Flick Carding; Alexander Graduates; Brooklyn Botanical Gardens; Knittacia; '08 Potato Planting

Pledging My Time

Well, early in the mornin'

'Til late at night
I got a poison headache
But I feel all right
I'm pledging my time to you
Hopin' you'll come through, too
~Bob Dylan

Yes, I'm a little late getting this post up. Yes, it's a little shorter than many of my other posts. Yes, the posts will definitely get even shorter each month as I delve further into BOOK work. Something tells me you'll understand. Thank you.

The above pic kicks off the spider's 2008 potato growing season. To my surprise and delight, a package came in the post that was laden with Kennebec potato seeds. It was a gift from that amazing couple, Tom and Diane Golding, who produce the beautiful and superbly crafted Golding Fiber Tools. Tom and Diane have apparently been following my potato-ey progress (or lack thereof) during the last two years, as documented on the blog in these past posts: You Say Potato -- I Say Potaaaahto and "Learn To Spin '07" At Harrisville Designs & Lynn's "The Purple Sock". Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Golding!! I'll do you proud (or my potatoes will, that is)!

Before I continue I'd like to point out my spiffy new hat. Chris bought it for me on a recent trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It's a real "Tilley!" Please believe me when I say that I've been hankering for a Tilley for many years. I was really excited to own such a cool hat. Anyways, when potato planting time came (the dandelions were up), I was a little reticent to wear my Tilley 'cause I didn't want to get it dirty (even tho' they're machine washable, for goodness sakes.) Chris responded by saying, "Waddya think your hat is...high fashion or something?" Well, yes...my type of high fashion...said from a woman who couldn't care less if her purse and shoes match. Later when we were on a walk together, me sporting my Tilley proudly, I asked him if my nose stuck out beyond the brim, worried that maybe I should slather on the sunscreen now that the sun was getting more intense. Chris answered, "Who you think your daddy is...Geppetto? Your ass is not Pinocchio!"

A few days later I was busy trying to wash planting pots in hot water in our kitchen sink. Chris got all distressed and said, "Can't you do this outdoors?" I responded, "But I need hot water to kill any icky, bacterial stuff from last year." Chris became more agitated and said, "It's...It's...It's uncivilized!" Poor Cancer-Sun-Chris who has to put up with my Sagittarius-Sun-Ass. I hauled hot water outside in a bucket to clean my pots. geesh.

Take a gander at how those potato babies are growing green and strong!

Speaking of stylish headgear...After I started getting swarmed by black flies as I got the potato beds ready (testament that the flies freakin LOVE the generous application of Llama-Llama-Pooh-Pooh added to the beds), I decided to wear a netted hat that friend and Lunar Lady, Leslie, gifted me last year. It's a bloody lifesaver...especially since I know I'm allergic to black fly bites. It kinda looks like I'm either in mourning or ready to drive in a convertible car during the Victorian era, eh? Well, better than the cauliflower ear I get when even one black fly takes a nibble.

This past Sunday was spent applauding our Alexander, youngest of the spider, as he graduated with an Associate's degree from Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His major is/was Media Arts. We are very proud and wish him well as he FINDS A JOB AND MOVES TO HIS OWN APARTMENT. Woo-double-hoo!


Alexander and his ever-loving Ma.

Hiccup. The above pic shows a very recent, one-dayer, NYC trip. While Chris and David, oldest of the spider, and drummer friend, Gary, rehearsed at David's apartment in Brooklyn for an upcoming gig at the University of the Streets in Manhattan (see website linked to Chris' name for the date and time of the gig)...I jumped on the Q and headed over to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for a day of bliss...all by my happy self. I've been to these gardens before, but never was able to catch the Spanish Bluebells in bloom. Let's just say this pic doesn't begin to show the utter loveliness of the woods ablaze with dainty, blue flowers.

Then there was this neat Chinese Witch Hazel that was smooged right up next to a wooden fence of the bark's same color.

And how could I resist showing you this fellow spider, hanging out in the Children's Garden?!

Hiccup again. Knittacia (on Ravelry), also known as Wenche and hailing from Norway, kindly sent me the above Norwegian wool to try spinning. Wenche said, "I know it is a blend of 50% spring shearing and 50% fall shearing (I believe shearing is the name you use…). It is from white Norwegian sheep, but I am not sure if it is all from the one breed or a mix of different breeds."

Pretty Wenche!!

Wenche spun the same wool in a most wonderful way!!

As for me, I have decided that the Norwegian wool is the much needed ingredient in my Silk Latte and qiviut blend (see past post, Spindle Spun & Plied Silk Latte and Qiviut For Knitted Lace ). I had been looking for a wool that was shortish of staple and had some "body" that would give substance to the too-drapey Silk Latte and qiviut blend. Now I hadn't decided that the original blend was "too drapey" until I pondered over it some months (I do not often make fast decisions...In fact, I don't do anything fast...ask my friends if you don't believe me...)

