Wednesday, December 09, 2009

I'm having so much fun!

I'm up to my ears (almost literally) in fiber and I love it!

I put the new drumcarder to good use to blend some dyed wool top that I didn't much care for. It had red, blue, and Barbie pink splashes on a white background and was too bright for my taste. I just ran it through the carder a few times with a touch of angelina and here is the result.
I like it much better now.

I got a table top picker a while back. It's called a Lil Dynamo and is much less scary than traditional wool pickers. Here it is closed for storage.
When you're ready to use it you remove the big top piece, put your fiber into the left part of the box. This is some merino/silk top that is a bit felted and real bear to try to spin. I previously handcarded it with some BFL. I split the top and tore it into pieces to put in the picker.
Then you move the top piece back and forth to put the fiber through the sharp picker teeth (nails). The nails catch the fiber and gradually pull it to the right side of the box, separating and fluffing the fiber. Here it is partway through the process.
And after picking, at the right side of the box.
The next picture shows you what the fiber looked like before going through the picker (bottom) and, when done, the fluffy mass ready for the carder (top).

I need to finish a pair of socks for Dan's mom for Christmas and I'm having a tough time getting around to knitting them because it's more fun to do all this other fiber stuff.

3 comments:

Monika said...

Your finished batts look wonderful, and the whole process looks interesting.

Jody said...

That's why I don't do alot of carding. I end up spending the whole day at the carder and get nothing else done LOL!!
Right now I have to save my back for all the snowshoveling.

Mickey said...

Great looking batts. Such a change from the roving, and so much better looking.