DAY 1 Discovery of wools of Europe

Part 1  Discovering La Bergerie Nationale



Arriving at the Bergerie Nationale at 8.30 in the morning we were welcomed by the sight of a beautiful courtyard style farm and building. The Bergerie Nationale was established after 1785 by Louis XVI, to house a special flock of Merino Sheep given to France as a present by the King of Spain. At this time Spain was one of the only countries in Europe to have this particular breed of Sheep with its soft and white fleece. 

Marino Sheep at the Bergerie Nationale 

Marino Ram at the Bergerie Nationale
After the flock had been welcomed at the bergerie, Spain sold a lot of Merino sheep around the world where Shepherds and breeders used them to improve the quality of indigenous breeds in other areas. This practice resulted in the original Marino breed being diluted through time into other cross breeds. 

In the Bergerie Nationale this did not happen, The original Merino sheep were bred in a line, this means that it was used as a closed flock, sheep were paired with at least a four generation gap between partners. This has resulted in the maintenance of as close to an ancient pure breed of Merino sheep. 

The Bergerie Nationale is a working farm and education centre for agriculture and equine culture. We were taken on a tour of the farm to see the Merino sheep and various other animals. We were even treated to a demonstration of sheep shearing by the head Shepherd.   

©Valentyna Kryuchkova, INMA
Merino ewe's and Fleece

                                                        


Henry MOOO /www.henry-moore.org/
Fowl at the Bergerie Nationale 

ewe pen


Part 2 Introducing the different quality of wool with Marie-Thérèse Chaupin


"Brave the time, give living matter its supreme role, 
always alive, capricious and beautiful, 
Link spirit to matter as an essential basis for a culture of intelligence"
Christian des Touches 

Marie- Therese Chaupin, Director Association Atelier- Laines d'Europe
Marie-Therese captivated us with her presentation on the properties of wool and the different uses each fleece lends itself to. For instance did you know that any given fleece can be made up of three different fibres. Hair, Wool and Kemp. Hair is a long and coarse fibre fairly rigid. Wool is a flexible and fine fibre. Kemp is a short, stiff and thick fibre. 













The fibres of the fleece


The fibres of the fleece are produced by the follicles of the skin, just as our hair.
The growth is:
- continuous for the wool and hair (shearing is a necessity)
- periodic for the kemp.

The fibre: a very sophisticated structure

Cuticule: the scales
Cortex: the internal part with parallel long cells
Medulla (pith): a canal with  a lot of hair

The fibres could be of three different types:
• Wool
• Hair
• Kemp

Wool

The fibre grows continually. There is no medullar canal. Scales are as high as the diameter of the fibre and
by entirely around. The scales overlap slightly and are very prominent. Section is circular. The wool fibre is very thin, flexible and has properties of elasticity, plasticity and excellent resistance through the important part of the cortex in its composition. His ability to felt is remarkable.

Kemp

The fibre grows and then it stops. Growth phase is short relatively to the lag phase. Usually it is a short
fibre, it falls into the fleece. It has a huge medullar canal whose diameter is 9/10th the diameter of the fibre. Scales which overlap extensively are rectangular and slightly protruding. The section is oval or very flat.
This is a very rough one because of the importance of the medullar canal and it has very poor mechanical properties. It is hard to dye. Its presence in the fleeces depreciates them significantly.

Hair

The fibre grows continuously .It has with a medullar canal of diameter less than half of that of the fibre.
Scales in more or less regular hexagons are a little prominent. Section is circular. The hair is a coarse fibre, long, strong, fairly rigid, whose ability to felt is less pronounced than that of wool. His presence is appreciated for mattresses, rugs and when it is fine in the knitting wools.


The production of these fibres depends on several factors:

- Breed, the result of an evolution through the centuries and selection by man
- Climatic and geographical conditions
- Food
- The condition of the animal (lambing, lactation, diseases, parasites, stress)
- The season (day length), the temperature
- The type of breeding: sheepfold, extensive, transhumant

Influence of the breed
Originally the ancestor of the sheep, the mouflon, has long straight hair and a small woolly sub layer.
see primitive breeds (Corsica) Progressive selection of fleeces with more wool and removal of coloured fleeces for white wool  (for dyeing)

Influence of the climate
- English breeds have outdoor fleeces with "waterproof” long hair where rain runoff (Blackface)
- Merino have dense fleeces , adapted to dry and continental climates. The fleece protects against heat and cold, wind, but there are problems in case of long lasting rain
- Corsican breed: mixed fleece with hair, wool and kemp, the strong rains flow down, no hooking of the
fleece into the thorny bushes.
- Hardy breeds: the kemp, first grown fibre protects lambs at birth.

