Getting the Fiber Ready

For several years I used to process my fibers from start to finish. This is time consuming and also consumes a lot of water. Since I moved a few years ago, I don't have access to enough water. I am on a well and its not a very deep one at that. However, the upside is that I have delicious water. *g*

So most of the fiber I use now has already been processed at a fiber mill. I did process a bit of my fiber and I'll tell you about that in another posting.

The first thing I need to do today is to divide all my fiber into four even piles. It makes it much more manageable. I’ve weighed out how much I have of each fiber and then divided it. Let’s see… ¼ of 13 ounces is? Who said that you don’t use fractions when you grow up? I must admit however, while in elementary school, I never really thought that I’d need to use fractions to separate my yak pile into equal parts *g*

Now my stash is all separated. I have found yet another use for those recycle bags. I just love those things. Nowadays, whenever I need to carry things or store things or move things, I reach for a recycle bag. It makes me feel so green. *g* Kermit was wrong when he said it wasn’t easy being green.

The next thing is to blend it altogether using my carding machine. I could use the hand carders, but my wrists are old and feeble, so it’s easier for me to use a machine called a drum carder. This is a Fricke Petite. It is called Fricke because that is the guy who first built/designed this particular model and Petite because it is the small one. A few years ago, Strauch bought the company from Fricke and now makes the same machine under his name.

Did I mention that a lot of spinning equipment is made by hand, one at a time, as opposed to factory assembly lined produced? Old Henry Ford had the right idea when it came to putting together automobiles, but it does not quite work that way for spinning equipment. You can read more about drum carders here http://www.strauchfiber.com/dc_petite.php . The picture there of the cat resting in the fiber is cute and oh, so true. There is something about a pile of soft, fluffy fiber that cats can’t resist. Case in point: here’s my little sweetie, Stanley, just enjoying herself to high heaven. Yes…Stanley is a girly-girl kitty. Long story. *g*



The wool here was from a project I did last year. I made the yarn from BFL (blue faced Leicester) and mohair and spun in a little bit of gold thread and made my sister a shawl, called a Chrysanthemum Shawl by Lily Chin.

I just noticed that in the picture on the right, along the bottom, just to the right of center, you can see the tip of my shoe. That also gives you an idea of how large the shawl is. I’ve made 3 of these and now I’m ready to try something else, although I do enjoy making pineapples *g*