Friday, May 4, 2012

TOOLS of the FIBER trade



I couldn't help myself.  After having the sheep sheared for their first time this spring, I had these 3 bags of wool (hee hee).  I came across a fiber shop website called; "The Woolery" (Paradise Fibers in Spokane is pretty cool too) and man, did I find some great stuff.  First things first, I picked up some hand carders, which I've recently found don't work great unless the wool is CLEAN.  I also picked up a "flicker brush" this is used to clean the carders getting between the fine teeth to clean out minor gunk.  And I picked up my first drop spindle.....Despite my good intentions I ended up sending off two thirds of the wool to be processed.  Once I started to skirt and pick the wool to prepare it for shipping, I realized there was much more to the process than what I was prepared for.  I must stay open to learning and I can't accomplish it all, especially in the first year.  I believe even the experts have potential to grow if they stay open to doing so.   (But, I still want more stuff like wool combs and colorful dyes!)  I'll tackle it all eventually.  My objectives are to learn how to wash and dye the wool, plying, perfect spinning, and felt.  I'd even like to learn to shear......

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