollyhock. Watching these wonderful plants beginning to bloom in my gardens thrills me to bits! I planted seeds last year and watched the little plants slowly taking hold; they actually stayed green over the winter and continued to grow.
  Dwarf Hollies have been blooming all week long.

 And the full size Hollies are just beginning to open.

Beatrix

 I've been thinking about this girl for quite a long time.

I have made small, simple versions of sheep, but this one needed to be distinctive and exceptional to represent  Beatrix, my 12 yr. old Shropshire sheep that I lost last year.

  I could see her in my minds eye with her gentle full face, very wide nose, soft dark eyes and a perpetual smile on her face...
 

I look at this  face, and I do see Beatrix.

 I wanted her to be on the large size, and chose to use a full body armature that would make her close to 16 inches tall.
 She looks like an alien in this picture...
 .
 I wrapped and wrapped her body and limbs with wool shorn from Sophia,  and then covered that wool with core wool.
  All the while, the wool needed to be needle-felted into place.

It  required SO much wool to get her some bulk, but eventually, she was built up enough that I could begin to use the good wool to create her top coat. I carded White Alpaca with Merino wool together to make a beautiful pearly white
 My real Beatrix was never this clean.

She smiled at me the whole time I was poking her with the needle...my Beatrix was never that good-natured.
It was difficult to felt with the armature underneath, I kept hitting the surface with my needles and had to poke the wool sideways.The next time I make one of these, I will use a different kind of armature.

I worked on her for many days, trying to build her up...

She still looks quite skinny for a sheep, but we had a solution to that problem...
Have you ever seen a sheep AFTER it's been shorn?
They are VERY slender...

.

Such a special lady needed a fine bonnet, and I am a milliner to little creatures

 

I love making hats

and frocks for country ladies..

She also needed Hooves; for walking the meadows and villages, one needs good footwear.

I made an extra set, just in case.

 Dried, sanded, polished and applied!

 We tried several baskets before deciding that this soft meshy one would be lightest for travel, and still hold a lot of wool. 

  The red felt bonnet was just the right color to set off her features to best advantage

The antique millinery flowers are of a soft flock-like material.

 Her calico bodice with antique pearl buttons... to match her pearly wool.

Her Shears..... now you know why she is so slender...

I'll take 8 oz of wool please.

I think I love her....