Drum carding with the Brother Drum Carder

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Back in January, I started a thorough search for a drum carder…I had massed a decent amount of fleece and really was not looking forward to hand carding it all. If you have ever looked for a drum carder for equipment you know that they do not come cheap, and do I ever drool at all the different kinds out there on the market. I have spent a small fortune on jewelry making equipment over the years, I can`t really justify $900+ for something that is at the moment, solely a hobby. So I started my search for a used one on ebay…and was I shocked to find one in the $300 range…brand new.

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Yep, Brother Drum Carders are a no-frills economic made in the USA drum carder. I ordered one straight away in January from their website (they also sell on Etsy & Ebay). I must say, I am impressed having zero expectation & zero experience with a drum carder. I’ve used it to blend roving/angelina fibers/silk, and also to process my own fleece that I have washed.

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It is hard work cranking that thing by hand…I do dream of a motorized one if I ever get busy enough to warrant it. And the medium coarse carding cloth I chose doesn’t work very well with my alpaca or angora rabbit fibers…I will have to buy a cloth with teeth appropriate for fine fibers for this (that does make me wonder if a more expensive model could handle all/most types of fleeces) but can I really complain at the price point? I simply feel very lucky to have this tool at my disposal at such an affordable price!

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Washing Raw Fleece…

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In the beginning, I was really leery of washing sheep wool. It seemed like a really time consuming (& potentially icky) task. But spinning roving started to bore me, I wanted more control over my creativity & I started to gain much respect for this wool fiber, the animal who gave it & the process from start to finish.

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I obtain my fleece from scouring fleece sales at various wool shows in the North-East. Although I get taken in by the wonderful alpaca fiber from time to time (which doesn’t need washing before spinning – which is a nice perk), I generally stick to the piles of passed over inexpensive bags of sheep fleece…the extra-dirty or not-so-well-known breeds. I don’t even entertain merino…it’s a lovely wool, but highly over-rated for experimentation purposes. 🙂

I add the fleece by the handfuls in my basket here in the laundry sink, that I had installed in my studio specifically for this purpose. I pick out as much VM (vegetable matter) or poo/manure tags  that I can from this stage…I can’t say that I have ever skirted any wool in the traditional fashion, maybe I *should* but I have never found I needed to at this point (or perhaps I am blissfully ignorant).

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After reading and trying out slightly different variations of washing fleece here is the method that I use:

Soak in hot, hot water with a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dish detergent for at least 3 hours – sometimes I even leave it to soak overnight if there is a lot of lanolin or dirt. I generally find this soak 3 times gets the majority of the dirt off. It is a really pleasant surprise to find a yellowish fleece is indeed a lovely white color after a couple good soaks in hot water & dish detergent!

I then soak it in the hottest water possible 3 times for about 30 min. each time. The last time I add 1/4 cup of vinegar to remove any remaining soap residue. I am careful to keep the temperature consistent while washing as, hot/cold water plus agitation will felt wool. I also do not manipulate the wool much, just gently push down into the water with rubber gloves.

The basket is fantastic as you need to drain the water several times – and I found when not using some sort of basket the fleece would just clog up the drain. These are old fixtures from a Zellers store that closed locally last summer. Bonus is that the square baskets have a lip for hanging on a display rack – and they fit perfectly onto the edge of my laundry tub when I want to lift it out to drain the water.

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The Zellers fixtures also make wonderful drying racks…in the summer, these move outdoors to dry naturally n the sun shine. 🙂

 

Studio Tour…

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I realized I had not shared photos of my studio space, since the renos last year. These photos were taken last January and (sadly) the space is still only 80% done, & the renos were complete *last* June. Nonetheless I am still really happy to have my own dedicated space to work in, even if the paint/trim is not completely done…

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This area of cabinets, I was going to make into a photography area…but it is right beside the sink, so it made an awesome drying area for fleece (I dry wool outside in the summer, these were taken in the winter). The racks are shelving from a local Zellers store that closed last summer – the fixtures were being sold for next to nothing.

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Here’s the sink – with some fleece ready to go for a soak. This used to be a utility room – so where the sink/cabinets are is where my washer & dryer used to be (now relocated to downstairs bathroom). Our contractor scratched his head as to why I’d want a laundry sink away from the washer & dryer. 🙂

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I love chalkboard paint! The sides of these old cabinets were uggg-ly! This paint came in handy in areas that were impossible to spruce up with regular paint…(not to mention fun!).

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You get a better view of the lazure painting I did in the space…my first attempt, not perfect but I do love the effect in the room overall…Oh, that painting is of me & my husband: we were dating at the time, done by Nova Scotia artist Richard Rudnicki.

