Hand Carding Wool Locks For Spinning

Last evening there was a delightfully beautiful full moon. For those who don't realize it, there will be yet another full moon this month of May...May 31st, to be exact. When a second full moon occurs within the same month, it's often called a "Blue Moon." On Wikipedia I found out that, "According to certain folklore, it is said that when there is a blue moon, the moon has a face and talks to the items in its moonlight."

Over the years it's become clear that a full moon has a definite influence upon me. Usually on or near its appearance, you can find me walking into walls, poles, file cabinets, and other hard, inanimate objects. And then there's that moodiness that creeps into my body about then. Well, I have not physically escaped unscathed from the "Hare Moon," as this last full moon is called.

Last night I planted Nasturtium seeds in horizontal, window-style pots, knowing that the moon's effect on sown seeds is a favorable one. So far, so good. This morning, wearing my rubber gardening clogs and my nightgown, I brought the three planters outside, after they rested in the dye studio overnight, deciding I'd place them on the largest rock in my dye garden to catch the sun's rays. I had successfully positioned the first two pots, and when climbing up the side of the rocks holding the third, I decidedly slipped down to the ground, ALL the dirt of the planter flying into my face. My left arm is disgusting-looking...all scraped up, bleeding and generally gross. Well, I guess that could have happened to my face, too...so thank goodness for small favors. Note to self: The moon is sneaky. It can play tricks even after it has done it's thing in our hemisphere's night sky.

Hope you fared better under the influence of this moon. Does havoc wreak on you during full moons?

Have recently found out a new friend has launched her own blog and website. You've already had a glimpse of Lisa and her lovely spinning on the past post, Lisa - An Incredible New Spinner & Some Fiberish Questions Tackled. Now you can check out her great blog, String Theories. Don't forget to leave Lisa a friendly comment!! Her website, White Birch Fiber Arts, is currently under construction, but soon you'll be able to see it at White Birch Fiber Arts. Do keep checking back. Bravo, Lisa! Best of luck on your new ventures.

On last week's post I asked whether readers would enjoy a post devoted to hand carding. Several of you either e-mailed me personally or commented directly on the blog. Thank you so much for letting me know that hand carding is something you desired to see photos of and chat about. Believe me, you may get more than you bargained for below....! LOTS of photos AND chat!!!

ALL of the hand carding photos below were taken by a "guest" photographer...none other than our Leslie. Thank you, Leslie, for taking some really nice photos... and especially for your patience in putting up with my photographic demands. Yes Jenna, I AM A SERGEANT, after all. When I was going through all of the photos she took, I realized there were over 100! This brings me to the fact that we'll be only featuring simple, bare-bones-basic, hand carding today and perhaps the next few posts will continue with more hand carding intricacies...not difficult intricacies, mind you...just little tips that you can consider when holding cards and fiber in your own hands.

As always, what follows is one way of approaching hand carding...NOT the only way. And also, as always, your comments/questions/ideas are most welcome. Do you even like hand carding?
Do you hand card at all?

Hand carding is not an essential tool you MUST have as a spinner. When I first began spinning in the 1980's, if you spun it followed that then you must hand card. This oft-proclaimed sentiment is not actually true. There are plenty of spinners out and about in the world today who do not and perhaps have never hand carded and never will. These spinners may simply buy mostly commercially prepared fiber. They may be combers and not carders. They may have a drum carder and don't even own (or never use their own) hand carders. If you fit in the category of keeping hand carding out of your life, you are not wrong and do not need to feel guilty. You will not get scolded...at least not by me! You've simply made choices in your spinning life as we all do.

When I first began to learn hand carding, all I kept hearing from other spinners was how much they hated to do so. When exposed to this negativity, my general nature is to question, "Why?" At that point I didn't fully understand what hand carding could do for me...I just began my Don Quixote quest to figure out what hand carding was all about, how I could make it fun for me, and if something good happened on this journey...all the better.

For years and years the hand cards I used were an old pair of Clemes and Clemes, now out-of-business. It took nearly 10 years or so for those teeth to be broken in and they're still on the stiff side. Next week, when you see my personal swooping method, you'll see why I prefer flexible teeth. But do not lament if your hand carder's teeth are stiff...the bare-bones-basic method below will accomodate them.