Here's a bit of info that Wenche wrote about herself that I found interesting and I know you will, too:
As for when I got started, I would say I have been doing most of it my whole life. When I grew up my mother did a lot of sewing and knitting, and I made her teach me. I was knitting and sewing when I was 5-6 years old. And I have always had an interest for crafts in general. In my early school years I was saying that I wanted to become a fashion designer, but for some reason that all changed. I thing the world thought that that was not the “right” choice to make. My knitting was always there, but when I got pregnant (2002) I started doing it a lot more than I had used to. I started to look at knitting blogs all over the world and that was where I read about American knitters getting into spinning. So I ordered myself a spindle and wool on Ebay in 2005. And because there was no shops where I could by spinning supplies in Norway, I started to plan and build my shop already in 2006. But because I was having health issues I did not open the shop until February this year. My grandmother that just recently passed away, also was an inspiration to me. She did a lot of knitting, sewing and crochet. It was all very pretty work she did, but the thing that she was most proud of, was sewing all the shirts for the Norwegian National costume - Bunad. They are mostly sewn by hand and there are lots of small details to sew with white tread on white shirt. She did more than 200 shirts and one of them is owned by the Norwegian Queen Sonja. This off course, meant so much for her. She also did a lot of spinning and weaving in her younger days. Living at a sheep-farm, that was something they all did. Even my father now knows how to use hand carders, how to spin, and how to set up a loom. My other grandmother that is still alive is doing a lot of knitting. It is exclusively socks and mittens. And they are almost always hand-felted. They really are pretty and very well made. My own mother does not do any crafts. She is a nurse and her work has caused pain in her arms and shoulders, and she had to stop knitting. But all my crafting has gotten her interested and she now have a spindle and just got an old spinning wheel that used to belong to her grandmother. I was hoping to get her into the crafts again. And I have a wish that she can start helping me with the shop. She has a very good eye for colors and design, and I was hoping she could start to dye. I am sure she could be very good at it.

Thank you, Wenche! Look for more on Norwegian wools in future blog posts.

Hiccup.

The spinning techie portion of this blog, featuring flick carding, was born when the following correspondence took place on Ravelry between Hope (hopetoknit on Ravelry) and myself (jennyspider on Ravelry):

Thank you, Jenny, for your understandable, detailed directions on how to hand card. I am a beginning spinner working my way through the first fleece, a Jacob sheep, and I hear “use flicker for long locks,” “use carders for short locks.” Now I can use the carders for the long locks too.

There is evidently a difference in outcome between the two tools, but I don’t see it at this point. Can you explain or point me somewhere?

Thank you.

Hope

Dear Hope,
Thank you for your kind words about the hand carding instructions on my blog. I'm glad my tappings have been of help to you. Flick carders and hand carders are two, very different tools, indeed. They do have some things in common: they have many metal tines set in carding cloth attached to a paddle of wood with a handle. The flick carder (smaller than hand cards) is used as a single paddle, often in conjunction with a sturdy pad of leather or canvas that's set on the lap. The hand carders are used as a pair of paddles together (each being bigger than a flick carder). The flick carder is generally used to open up fibers of a single lock at a time (if we're talking wool), whereas the hand carders are often used to open up and blend more than one lock (if we're talking wool) at a time. Flick carders aren't generally used for blending more than one fiber type or color together, but with all the spinners out there and their various, resulting techniques, I wouldn't be surprised if some folks have figured out how to use the flick carder for blending. Hand carders, however, are the wonderful tool of choice that can blend more than one fiber type and/or color together. Also, hand carders can be used to blend just one fiber type together in order to homogenize the individual fibers more fully. How homogenous the blend becomes depends on how much you card the fibers together.

I think the best advice I can give you, Hope, is to take everything you hear spouted as "rules" with a grain of salt. 'course, as a beginner one has to start somewhere. But keep an open mind and know that you'll read more than one way to do something. That said, a flicker can be used for shorter locks and hand carders can be used for longer locks (the opposite of what you heard, eh?!) I do agree tho'...it's easier to use hand cards with fibers under 5" (anything longer can always be cut!) and it's easier to use a flick carder with anything over 3". Please don't be dismayed by this, just go with the directions that make the most sense to you and know that there are no hard and fast rules for anything in spinning (except not to hurt your own body or equipment while working.)

Flick carding allows one to spin from a single lock or staple length of fiber. One can spin from the end of this opened-up lock, and depending on the spinning techniques used, can get a smoother yarn from this more parallel fiber prep. But one can also spin the opened-up lock from the fold, and depending on the spinning techniques used, can get an airier, perhaps more lofty yarn. That said, depending on the spinning techniques used, one can get an open, airy yarn from spinning from the end and a smoother, denser yarn from spinning from the fold (ie. the opposite of what I first said!)

Hand carding allows one to spin from a rolag (rolling the resulting batt down the carder) or a cigar (rolling the resulting batt across the carder) or from the corner or side of a batt, holding the handful of carded fibers as you spin. Depending on the spinning technique used, one can get any number of results in the finished yarn.

One thing to keep in mind, however...flick carding (whether used more as a brush or patted) does remove some/most or even all (depending on how aggressive you are) of the short fibers in the staple. Hand carding does not remove the short fibers, and thus blends short and long fibers together. Taking this a bit further, flick carding can removed some of the undesirable short bits (neps) or tangled longer fibers (noils). Hand carding, on the other hand, does a great job of blending the undesirable bits into the batt, whether you want them there or not! Therefore, my personal preferance is to gently dog rake locks prior to hand carding with a set of hand carders in order to remove anything that's undesirable.

