Mom and i recieved a drum carder from another family member. it's pretty old-school, and for medium/coarse carding... but SO SO much a step up from hand carding everything!
We also took advantage of a local arts studio selling off unused items, and picked up a picker (that'd be a super-scary tool that picks open the wool and lets the bits of vegetable matter fall out) and..... (drum roll..)
my new toy!
 |
| spinning wheel! |
 |
| originally made in Winnipeg! |
okay. it's not new... in fact, it's 20-30 years old. and it was in need of a lot of love when we picked it up. we'd been told it had been in storage for at least ten years. It showed.
after lots of tightening of bolts and screws, about a half cup of lemon oil, some machine oil, and a new belt, it's now running pretty nicely...
 |
| a very full plied bobbin... |
been crocheting up a storm. some of my recent FO's:
 |
| my dapper little gentleman |
 |
| stocking from a KAL/CAL |
 |
| warm neckwarmer |
suint fermentation wool process similar to detergent washed wool.... still has a spicy/earthy smell when dry... and probably smells a bit like sheep when wet. overall, seems like a decent way to process. next year, i plan on having a number of fermentation tubs set up to process the wool (um... about 6 fleeces) sitting in my porch. then, i get to spin it all! (whee!)
Don't you mean five fleeces, dear? ;-)
ReplyDelete*walks out to porch, counts bags and boxes* nope... actual count is 7.. plus one almost finished processing
ReplyDeleteOhhh, here's the fibery stuff! Thanks for telling about the wool washing. That is interesting news. Maybe I will try it sometime when I can keep track of a big project...
ReplyDeleteI am deeply envious of the picker. I've wanted one but they are pricey! (have a drum carder, but it is a small one, so processing is slow around here...I send a lot of wool off to be processed as a result.) Glad to see you have fixed up a Ram Spinner...gorgeous yarn. Hope you're having fun!
the ferment-processed wool still has a moderate ammount of lanolin, but that doesn't seem a problem, in part as i'm mostly making outerwear out of the finished product. :)
ReplyDeletei won't tell you how little i paid for the picker... lets just say it was a steal of a deal compared to new price.
thanks for replying, and i hope all is well in your house!