Wool preparation part II

When I said  "wash the wool" –  I should have been clearer. It is really more just soaking it. One does not want to swish it around to much as it will felt and thenm of course be useless for anything.

Once I have a fleece washed – I need to card it. The traditional way is to use hand paddles and gently straighten out the fibers. I lack the patience for this and some time ago I bought a drum carder. What a great device for saving time. It is a boring process and some what tiring as I have to stand to use the carder. However it is so much easier than carding by hand I had a motor attached to the crank (Devin did it for me) and it was great until I burnt the motor out. One day I may buy a electric carder which would be even faster but in the meantime I will just keep on cranking away.

.I usually have “talking book” from the library on and so I have someone reading to me as I work away. It makes the process a little bit less painful.

The carding helps clean the fibers as well by getting rid of a fair amount of the vegetable matter. Because this year the two white fleeces are small, I will first card one fleece, then the other and finally I will blend them together in a final carding that will ensure that the wool is consistent. Hopefully this will ensure that the dye takes evenly.


When things are going well, I usually have some wool in the bucket bein washed and I am carding in the living room. At night - I hand pick/card what was washed that day. It all makes the house a mess.  It is sometimes embarrassing to look at my apartment. The tub in the bathroom is dirty, the floor is covered with bits and pieces of wool and in generally it smells of wet wool. Drifting around the living and dining room floors are small balls of wool that have somehow escaped from the bag. No matter how often I sweep, the house never looks clean.
It is a good thing I seldom have company!