Picking and carding Wool and Alpaca for Hand Spinning - Fiber Preparation Part 1

Fiber preparation for hand spinning - picking and carding

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• hand spinning

[Spin2Weave]

Thanks. I really enjoy teaching people to knit, spin, weave and do other things with fiber -

[laughinglark]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just started getting my first consistent-looking single after carding my fiber the way you showed here. I had been putting too much wool on and not carding long enough, of course. ;o)

[Spin2Weave]

@laughinglark Glad the video helped. I always harp at students when I teach because putting too much fiber on is the biggest problem they have. It does NOT speed things up. Good luck with the rest of the spinning. Ruthie

[Spin2Weave]

Depends on the fiber. For "clean" alpaca I often don't wash first unless I don't plan to use the fiber right away, then I wash the fleece before storage. For Wool, mohair and so forth I do wash first as the lanolin will gum things up. For dog hair depends on how clean it is to start. Most of the canine stuff I get is pretty clean, dogs bathed first. It's the lanolin you need to remove first to protect your equpment. Alpaca is usually just dusty - very dusty.

[Spin2Weave]

The big Patrick Green drum card is from Canada - you can google it. The Louet can be purchased from many dealers in the US. I love both of them. The Louet is very good with fine fibers like alpaca, dog, angora and mohair. It's also good for well picked coarser wools. The Super Card is excellent for most fibers but really needs care with heavier or very long wools.

I have arthritis so prefer my drum cards to hand cards - but use both. I also comb, but haven't had time to do a video.

[Spin2Weave]

Not sure what you mean by big brushes.  In the photos above I'm using cotton cards. These are made by several companies. Mine are "curved" back but they also come straight backed. Cotton cards are good for very fine fibers and while I used to have "wool cards", which were coarser, I gave both pair of those away and now just have the cotton cards.

Check online - Ashford, Clems and Clems, many others are out there. I've had these over 20 years so not up to date on newer ones. Good luck.

[teachmyown]

We love this! My daughter is sitting here with her hand cards and her pile of llama fiber, practicing along with your video.

[mikeysdreamgal]

Ruthie you are a good teacher and you spoke up, most videos I can't hear what is being said and I can't read lips lol.

[Pjbeauprejr]

@paulbaby3 it is ass cheeks XD

[paulbaby3]

your thumb nail looks like ass cheeks...

[karenbochinski]

Great job on the video!

[mblafay]

Awesome video, thanks. I am just learning to spin and already know I want to start with making my own batts and such. I wasn't sure how to hand card but your video was awesomely done, now I know I can do this, I don't *have* to go for broke with a drum carder right away.

[viltennes]

thanx very much, very interesting!

[engrgoddess]

I love your enthusiasm. Your video is much appreciated! Robin