In all the pics below, you'll see the carders I eventually graduated to...thanks to Rita. They are the Louet cotton carders, curved back. Yes, they are sold as cotton carders, but I use them for all of my wool carding, except for really, really coarse fibers, which I might not want to card anyways. Louet's cotton carders have long, thin, flexible teeth...completely broken in before you even put fiber on them. It is this flexibility that allows for ease of transfer. Ease of transfer from one carder to another AND ease of transfer to get the fiber released when you're done carding. I belong to the camp that feels that there are Louet cotton carders and then there are ALL THE REST. Thank you, Rita.

As for choosing curved back carders or flat back carders...I've been told that what you start with you end up liking and actually preferring. I'm personally not completely sold on this theory, but in the end, it's your choice. Next week, when you see my swooping technique, you'll see why curved back carders aid and abet effortless transfer. Now please don't go screaming that the spider said my flat carders are no good and I need to buy curved back carders. The bare-bones-basic carding technique will work just fine with curved or flat back carders.

Handles are an issue you'll need to consider for hand carding. Louet's handles fit wonderfully in my rather smallish hands. Clemes and Clemes were OK, too. As for others, I can't really say.
If you're purchasing the carders, see if they are comfortable to hold. If you're comfortable, chances are you'll be more inclined to use the tool.

Which brings me to weight of the hand carders. I do own a pair of hand carders (name of which will remain unmentioned) that were an early model of that particular company's hand carders.
I don't know their actual weight, but they're like holding bricks. Heavy bricks. And they have handles that do not sit flush up against the side of the wooden paddles. Instead, the handles sit partially on top of the back of the wooden paddles. There's just a whole lotta wood on those hand carders. They are miserable to use...by me, anyways. I keep them to remain humble and wouldn't want to inflict their pain on any other unsuspecting spinner.

I do come from the camp which marks and keeps my hand cards right and left. That which is marked right is always used in my right hand. That which is marked left is always used in my left hand. Some folks do not do this...I think because they feel that by not doing it the cards wear evenly. That actually may be so, depending on their carding technique. For me, the whole right and left thing works well with my usual techniques. In fact, I believe by keeping my right and left carder separate, my transferring of fibers is again, effortless. But remember, this is MY opinion...you go forward and form your own opinion. The correct method is that which works for YOU.

I pride myself in sharing quite a lot with folks. One thing I do not share are my hand cards.
They are meant for my hands and my techniques. If someone else uses them, I think my carders would cry. In any case, my carders would certainly have the chance to behave differently in my hands...and I love them just the way they are.

Time. One of the reasons I've found folks hate hand carding has to do with time. They moan that hand carding takes away precious time from spinning. They moan that it's slow. They moan that they don't get a good product. They moan and moan. Everyone can contemplate what time means to them personally. Some of us have more time than others to devote to spinning. It's perfectly acceptable, as mentioned before, to bypass hand carding altogether. But if you choose to hand card, why not have fun doing so? Here's my list of suggestions to make hand carding more enjoyable:

• Change your attitude and don't let hand carding compete with your spinning. Treat hand carding as an art in and of itself. A rolag can be a thing of beauty.

• Consider not hand carding when you're rushing. The art of the rolag/cigar takes time. A beautifully made rolag spins wonderfully well.

• Choose your hand carders wisely. Your comfort is essential. Personalize your carders if aesthetics are important to you: a nice wood finish, painting/woodburning/inking something special on the wooden paddles, etc. That way, you'll never have to worry that someone will mistake your hand cards for their's. I simply used permanent marker to inscribe my last name on my hand carders.
  

• Relax when carding. Watch for tenseness in your neck, shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers and overall body. If you're not comfortable, chances are you won't enjoy or choose hand carding. Keep your hand carding sessions on the short side (ie. no many-hours sessions, please.) STOP if anything in your body hurts. Try to assess why you are hurting. If you already have carpal tunnel syndrome or any other joint/ligament overuse issues...check with your doctor...you may NOT be a candidate for practicing hand carding.

• Consider NOT air carding. This is the term given to holding your hand cards up in the air when carding. That's a lot of weight to hold up, even if the hand cards are relatively light. If you do choose to air card, be sure your body is not hurting whilst doing so.

