Picker Power

I dropped in to the Guild Rooms earlier this week to pay for this year's spinning workshops. It was only a few days after I'd posted about my flicker and its capacity to do a little damage to my fingers. Would you believe, one of the women just happened to have the picker out. Here it is: Compared to this, the flicker is mild and sensitive! Those massive prongs are set onto a curved piece of timber which rocks to and fro from a pivot point at the top of the machine--like a cradle with big teeth! The bench at the front is where the operator sits and there is a timber guard to help keep your fingers away from the danger zone. That's important, believe me. The processed fleece is pushed out at the other end.

I've used the picker a few times and have dreams of owning a small version to use at home--when I have more room for spinning equipment . . . It's great for opening out a fleece which isn't in great shape. It also helps clear out dirt and vegetable matter. Another way I've used it is to roughly mix fleece of different colours. Apart from learning to keep my fingers away from those teeth, my other major learning was about the sheer muscle power needed to make it go. The only way this thing moves is if you push it, and after a while that becomes a significant effort.

Nothing so strenuous on my agenda today. I have fleece soaking which needs to be rinsed, and put out to dry, and I've been sitting in front of my fan knitting for an hour or so. I'm very much looking forward to the forecast cooler day tomorrow.

A Bit of Ouch for My Trouble

This little instrument of torture is my flicker: You can see it lying on a bed of white fluff--that's my reward for a couple of hours of effort with it. I am bearing a few wounds for my effort as well. Those little bent wires are quite sharp!

To use the flicker I have to hold a small amount of fleece in my left hand and flick at it with the brush held in the other hand. I have to hold the fleece fairly hard between my thumb and fingers. Inevitably the soft part of my thumb sometimes gets in the way. Did I mention those little wires are sharp! I don't want blood on my lovely fine white merino wool, so I'm taking a break before I start spinning. Then the challenge is to see how finely I can spin. I chose the flicker because it prepares the fibre quite well, even though it's a little torturous.

Simple Task, Simple Tools

This morning's task is to prepare and spin 20g of Corriedale fleece for my spinning folio. The fleece is all nice and clean. It's been sitting on my table waiting for my attention since our last class. All I have to do is comb it and spin it up. I started after my second cup of coffee this morning. Here's my effort so far: . . . and yes that is a dog comb you see with the nice clean fluffy fleece. The wide tooth metal comb is just right for opening up the fleece and getting rid of any bits of stuff--such as grass seeds--that shouldn't be there. Once the fleece is combed it will be a joy to spin.

Combing Wool for Worsted Spinning

The challenge and the satisfaction of the Spinning Course I'm doing at the Guild is that each session we concentrate--really concentrate--on just one technique. This weekend it was worsted spinning. That's spinning where the fibres are all lined up parallel to each other before being spun into a yarn. There are various ways of preparing the fibre, and all of them involve sharp objects. These are the worst:

English Wool Combs--they can do a bit of damage to your skin if you're not careful--so I treat them with respect. But they do marvelous things to fleece. This is how it looks when it comes off the combs:

It still has all it's crimp and character--you can see it came off a sheep recently--but it's lovely and even and airy and ready to go.

And here it is spun up into a small skein of worsted yarn:

This was a first sample, only about ten grams, to see how I went with it all. I'm happy that it's all working nicely, so now to do 20g for my folio.

Meanwhile I've begged a loan of the drop spindle for another month and it has become my constant companion. Thanks, Joy.