Carding Fiber (By Drum Carder)

One reason I was inclined to seek out the spinner’s/weaver’s guild was their equipment rental policy for members. Of course, after visiting the monthly meetings, I discovered there was going to be much, much more to membership, but this past weekend, I took advantage of my first inclination.

I rented a drum carder.

I have some cleaned fleeces, and some even teased, from the summer needing to be carded. I have cleaned a couple more recently. It’s a little overwhelming to think about hand carding it all. I also have a whole lot of other stuff needing to be done and hand carding doesn't seem as appealing or necessary. And I also want to try my hand with one of those things.

Here is how it went.

Really fast! That’s how it went!

I took on the Strauch for fine wool, and it worked well for my purposes. I started with some rose grey alpaca already teased (which is the process after scouring and drying of pulling apart the locks, loosening any remaining veggie matter, etc).

In hardly anytime at all, I had myself carded alpaca. Done…and done!

Well, that was pretty sweet, I must say. So I went to work on the Jacob, deciding to blend the colors together with this fleece. Also documenting with photos.

Feeding the uptake…

Removing the batt…

Recarding the batt (which I did twice after the initial carding)…

I then rolled up the batts and weighed them. The alpaca lost very little, not having any lanolin. The Jacob I lost half its weight. This sort of documentation is valuable in the education it holds for me.

Anyway. Alpaca done. Jacob done. The CVM/Corriedale is up next. I have thought in the past that I surely coveted my own drum carder, but now have different thinking.

First, I will try the different ones the guild rents (there are 3, I think). And then…for the price I can rent one for a month? I am not sure I need to #1 make the investment myself, or #2 take up the space in my craft room to store one.

To Drum Card…

Or not to drum card? Perhaps the bigger question is whether or not to spend the money on a drum carder!

Last weekend, Wonderful Guy and I made our yearly trek south to Celestial Seasonings in Boulder to stock up on tea. And shop the gift shop. But mostly to shop for tea. There they sell EVERY flavor they carry. (DSis, there’s another thing we gave the kiss of death to by loving it…CS Emperor’s Choice Red Tea…) And for less.

So one big bag of mostly herbal tea , along with a few Christmas gifts, later, we left there, and I suggested that Wonderful Guy drop me at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins, and he could take in the local motorcycle shop. He was dubious, but I said I had some knitting to work on if he took too long. Besides, if the opportunity presented, I thought I might ask about drum carders.

Well, it didn’t seem promising. It was one busy Saturday at S3, and there really isn’t any place just to sit and knit. I saw lots of wheels and looms and supplies, but no drum carders. I wasn’t going to buy any yarn not on sale (not my nature!), but it’s a big place and largely unexplored by me, so I decided to just look around, then look at the books until the Guy returned.

Then who should come up to me and ask if I was looking for something but Maggie Casey. I swear. I have been in that store three times and she has been the one to help each time. (Read the story of her selling me Betsy the Flying Lendrum) So I tell her I am thinking about drum carders, and we chat a bit. I tell her I haven’t really seen one demonstrated. And that is all it took. She recommended to me one they do not sell at S3, but spent about 20 minutes showing/teaching/answering my questions. All the while knowing what I needed/wanted wasn’t what they sold!

She is a marvel.

And I bought some merino roving before I left there. Solely on principle.