Woolcombing Part 4

[ADHUK]

Thanks for the nice comments, and glad you found the clips useful. I have had years of practice, but when I teach combing most people pick it up and become quite proficient fairly quickly

[lisascenic]

It's wonderful to watch someone with so much skill work. You make all of this look so smooth and easy, which is reassuring for a novice spinner like myself.

[oxnyxws]

Thank-you for the the wonder vids. I'm getting a set of combs from the Martin Hills who bought Peter Teal design for Christmas and I'm really happy to see such clear directions and demoing.

[ADHUK]

@oxnyxws

Glad you found them useful!

That's a smashing Christmas present - Happy combing!

[Cherizac]

Amanda, thank you so much for these videos! I purchased a set of combs several years ago, but have been completely intimidated by them and afraid to use them. Your clear instructions, excellent video, and soothing voice have made me so confident I'm going to try my hand at them tomorrow!

I do have one question though; are combs appropriate for alpaca? Or is carding more suitable? (I'm also intimidated by those!)

Thank you again for the lovely videos and instruction!

[ADHUK]

@Cherizac Pleased to hear I could be of help!

I did once manage to comb a very long suri alpaca fleece, the results on that were very good, haven't actually tried combing the Huayac.... oh well you know - the fluffier sort! It should work OK. You probably have to consider what you want the yarn for. Combing will take out all the short fibres and noils and give you a very smooth lustrous yarn, with alpaca unless it is spun very fine this could give a heavy yarn.

[ADHUK]

@Cherizac Carding on the other hand (providing your fibes aren't too long - they don't want to hang more than and inch or two over the front edge of the cards) will give you a lighter airy yarn, but it won't be as smooth and lustrous. The best advice is to try it both ways and see which you like the best, and which suits what you want to make from the yarn.

Hope this helps!

Amanda

[valcox]

wow, beautiful tutorial, thank you!

[ADHUK]

You're welcome - thanks for watching!

Amanda

[relussier]

Extremely informative, Thank you!

[ADHUK]

@relussier

You're welcome, glad you found it interesting!

Thanks for watching!

Amanda

[grannynurse17]

I just purchased a CVM and a cormo fleece. Both are quite greasy and I would love any advice to clean them without felting. I am very interested in combing and thought your video's were great. You are very talented

[ADHUK]

@grannynurse17

Hi,

Sorry to take so long to reply, when I was notifed originally of your message and tried to reply my message kept disapearing!

If you would like to send me your email address I can send back some washing instructions if that would still be of any help.

Amanda

[LynetteRhondaJones]

I loved the videos. I live in Australia, Perth, Western Australia, and I use English combs, but my fellow spinners regard me as an oddity. They use a dog comb or Ashford flick carder. People here do not know the English or Viking combs or the combing process. Odd, isn't it when Australia used to 'ride on the sheep's back'. Keep up the good work.

[ADHUK]

Hi Lynette,

Thanks for the comments! Hmm, know what you mean about being regarded as an oddity ;-)!

So, is the combing technique in Australia fairly similar then?

Amanda

[happycraft1]

never thought to use combs,i found it very interesting,now is there a easyer way to pick over the fleece? I spend hours siting doing it.

[ADHUK]

Hi,

For combing all you need to do to prepare the fleece after washing, is to pull out the individual locks. But if you want to pick open a fleece before carding it, a woolpicker is a great tool, I use the Kaydessa one. Havn't got a link handy, but I'm sure if you Google the name you'll find the details.

Thanks for watching!

Amanda

[kidsandewes]

Here is the web address for kaydessa's Lil Homestead.

woolpickers(dot)com

[EquiEndurance]

I'm very new to spinning - Thank you for all the very informative videos - Much appreciated.

[ADHUK]

Thanks for watching - glad you found it helpful.

I have one or two more video clips in the pipeline, hoping to get soom free time to work on them this summer!

[wendyshed]

What an excellent series of videos, Amanda.

I am sure that you will have helped many, either starting or, like me, returning to spinning after a long break.

