So I have this lovely brown CVM fleece that is washed and flick carding was begun. I was flick carding with my hand cards and knew it wasn’t ideal, but I just wanted to know if I’d enjoy the process. I did enjoy the process, but the tools were cumbersome. At the festival, I picked up a flick carder, since I had just purchased another fleece. The proper tools for the job make a big difference.

I’d been contemplating getting a drum carder. I enjoy spinning from batts, and figured it would be faster than handcarding an entire fleece, but the prices I found online felt a bit out of my price range.  Then, at the festival, I came upon a guy hand making them and selling them for very cheap. I originally picked up his card in order to purchase later, but then got in a panic about the fleece, and decided to procure one right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t take debit cards and I didn’t bring my checkbook. He then told me I could just take one and he’d trust me to send the check. Who does that? Only in the midwest, I swear! I was very uncomfortable with this, as I didn’t want him to lose sleep over the concern of me sending a check. Fortunately my friend Tina was there and she did bring her checkbook, and since she was looking for a drum carder too, she just wrote him a check to cover both of them.

I now officially have the tools to do the job. And once I got started, I couldn’t stop! I spent an entire day on fleece processing yesterday, and this is what I have to show for it!

Over 12 oz of ready to spin wool thus far!