Influence of the food
The fodder could vary along the year: hay during winter, grass of the mountain pastures in summer, meadows varying according to the seasons, drought problems. If the food is inadequate or not sufficient, this leads to
a slowdown in the production of fibre; length and diameter are affected. Example of ultrafine merino wool where food is rationed, Extremadura.

 Importance of minerals of the soils.
A rich food increases the diameter of the fibre.The fibre of wool could have an irregular diameter during the year.

 Influence of the health of the animal
Some difficult periods: gestation, lambing, lactation, as well as diseases, parasites .... can produce a brittle wool, the yellowing of the wool or felting.influence of season and temperatureIn summer wool grows rapidly due to the long periods of daylight.The UltraViolet  rays of the sun burns the surface of the fleece, fade the end of the fibres (see fleece brown-black) or the brittleness of the fibres ends if the fleece is not compact.

Influence of the type of breeding
The sheep kept in sheepfold have a dirty fleece, the yield decreases.Organic material can degrade the fleece,
yellowing, ...

Results
Variable diameter on a single fibre and between fibres, unequal in length within a fleece according to the parts of the body. Possible fragility of the fibres based on the events of the year.
Hand processing was adapted to this variability:
•Sorting of the fleece according to the parts.
•Development of techniques for selection according to the length of the fibres .
•Choice of the fibres (short, brittle) for a specific use: warp yarn, weft yarn or fibres of various lengths and diameters: felt ....
So, a living raw material !!! 




Craft machines

The Thread Wrapping Machine

The Thread Wrapping Machine is a tool to join different types of material with only a glue-coated thread to bond it. No screws ore nails are used to join the different components of the furniture’s. By using this construction method materials such as wood, steel, ore plastic can be joined to form objects and spaces. I wanted to create an externalised joint that would enable me to combine a big range of different materials that normally would require very time consuming methods of jointing them together. At the same time a decorative pattern appears with the different colours of the thread.

More info: antonalvarez.com/The-Thread-Wrapping-Machine-making 

 ECAL Low-Tech Factory/Rocking-Knit

 Rocking-Knit is a new interpretation of the rocking chair. It offers its user productive moments of relaxation. The to-and-fro movement of this armchair knits hats for the winter and requires no exertion whatsoever.

 Authors: Damien Ludi, Colin Peillex


Made with Love

 Knitting used to imply a romantic image. With the act of knitting we followed our natural instincts, making warm and comfortable things for those we love. Industrialization, knitting machines, increasing wool price and feminist attitudes worked together to push knitting into an unrespectable hobby. Can we bring back the romantic image into machine knitting?

 Hugging is a form of physical intimacy. It indicates familiarity, love or friendship, a romantic exchange, like knitting for someone. The interactive knitting installation “Made with Love” encourages the visitors to hug the person next to him to let the knitting mill knit.

 The Installation was shown during the ARS Electronica Festival 2012 at the Brucknerhaus in Linz.

DAY 2 Qualities of the wool and trend books

[Posted by Charlotte, Madeleine, Michala]

Our Tuesday programme consisted from 2 parts:
  1.  “Discovery of wools of Europe” with Marie-Thérèse Chaupin 
  2. “Trend books and creation of this blog” with Jeanne Goutelle

Part 1  Discovery of wools of Europe with Marie-Thérèse Chaupin

Propreties of wool

At the beginning of the day, we shared a moment with Marie-Thérese. We have discovered and a comparison between different wools and there properties. We have seen which material is better for a product/fabric, you can see some pictures and samples. And finally, we saw the material characteristics, textures and properties and how they work in a final product or fabric. For example, the Mérinos d´Arles (France) can make “Balls of Knitting yarn” (carding, spinning and twisting), “Knitwear samples” (combing, spinning, knitting, finishing), “Felted stole” (carding, hand felting), also “Woven Scarf “(combing, spinning, weaving, finish) and finally “Top” (combing).

The qualities of the wool fibres: resilience, fire-resistance, absorption of humidity, sound absorbing
We discussed the following themes:
  • Some objects made in wool: properties, choice of the material, choice of the techniques
  • Wool: a natural and renewable resource – tradition and future
  • From the hand-made to industry through craft: technical break or continuation?

