The Creative Wool Process

As I sit here trying to get everything organized in anticipation of the KickStarter being funded I remember just how much time and energy it takes to prep your own wool. The spinning and knitting require half the time of prepping the wool. Thankfully, some of my sweaters will be from fleeces that my neighbor grew so there won't be quite so much to do with them.

To prep a fleece for spinning you first wash it and that video is here. Once washed then we dry, never work with a fleece that is the least bit damp or the fibers will stretch and tear when being carded. Now comes the HARDEST part. We comb or card our wool. If you want big man shoulders then get a career in hand carding.

It takes about ten minutes per fist full of wool, depending on how clean the fleece was. If the fleece was dirty then using a flicker brush is very helpful to remove VM (vegetable matter), which of course includes predigested VM (manure). It is a great busywork activity but not something you want to be doing much of if you are on a time crunch.

Once ALL of your wool is carded either woolen (carding paddles)  or worsted (carding combs), and it does have to be one OR the other because each technique creates a different loft for your yarn, you spin ALL of it at the same time. If you don't spin it all at the same time then very frequently your gauge on the yarn will be all over the place depending on your mood, seated position, and fatigue level when you came back to your spinning. If you do have to stop for a day or two make sure to examine your last spun length very carefully so that you can duplicate it rather than being larger or smaller.

My favorite spinning wheel is a Kromsky Symphony. This wheel does it all and especially does nice sock yarn. I love that is has so many ways to change tension rather than just one big knob. However, it is a lot of money so for beginners I recommend learning on a drop spindle before investing in a wheel. That way when you go to get one you can understand the language that the seller is using as far as gauge of your yarn, tention, loft, etc. This is my current favorite drop spindle, it is called a Turkish Spindle. The Navajo Spindle is for large, bulky yarn. Supported spindles are for very fine yarn.

Once you have a bobbin of yarn finished make sure to mark one end as the beginning before you put it on your niddy noddy. If you don't mark it you may start to wind your ball the wrong way when ready to knit and end up having clashing twist on alternating lengths of your project. It doesn't make the garment unwearable but it does make it much less polished.

When I am finally ready to knit my project I use double point bamboo needles for small projects in the round and an adjustable knitting kit for any large in

the round projects and flat projects. I think these kits are a God-send because instead of needing needles in every length and size I just increase or decrease from the same kit for every project. I have had my needles for almost twenty years now and they saved me a ton of money.