Best wishes and happy carding...be it flick carded or hand carded or drum carded!!
Cheers, Jenny

Below you'll find a few photos that show two different ways to use a flick carder. The first set of pics demonstrate the flick carder with a brushing technique. The last set of pics demonstrate how to flick card with tapping motions.


A Canadian friend of mine, Monika, made this nifty cloth cover for my old Clemes and Clemes flick carder years ago. The lock I'll be demonstrating with is from a Romney named Monica, who resides with Alice Field, wool breeder extraordinare, in Lee, Massachusetts.

When I open the flick carder's cloth cover-up, it is the perfect doubled cloth in which to flick card on top of. You may like to use an old piece of leather or canvas to protect your tender legs from the flick carder's metal tines.

In the above pic, I'm about to firmly hold onto the butt end of the lock. Some people like to first put a twist in the middle of the lock. I generally do not do this, however. The main thing is to hold onto one side of the lock at a time, making sure you card the middle of the lock, as well. You could start by holding either the butt end or the tip end first...no matter...you'll have to card both sides eventually.

Eeesh. Don't look too closely at my filthy, raggedy nails. Them be potato-planting nails!

As mentioned a moment ago, the first technique I'm showing is how to use the flick carder with a brushing motion. You'll find out pretty quick what happens if you're not holding onto the lock firmly enough...

More brushing...

Consider turning over the lock to brush the other side for a more thorough job.

The tip side of the lock flick carded by using the brushing technique.

Now I'm ready to do the same to the butt end by holding the tip end firmly.

A flick carded lock!
Yes, the flick carder does remove some short and undesirable bits.

The above pic shows me again holding the butt end of a lock that hasn't been flick carded yet. I'm about to use the tapping technique that was developed in either New Zealand or Australia or...? Anyone have a definitive answer for this? Thanks.

The tapping technique involves...well, tapping. It's a purposeful up and down tap...no wishy-washy tapping going on here. As you hit downward, the fibers begin to separate from each other, helped to do so by static electricity.

You can't see the downward hit as an action shot in this pic, but do imagine it to be so. Tap, tap, tap!! Watch out that you don't tap your own hand!!!

A partially tapped lock.

A lock that's been tapped a few times. Note that I'll have to tap the butt end in order to open it up, too...just like how we did when we used the brushing technique.

Once a lock is flick carded...and I'm guessing you'll want to do several, if not a basketful, of these locks...you can spin the lock easily from the fold. Or...

You can spin the flick carded lock from the end. Note that it's actually my pinkie and ring fingers that are holding a tad more firmly on the lock in order to spin from it. My thumb, pointer and tall-man are only guiding the lock...not clamping down...because if they did clamp down, I wouldn't be spinning from the end of the lock easily. Remember...those fibers have to slip past each other in order for drafting to occur. And don't forget that when you're spinning from the end of the lock, you're spinning from the whole, average staple length. So it's up to you (using good driver control) to make sure the fibers slip past each other so that drafting can happen!

With Father's Day coming up in June, I thought you might like another of my "Dad" stories. This time, it features Chris, too...a fantastic Dad in his own right.

How 'bout A Guy Like That?

I dated various guys during my high school and college days. Here and there Dad would make comments about these boys and perhaps give a bit of advice, but generally he just left me to my own choices. According to Ma, I was just like Dad in his early, pre-marriage days, "burning a candle at both ends" by dating a few folks at one time and staying out until the wee hours of the morning...a sometimes tightrope walking activity.

One summer whilst living in a dorm at college, I was to go on a picnic with the team of Resident Assistants and Directors. I had been employed to keep watch on a floor of the dormitory where I resided and for my efforts was given my room and board plus $15 a month.
I asked Dad to bring down the picnic cooler as no one else had parents within driving distance who were willing to help.

All the R.A.'s were busy packing up the cars with food, blankets, frisbees and other fun stuff to use on a sunny day by the lake. It just so happened that a guy named Chris was also a fellow R.A. Dad knew I was dating a guy from South America at the time, but when Chris offered to help move the cooler from my Dad's car AND they shook hands...firm handshakes, I might add...Dad whispered, "Now how 'bout a guy like that? Good looking guy with a great smile and no-nonsense handshake?" I giggled and playfully told my Dad to mind his own business.

Turned out Dad knew what he was talking about. I married Chris, had two boys with him and we we'll be celebrating our 29th anniversary next January.

Won't you come with me, baby?
I'll take you where you wanna go
And if it don't work out
You'll be the first to know
I'm pledging my time to you
Hopin' you'll come through, too

Well, the room is so stuffy
I can hardly breathe
Ev'rybody's gone but me and you
And I can't be the last to leave
I'm pledging my time to you
Hopin' you'll come through, too
~"Pledging My Time" by Bob Dylan

'til next month... Wishing YOU a healthy potato crop...or a happy and healthy whatever-else-you-like-to-grow in your gardens.