      Chemical composition
    Wool keratin is an animal protein not unlike hair, feathers and horn. Wool is composed of five chemical elements in the following approximate percentages : carbon (50%), hydrogen (7%), oxygen
    (21%) and sulphur (3-4%) It could be separated in about twenty amino acids: two are important: cystin and glutamic acid.Wool is rich in the sulphur-containing cystine which gives elasticity. The glutamic acid explains the strong ability of wool for dyeing.
    Physical properties
    The crimp
    The crimp or wave of wool fibre varies with the average fineness (about 30 waves/inch for fine 
    merino). It is related to the period of rotation or twist of the major axis of the ellipse as the fibre issues from the follicle.
    Thermal insulation
    The crimp of the fibre helps to keep a large quantity of air between the fibres which creates a good thermal insulation limiting the transfer of heat. The scales making a rough surface limit the air movement too.Wool is a good protection against the cold as well as against the heat.
    Sound proofing
    Wool has the capacity to dampen or absorb both high and low frequency sound.
    Lightness 
    of the fibre: specific gravity of 1.3 
    Resilience and springiness related to its elasticity.It can be extended as much as 30% for short periods without permanent deformation, a factor which is important in its use for higher grade clothing.
    Water and vapour absorption
    Wool is hydrophobic towards water and hydrophilic towards water vapour. The scales and the grease act as screen against liquid water, as against a dewdrop on a woollen knitwear. Only the nano (very small) water volumes can easily come through the scales and arrive inside of the cortex.Wool has the natural ability to absorb up to 30% of its own weight in moisture .While the core of the fibre is capable of absorbing up to 30% of its dry weight in moisture, the surface or fibres has a waxy coating that repels liquids. This surface layer is not easily removed by washing or processing. Water droplets on the surface of the cloth will bead and roll off instead of being absorbed into the fabric.
    No static electricity. Easy care
    Due to its ability of absorbing vapour, wool is little conductive.With no static electricity, wool does not attract dust. Stains are easy to remove as they are not quickly entering in the fabric.Wool is an easy care material, quick drying.
    Odour reduction
    Wool absorbs moisture, reducing sweat on the body, this in turn reduces the amount of resulting body odour, cause by sweat and its contact with any bacteria on the skin.
    A surprising property
    The absorption of water vapour by wool is accompanied by an important release of heat (about 650 calories per gram of absorbed water).The perspiration is absorbed by the wool fabric and the release of heat keeps the skin hot.
    Natural flame resistant
    Several factors in this structure are also responsible for wool's natural flame resistance. Specifically, compared with other common fibres, wool: has high ignition temperature (570 - 600 °C), has high limiting oxygen index (25 -26% ), has low heat of combustion and low heat release,has high nitrogen content (14%), has high moisture content, does not melt or drip, and forms a self-insulating char that prevents further flame spread.While most textile fibres are polymers containing mainly carbon and hydrogen that can burn easily, wool also contains high levels of nitrogen and sulphur. The concentration of oxygen required to support combustion of wool is higher than the ambient oxygen in air (21%). Therefore it is difficult to ignite wool, but once ignited, the flame spreads slowly and it is easy to extinguish.Wool produces less smoke and no toxic gases
    Cleaning air
    Wool’s complex cell structure provides a natural chemistry that will clean the air and keep it purified, especially concerning the adsorption of formaldehyde and others Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
    Felting
    The overlapping scales of the cuticle towards the outer tip of the fibre and they are an important factor in processing the felting. 
    Colour
    The natural colour of wool varies from white through gray, fawn, yellow and brown to black.
    Lustre
    The shape, the dimensions of the scales and the fact that they can be more or less jutting, determine the lustre or shine of the fibre.Merino fibres with jutting scales are dull.The angora goat fibres with less jutting scales look smooth and shiny. 
    Natural resource, biodegradable and environment friendly
    Wool grows on the back of the sheep all along the year.After shearing, it grows again.The wool textiles could be easily recycled.When it is no more useful the wool could slowly rotted and use as fertilizer of the soils.

     Part 2 Trend books and blog creation with Jeanne Goutelle

 


Jeanne Goutelle a colour, surface and material designer shared her global vision of interior design trends with us, talking about trendbooks, the presentation of a creative process between inspiration, creativity and design. She is working as a trend forecaster and showed us her trend researches process.

