A love of yarn will often lead to a love of spinning your own yarn, and thus a love of the fluffy fibers used to do so. As fiber lovers become more experienced and knowledgeable about the wools and silks and synthetic fibers they spin with, they start to become interested in the process of making those fibers ready for spinning.
There are different kinds of preparations for spinning fibers, including combed top and carded batts or rolags. Rolags, specifically, are created by processing the fibers on hand carders. While hand carders are among the least expensive of the different fiber preparation tools, the cost can still be a bit much for someone just getting started on learning fiber prep.
A great low-cost option that can give you similar smaller scale results is a pair of slicker dog brushes. The metal wire teeth of slicker brushes are similar to those of hand carders, and the smaller size is easier to work with when getting used to the motion of hand carding.
Fibers to Card
The most commonly used fiber for spinning is sheep's wool. There are so many breeds and varieties of wool available to choose from that there is never a shortage of new fibers for spinners and processors to experiment with. Some popular varieties of wool to learn with are Rambouliette, Romney, Corriedale and Merino. These breeds of wool are finer than some of of the more coarse breeds, making them a great option for next-to-skin garments. These wools card up nicely and blend well with other fiber types, such as silk, bamboo or Tencel.
Getting Started
Since dog brushes are very small in comparison to full sized hand carders, you will only be able to process small amounts of fiber at a time. While this can be inconvenient when you are trying to process a large amount of fiber, the small amount makes it less likely that a bad batch of fiber will ruin your entire stash.
Start with raw wool fleece that had been washed well and separate the individual locks by pulling them from the mass of fleece. Scrape the brittle tips from each lock with your thumb and forefinger, then open the locks with your fingers by pulling them apart sideways. You will have a small handful of fluffy wool.
Start Carding the Locks
Place some locks on one of the dog brushes by brushing the handful of wool over the metal teeth. Pull from the base of the brush at the handle toward the top of the brush. You will only need to pass over the teeth once or twice, as you do not want to pack on too much wool. Holding the loaded brush in one hand with the brush end down, gently pass the empty brush over the wool with the teeth of the brushes barely coming in contact with each other. Do not mesh the teeth of the brushes together. Play it by ear; if you hear the metal teeth scraping against each other, you are pushing too hard. You will hear a gentle brushing sound when you are carding just right.
The IndianNetZone article on fiber carding describes the best way to tell if you are catching too much or too little fiber on the brush acting as the "working carder." The tutorial states that if you have a hard time pulling the brushes apart, you have likely caught too much fiber on the brush. If the brush gives you little resistance, you may not have caught enough fiber on the working brush, which will cause the carding process to take a long time for thorough results.
Transferring and Continuing to Card
Once you have made several passes over the wool, you will have approximately half of the wool on one brush and half on the other. Now you need to transfer the wool to one brush. Hold the brushes with the handles down and the teeth facing the same direction. Place the top of one of the brushes at the bottom of the bristle area of the other. Turn the bottom brush so that the bristles of both brushes touch and mesh the teeth of the first couple of rows. Gently roll the brush while pulling it down to transfer the wool onto the other brush.
This process is well-illustrated in the Spinning Forth's Youtube tutorial. The video demonstrates transferring on hand carders, but the process is the same for dog brushes. You can also gently pull the fiber off of one of the brushes with your hands, as noted in the Planet Green Fiber Carding tutorial. Once the wool is transferred, begin carding it again. Repeat the transfer and card process two or three times, or until the wool is reasonably straight.
Removing the Carded Wool and Rolling a Rolag
Once you have carded the wool the desired amount, you need to remove it from the brushes. Do this by transferring all the wool to one brush, then repeating the transferring process to move the mass to the other brush. The wool will sit on top of the bristles rather than being between the teeth. You can then pick up the mass of wool and place it on your thigh. Roll the wool into a cigar-shaped tube, starting with the thicker end. The result is a fluffy woolen tube that is just longer than the width of your palm.
Rolags are great for woolen style, or long-draw, spinning because of the light and airy quality to the processed wool. You can pull the finished rolags into roving by gently drafting the fibers into a long strip.
Sources:
The Spinning Forth: Hand Carding Tutorial
Planet Green: How to Card Fiber
IndianNetZone Textiles: Carding
Elizabeth Beckwith - My name is Liz Beckwith, and I am a freelance writer. I am a certified paralegal, but I currently stay home with my 2 young kids. I have ...
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