This is not really a how to, more of a what I did next. The fibre I washed last week was nice and dry by the weekend, I decided that the washing had not been too much of a fail after all and to get on with making the fleecy pile into something I could spin with. The first technique on my list was combing.
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Since I am skint I found these in the local pound shop- £1 each. They are reasonably strong as well.
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I did try a comb/carder like thingy combo, but it was not overly successful (pictures may follow at some point). So the rest was done with just the two sided dog comb.
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First a lock was pulled off the fleecy mass
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Then combed, towards the tip first, then towards the cut end (the butt? giggles immaturely). The more tangly ones I used the wider teeth first then turned the comb over and gave it a go with the finer side.
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Then combed, towards the tip first, then towards the cut end (the butt? giggles immaturely
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Mmmmm, fluffy
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Mmmmmm, lots of fluffiness
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The locks came up beautifully fluffy, there was quite a bit of rubbishy stuff, mostly shorter hairs and the like that got binned.
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The main downside to combing it lock by lock is that it takes ages, I haven't weighed the box of fluff yet, but there will not be a lot in there. Next week I will be giving hand carders a go.
Mmmmm, fluffy
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Mmmmmm, lots of fluffiness
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The locks came up beautifully fluffy, there was quite a bit of rubbishy stuff, mostly shorter hairs and the like that got binned.
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The main downside to combing it lock by lock is that it takes ages, I haven't weighed the box of fluff yet, but there will not be a lot in there. Next week I will be giving hand carders a go.
Hand-prepping does take ages - but it can also be sort of relaxing. I've tried both combing and carding and have found I prefer carding. However, I'm also looking into getting a drum carder, because it takes ages to get even an ounce of carded fleece from the hand carders.
ReplyDeleteDoing everything by hand does seem to take forever but the reward when you finish and are wearing your new item is worth every bit.
ReplyDeleteI know people who will purposely comb out every lock. Argh! As a person who sells my product, I can't handle it. I want it done! But, if you can't afford a drum carder or hand carders then this is an option. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThis is how I prep fiber when I start with raw fleece, too. What a pain, but it's cheap, which I like!!!
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