• An admission: I'm really not much of a social spinner. I'm a private spinner who enjoys solitude when spinning. If this description fits you, you may enjoy, as I do, hand carding in public (ie. guilds, get-togethers). Once you've got the techniques that work for you down, you can chat and hand card to your heart's content.

• I'm guessing YOU could add further helps to make hand carding fun and enjoyable. Readers?

The fiber I'm using is the 7-month growth, Coopworth wool locks that were rainbow dyed. See the past post, Clear & Brilliant Rainbow Dyeing, for info on the dyeing process. One BIG tip I can give you all is to make sure the fiber you put on the card is not a huge amount. No big gumps of fiber laying on top of the teeth, please. In fact, it's a good rule of thumb to put a layer of wool/fiber that still allows the teeth below it to remain seen...a translucent layer of fiber, so to speak.

Which brings me to length of fiber. In this case, I'm using locks of about 3-4 " or so. I personally do not like to go much longer than that for hand carding. In my early carding days, I would hand card fiber of any length. Next week, I'll show you why I prefer to card fibers on the shorter side and what I do to alter the fibers if they're too long for my purposes. That said, I really like carding fibers that are shorter than 3", too. See the past posts, Making Punis, and More on Punis, for how to deal with really short fibers.

These particular locks are multi-colored along the length of the lock...they were rainbow dyed after all. In the pics below, I am not aiming to retain keeping the colors separate...not that that would be necessarily easy in this case. Carding blends. Hand carding can be used to blend colors and/or fibers. In the bare-bones-basic method below, I'm simply carding the locks together, letting the colors within the length of each blend homogenize as a new color. In the next weeks, we'll look at keeping colors clear and more-or-less separate on the hand carder, if so desired.

One of the places that causes me trouble hand carding is the edge of teeth nearest to the handle. I find that if too much fiber builds up on that edge, a stubborn ridge of fiber is left in my rolag. In any case, I stay away from that edge right off the bat. As you can see, I let the fringe of the locks hang off the other edge of the carder. Note that the teeth on the carder are bent. The bend generally goes towards the handle. If you lay locks on, as pictured, the teeth's direction (opposite bend) will hold on the locks if you carefully lash them onto the carding cloth. If your fiber's lock formation is not apparent, take a handful and lash on similarly. Watch, however, that you don't put too much fiber onto the carder.

Note that the fibers are placed on the left card, in my case. You could place them on the right carder instead, if you so choose.

Leslie took this pic directly over my head. What you are looking at are the carders on my lap. No air carding, remember? When the teeth of each card are facing each other and the wooden paddles are parallel to each other, I generally call this, "Parallel Carding." Now you wouldn't try to brush tangles out of your child's hair by going directly to the root, would you? If you do, be prepared for a lot of screaming. In carding, begin at the fringe, just as you would begin to detangle hair at the ends, working towards the root. Catch the fibers with the carder that does not have the fibers caught in the teeth. In this case, I am using the right carder to brush the fibers on the left carder. Be sure you make a complete pass. In other words, don't stop brushing mid-stream and fold fibers over on themselves. If you fold fibers, the rolag you make will have tangles and ridges in it, making for non-effortless spinning at your wheel. You're looking to incorporate AIR into the fiber. You're looking to separate the fibers from each other's grip and tangles.

This shows the above, initial carding, mid-stream. Know that I will continue to brush free until the fibers do not link the two hand carders together. When you parallel card like this, you'll get fibers resting on both carders.

Here's another pass, this time beginning the brushing further up the left carder (kind of like working through the tangles of a head of hair, nearer to the scalp.)

More of the same.

Fibers on both carders.

Bare-bones-basic carding necessitates transferring...also called doffing...fibers from one of the carders back to the other carder so that carding can continue until all tangles are removed and brushing is complete. To doff, face the teeth of each carder towards each other, handles pointing towards the ceiling but tipped away slightly from each other. Lay the fringe of the fiber you want to remove onto the carding cloth of the other and drag the carder (with the fiber you want removed) downward along the teeth of the other carder. Decide which carder, right or left, you want to remove fiber from. Usually, I like to remove fiber from my right carder and place it with the fiber on the left. That way I can continue the brushing process with a clean, right carder. But there's no reason why you can't remove fiber from your left carder and have it join the fiber on the right carder. You can alternate this, as you go through the carding steps until you're satisfied that the fiber is well-carded. Usually I repeat these steps two or three times for regular carding.