Many thanks

Wendy

[ADHUK]

Thanks for watching - and pleased that you found them helpful!

I can't reach everyone with my classes, so this is the next best thing!

[JKenny782]

Why is it best to end up with half on each comb rather than all on one?

Very helpful videos, it's easy to see clearly what you're doing.

[ADHUK]

If you are just starting learning to comb, you will probably only have a small load on the combs, and can easily manage to pull the sliver off one comb in one go.

For larger loads it is easier to split the batch and leave half of the fibres on each comb ready to pull off. Also it is very difficult to get every last whisp of fibre to transfer, and if you pull a sliver from each comb you get those last whisps too!

Pleased that you found the clips helpful!

[chitchatt2006]

Thank you for making this video. I'm definitely going to be looking to see if you have more videos, too. Your video is the first place I've found that helps me understand how hand carded fleece might be turned into sliver. I'm so glad to see how you did it. I've only started spinning (with a top whorl drop spindle) and now I dream of learning to comb or card by hand. Maybe with your videos I can tackle it and make it work. Thanks again!

[ADHUK]

Hi, Pleased to hear that you found it useful!

For smaller hand combs using carded fleece can be helpful, but with the larger pad mounted combs you can work straight from washed fleece.

Amanda

[sashatorres7]

Thanks so much for this. I have some border leicester fleece dyed with cochineal that I want to comb. Now I have some idea how to go about it!

[ADHUK]

Glad you found it useful, thanks for watching!

Amanda

[countrypurl]

Thank you so much for your efforts. This is the best video I have seen on wool combing.

[gluttom]

Hi Amanda,

thanks for your videos!

Now I understand how to make it. Unfortunately the combs are rare (here in Germany) and too expensive for me. I hope I can get some used combs soon, because I washed the wool of 3 sheeps (only the good parts) and now I know that I enjoy spining with combed wool a lot more.

Sorry for the bad english, I hope you understand.

Greetings from Northern Germany

Märry

[marywareodc]

Thanks - all 4 videos brillant. Shows me I've been doing it wrong so now I'll have another go!

[Byrd968]

Just a few questions, the wool you are working with, have you washed it first, or is it in the grease? I raise angora for spinning, but I want to learn about wool, I know how to handle sheep - but i don't know how to process wool. I am learning about all the combing and carding and all the work that goes into it before spinning. where did you find your comb warmers?

[ADHUK]

Hi,

Ooh Angora, is that bunnies or goats? Lovely either way!

The fleece was washed and then re-oiled, before I started combing, with a neat's foot and water emulsion.

The vessel I use for warming the tines is an old electric jug kettle (I got a new one for the kitchen). It is the perfect shape, as it is just big enough to submerse the tines without getting the wooden head wet.

Hope this helps - if you have any further questions please get back to me!

Thanks - Bye for now

Amanda

[ADHUK]

Thanks for watching, and I'm pleased that you found it useful.

Bye for now!

Amanda

[BnD1602]

Thank you for your videos, I really learned alot.

[mileskatie]

Some of the best instructional video I've seen. Such a great teacher!

[spinalpaca]

Yes, I agree your voice is so soothing!! I cant wait to start. What fiber did you use?

[ADHUK]

Pleased to hear you are going to have a go!

The fleece I was using was a Blue Faced Leicester that I got from my local Wool Marketing Board Depot.

Thanks - Bye for now!

Amanda

[TheAgedCat]

This was marvelous! You're an excellent teacher, and the video quality is great. It's easy to see what you're doing through the entire thing.

Thank you so much for creating and posting this tutorial!

[ADHUK]

Pleased that you found it useful!!!!

Thanks - Bye for now!

Amanda

[njahunt60]

Thank you for a most informative video! Your voice is soothing to listen to. Very nice picture quality. I have learned more from your video than reading several books on the subject. Now I feel confident to start using my 4-pitch combs!

[ADHUK]

Hi,

Glad to have been of help. I really like YouTube, it is a great way to share info! Video clips are the next best thing to taking an actual class!

Thanks - Bye for now!

Amanda