Forecasters starts with gathering a broad range of information to understand and analyse trends. They look at sociology, marketing, retail data; avant-gardists, street fashion to establish a map of what going on now in our societies. They are then trying to understand this information and understand what do they tell us. It’s now time to name them and regroup them onto a key-word or key-trend.
The main ability of a trend forecaster is to link an idea, words with colours and materials. They shape ideas to become attractive, practical and communicate them with visual elements. Those trends are used by companies for branding and visual communication or to coherent line of products.
In the second part of the presentation we have talked about the blog - which goal is to create a shared digital note book for all or us to collect information, inspirational photographs, drawings, materials, samples and new concepts.

Brainstorming / project design

At the end of the day 2 of the Master Class, the whole group has participated in discussion on association of crafts and design driven from 5 basic keywords that were defined by Jeanne Goutelle and Diana Brennan (1) Connection/Disconnection, (2) Protection/ Insulation, (3) Elementary design, (4) Balance, (5) Assembling.  – The young professionals in crafts and design were asked to design 5 projects under the 5 announced themes. Based on individual interests, all participants were divided into 5 groups and to work on the projects inspired by techniques and workshops of the master class.

Connection/Disconnection
Elementary design
Protection/ Insulation
Balance
Assembling





DAY 3 Feltmaking

Feltmaking workshop 

Here are some necessary tools and materials needed for felting: 
papier bulle, 1 serviette éponge, 3 gaze synthétique, 4 savon.

Step I

Creating a felt sample, 1st introduction to understand the felting process. 

Step II

Creating a Beret (flat hat)
- making the “non-sewing” : a continue (uninterrupted) layer of felt 
All the non-sewing creations come from the same technique found below : 
1 the « Chablon » of the berett ou ( the pattern which can be in fabric, soft plastic) pour un béret classique former un cercle de 30 CM – make a circle with a 30 centimeters diameter.
2 On a side, on the horizontal, spread the fibers out lightly connected to obtain an (homogeneous)  even layer. Let the fibers overlap one finger all around the pattern. Wet and flattern with the help of the bubble wrap. Turn the pattern over and pull over the fibers onto the pattern. Repeat the same process on this side.

Step III

Turn the beret over again and pull over the fibers onto the pattern. (on the vertical)

Step IV

Repeat this operation at least 2 or 3 times to obtain a beret sufficiently thick.

Step V 

Prefelting. When the sample is prefelted but not to much, on one side cut a circle of ten or eleven centimeters diameter.This would be the (head) opening of the beret and will geatly increase in size.Gently turn the beret inside out. The pattern should come off easily. When the pattern has come off, smooth out the edges by gently pulling. Press (foulonner), knead (malaxer), roll it from the left to the right. Turn the piece in every direction to avoid any bumps (imperfection) or creases. 

Finish felting 
You should obtain a firm (solid, strong) surface, beret. When you have finished, you should be able to stretch the beret using steam to fit the wearer.

Details
During the pre-felting process, you can add motifs, change the colours, add threads, etc…
Using this basic method, you can create unlimited shapes and designs. 

The samples
To obtain different layer effects (reliefs), put between two layers of felt, buttons, moss, …des effets graphiques.

Workshop "Structure of the wool channel around the notion of living the textile"

On day three Geraldine Cauchy and Krystel Chavigny came to speak to us about their association, Lainamac and introduce us to the structure of the wool channel in Massif Central and Limousin (French Region). The day was focused on the concept of ‘Live in Textile’ and stimulating innovation with wool through new applications/processes and new products. The morning began with an inspiring talk from Geraldine giving an overview of the work of the Lainamac – a network set up to link to wool professionals in Massif Central. She spoke to us about their project ‘Centre Promotion Innovation Habiter Laine’. Krystel Chavigny is a practising artisan from Massif Central - a very skilled feltmaker. Krystel led the practical workshop in feltmaking. Midmorning saw us teasing wool fibres apart and beginning to felt. We began by making sample squares in each wool: merino, texel and a local Massif Central wool; before moving on to a shaped form – a beret. The more advanced feltmakers experiemented developing their own forms. All experimented with colour and texture.

       Lainamac is based in the mountain region of Massif Central (France). CPIHL is a development project based on Wool in favour of artisan and industrial companies. It is dedicated to increasing the volume of activity of artisan and industrial companies, to promote the theme to inhabit textiles, to aid the emergence of new products and to attract new companies. Lainamac work with about 20 companies and associations who are all linked through wool. One of the difficulties that Lainamac hope to overcome, is that there is only one company in France capable of washing (scouring) raw wool. Lainamac is mainly funded through public money (Ministère de la Culture), and through a small income from its companies, by way of alowcost membership fee.