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The utility room has already came equipped with many cabinets. We don’t use microwaves for food, but they sure come in handy for crafting. 😉 Oh yeah and best. bumper. sticker. ever. 🙂

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My drum carding area…it’s on a glass desk for now, not ideal – I have these sturdy wood flea market tables I think I will bring back into the space…it’s a pretty desk but I’m constantly concerned about damaging it…

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This is the inside of a cabinet where my carded batts & rovings live…it was pretty full at one time but now looks as empty as this since I have been spinning them…

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Several skeins of handspun yarn…this is what I would call my “good” stash…the stuff I am pretty much happy with, not sure if I should sell it or keep it…I have no idea what to price it as the fiber stuff is all new to me as far as the commerce side. Barter perhaps? Admittedly, I have a hard time letting go of it… 🙂 Anyway, I digress…they are organized in a retired shoe organizer. Works great (better than it did for shoes)!

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That picture there: on the right – my dear friend & mentor Aurore Henze painted of me/for me…I was amazed that it matched the color of the pillar perfectly…when I started out lazuring it, I did not have that color in mind at all, but since I didn’t like the first pass I covered it with a darker shade of purple…then I got this painting and wow…fate! 🙂

Missing from these photos are my jewelry & soap making cabinets…I’ll add them in another post…I’m hoping these will give others ideas as to what to do for their own creative space, no matter what the size or purpose…

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Cat vs. Fleece…

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If you think this pic is funny, wait until you see the second one… 😉

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The cats really like to zen out in my studio, but for some reason this particular day, this one decides to dive right into a couple of pounds of Icelandic sheep fleece I had laid out on my work table for processing. Zen, he was not. He went crazy: rolling in it, biting it, kicking it with his back legs while he held a large tuft of it…and then…

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…decided he needed to try to *groom* it all. Proceeded to try licking it…gagging insued!  Ah cats! Originally posted on my Facebook a few weeks ago, it got enough laughs I tried to upload it to icanhazcheezburger (lol cats) tonight…but my connection timed out. Oh well, I may try again later… 🙂

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Latest Textured (Art) Yarns…

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I am terribly behind on posts, and doubt I will bother to catch up. Earlier this year my hard drive failed and we have not yet had luck recovering the data…there is ways but very time consuming and for the self-employed parent time is limited. So I guess you can say I lost interest in blogging.  I’ve also lost faith in WordPress & will be switching most likely to Drupal hopefully this fall. It’s just been one thing after another, and I apologize for any inconsistencies or problems viewing this site.

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But to begin anew here are the latest yarns I have made. These were a total experiment but I love the end results. I took the first two art batts I made earlier this year & turned them into these two skeins of yarn. Here you see them freshly fulled and hanging outside to dry (I love this time of year!). I’m also washing my newest fleeces obtained at this year’s New Hampshire Wool show (below you see a bit of it peeking out, also drying in the fresh open air).

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Both skeins are bulky one plies with beads spun in. I love how fast bulky one ply yarn spins up, but am always afraid of an unbalanced yarn. These are not bad, as you can see they hang fairly straight. The one on the right was from an art batt I made & named “The Fog of War”. I don’t always name my projects, but if a name pops in my head right away I figure there is purpose there. I’ve had these wood beads kicking around forever – probably a closeout I bought from a wholesaler. They never made it into the “for jewelry” making pile, and I am so pleased to have them integrated into this yarn.

The second skein, “Pink Candy Crush” has tiny 4mm pale pink crackle (glass) beads spun within. I loved the effect of the smaller beads just as the large ones. Far more cute & subtle but it works for such a happy colored yarn.

“Fog of War” is a blend of many different wool leftovers…I call these kinds of batts/rovings wool confetti as it is very light, fluffy & airy with tiny pops of color within. “Pink candy crush” has merino, tunis & a purple wool of unknown breed (odds and ends again) along with banana fibers . Both also have angelina fibers for added sparkle. The beads are attached with a Habu stainless steel thread.

These were really fun to make & I’m already on my 3rd. Spinning is my zen. Jewelry making is exciting; new designs make my heart race, while spinning keeps me calm & happy no matter how sore my back may get. 😉

I know people have asked if I will be selling my yarns…I hope to add fiber product of some kind to the website by the end of the summer. I am having a hard time deciding how to price my yarns. I’m thinking of selling my yarns by barter exclusively rather than by exchange of money. I think that feels more fair to me…

Little Girl’s Necklaces

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Today I added charms to my girls’ necklaces, something that anyone can do with their order by browsing the add-ons section. I’m sure my girls don’t appreciate the fact that not all mommies have the charm stash that theirs does. So this is what they chose to add to their necklaces with their names engraved…

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A note about the Hello Kitty charm: this was a birthday gift for my oldest a couple years ago…I set the image in resin on the picture charm. For copyright reasons I do not offer this for sale. But if you have your own special image you would like to have made into a charm I’d love to talk to you about it! 🙂

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Fantastic Handcrafted Yarn Swift

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That’s a horrible picture of a fantastic product. I have wanted a yarn swift for quite some time, even before I was spinning my own yarn, but really cringed at the thought of buying those made in China umbrella ones for $50+…I also thought they’d take up quite a bit of space. So I was happy to find this table top yarn swift handcrafted in the USA by Knitting Notions in Nashville. I also could not believe it was only $55 and love that it comes apart for storage in its own bag. You can move the pegs up/down to get the right tension (so don’t go by my sloppy photo ;)).

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