Whereas PARALLEL CARDING (shown earlier) puts the fiber on both carders; DOFFING removes fiber from one surface of a carder and places it with the fiber on the other carder.

Fiber has been removed from the right carder and placed with the fiber on the left carder.

Here's something I do that's probably a bit weird. I use the back of the card to make sure the fiber are held in the teeth of the left fiber before continuing to brush/card. I suppose I could use my hands to do this, but then I'd have to set down the right carder each time. Folks have asked me if this wears out the back of my right carder, since teeth touch the wooden surface. I do it gently and have done so for years with no untoward consequences. Just thought I'd include this practice since I do do it!

Let's pretend I've carded the fiber to my liking and want to remove it completely from the grip of the teeth. In that case, I DOFF, just as explained above. But in addition, I do something I call seesawing. Seesawing is simply doffing gently from one card to the other and then back again until all fibers are sitting on top of the teeth, not embedded at all within the teeth.

Which brings me to the question of, "Should the teeth of my carders mesh at all in the carding process?" This is kind of a loaded question because I have seen rather heated discussions surrounding this topic, believe it or not. It's amazing what we spinners get all hot and bothered about! Anyways, I can speak for my own practice in using my Louet cotton carders: Yes, my hand carders teeth do mesh and yes, I don't see this as much of an issue one way or t'other. If your own carders work better for you when they don't mesh, then by all means continue what you're doing.

Continuation of seesawing.

Fiber sitting on top of teeth after seesawing.

When you roll the just-carded fibers down the carding cloth (in this case, handle pointing towards your stomach...making use of the bending teeth which will not grip the fiber, as opposed to when you originally lashed on fiber in the first place)...you are making what is called a rolag. Flat the "a" when pronouncing rolag and you'll sound like someone born in Detroit, like myself.

I like to roll my rolag, a la jelly-roll style, with my hands on the teeth bed. Some folks like to roll on the wooden back of the carder. Some folks use the carders themselves to roll the rolag on the back of the carder. When I'm rolling, I shore up the fibers with my hands on either side of the carding bed.

Continued rolling of a rolag.

Finishing up the rolling process.

I often take the rolag, separated completely from the teeth by now, and roll it gently a few times down the carder, in order to smooth out any stray fibers along the surface of the rolag.

A completed rolag. This preparation is usually spun from the end. You can use it with any of the drafting techniques explained in the past posts, Drafting Techniques For Handspinners, and Opinions On Drafting Techniques For Handspinners. Look further within those posts on drafting for a particular drafting technique where a rolag is, perhaps, the fiber prep of choice...for some, in any case.

OK, this is one helluva long post today, but I wanted to include those naturally dyed Silk Latte swatches I mentioned last week. The scoop: The Silk Latte shown above was solar dyed and naturally dyed in-the-fiber using madder, cochineal and a water softener. The fiber had been solar pre-mordanted with alum and cream of tartar. The singles were spun on my Lendrum, largest regular whorl, using a sliding supported point-of-contact backwards long draw...now there's a mouthful! The yarn was 2-plied from two bobbins on a tensioned lazy kate. The stockinette swatch was knitted with size 1 U.S. needles.

The basketweave swatch was knitted by holding the same 2-plied Silk Latte above along with a handspun, 2-plied yarn of Optim...whose fiber was dyed in the same bath the Silk Latte went into. More on Optim at a later date, if you'd like. Would you like? The swatch was knitted with size 3 U.S. needles. The singles of the Optim were spun on an Adam Mielke top whorl spindle and plied on a Lendrum, using the largest regular whorl. The singles were wound on bobbins and placed in a tensioned lazy kate for plying.


Last, but never least, is the youngest of the spider, Alexander. For several years he wore his hair short, gelled and spikey. He's now trying to grow it long. I've always LOVED long hair on guys, so am thrilled. However, as his thick hair grows, it plateaus for awhile in gawd-awful ways. One evening, after a shower, Alex walked out and I told him he looked like David Bowie, somewhere between 1970-1975. No pic on that unfortunately. Because his hair is heavy, it fell quickly and then I told him he looked like my brother, Bob, circa 1972. He put on shades for a total 1970's look and the rest is history. Grow hair grow....