 WOOL IN THE HOME
The region has a diverse wool industry producing thread, insulation, mattresses, bedding, wall coverings and interior decoration. Wool is perfectly adapted for homeware design products because of its properties such as thermal, acoustic, nonpolluting, hygroscopic (humidity absorbing), comfort and aesthetic.

 CURRENT THEME OF RESEARCH
CPIHL creates also a platform of research to aid under-exploited processes (felt and woven interiors decoration) to find new applications and markets. One of their ideas is to use wool as a visible insulation material and acoustic regulator (as traditional insulation is usually hidden in the structure of the building)

 Example of the pre-felted product: CPIHL is working on a product which don't exists in France until now. It allow to build a collaboration between felt-makers and felt firms, using thin Merino wool. This research is the production of industrial pre-felt as a base for artisanal felt creation. This pre-felt fabric is created with needle.  It makes the felting process faster by jumping a step and allow the craftsman to be concentrated on the creative part of felting. To have an idea, it cost around 10 euro/m (1x2m).


CPIHL is also working on mobile acoustic panel as decorative acoustic regulator. This project assembled the knowledge of an interior designer and an acoustician. The application could be for open-space, offices, cantines, churches or theatre... places where acoustic is important.

Géraldine also presented us the work of a visual artist, called Guillaume Leblong who mades a sculpture-sofa, combining a work of industrial felt and colours. The idea was to create a surface made of felted layers with a play of colours. It promote the wool through a contemporary art network.

 "WOOL-COCOON" PROJECT
This is a project with "Gîtes de France", an organisation which rents tourist accomodation classified by categories. "wool-cocoon" is a new category, created first in the area of Massif Central, to promote wool in gites. The criteria are to provide wool bedding (mattress, pillow and blanket), create an ambiance of quality wool (curtains, carpets, table runner, bedside rug, wall hanging) and be well-informed on the subject of wool in order to promote it (wool properties, local artisans, sheep farms, wool events).
CPIHL, in order to develop this "experience-room", is being created a line of domestic wool products.

Lainamac is the Center of Promotion and Innovation Inhabit Wool (CPIHL), based in the mountain region of Massif Central (France). CPIHL is a development project based on Wool in favor of the artisanal and industrial companies. It is dedicated to artisans and industries in order to increase the volume of activity, to promote the theme inhabit textile, to aid the emergency of new products and to attract new companies.

Workshop story:


Today has been an intense and tiring day... we have been felting! For some of us it was the first time and others are professional felters, so it has been a great exchange of ideas and experiences. We have tried out different combinations of colors, textures and thicknesses.
It was great that we could see some samples from previous felt courses:




Here are some examples of produced work: 



On the felting class we were encouraged  to experiment with different techniques and create samples of our ideas. We worked with wool from the Massif Central in France, coloured Texel wool and also Merino from …. (so many times we have no clue about were the wool comes from! and how many kilometers it has travelled to get to us in the format wished to work on). We were also introduced the prefelt, a wool alredy prepared to start working on and make the felting process faster and easier.
It was an exchange, an individual working and a shared amusement with beginners, intermediate and some professional felters. 
The material we will need on a felting project is really little, just a few simple, cheap tools will help us and make the process faster and easier. Wool is the most important (as local as possible!); water, warm to start with and really hot at the end of the fulling; soap to alkaline and give smoothness to the  agitation; some bubble plastic; towel or sponge (in order not to drawn under all the water what will be used); bamboo mat; scissors… and maybe you’ll find around your workshop some more tools usefull….
Hidden objectes  in between the layers of felt,  worked into felt and cutted out at the end . Resists, to play and texture surfaces.
The felting process starts with layering the wool, crossing the fibers, depending on the wished thickness we will repeat the layering as many times as we want, then we will water all the wool, and start the agitation process, to get the felt really strong we will end up rolling the felt in the bamboo mat. We will be finish at the moment when the felt has lost his elasticity. The n we rinse and dry. And that’s it. Hats really to go!!
Some beautiful  sample, hats and experimentation were the result of this class.

Mattress Knot

Knot Making technique: 


As part of the Masterclass with Patrice Sébille in Wool Mattress Making among the many new techniques discovered was this very useful knot:




The knot will not come undone while the remainder of the thread is pulled with great force - as is needed in stitching the edges of the mattress. And what's really amazing is that the knot can actually be untied very easily by pulling the loops. This allows the beginning and the end of the thread to be tied together creating a continuous line of stitch around the top of the mattress - or form. The thread is a thick polyester.
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