# Carding help



## MoVikingSheep (Oct 12, 2013)

Hi everyone, I've been combing my Icelandic fleece with two pitch Viking combs. The fleece I've been working with is from last year's ram lamb. I've pulled the tog (coarse top coat) I could feel by hand, then combed. Of course there's a variation in staple length. The fibers next to the skin are very short, and the longest about 3 inches. After combing I put the fiber through my drum carder twice. I have a lumpy batt that resembles Ashford batts my local fiber and yarn store sells by the ounce. What I want is a smooth batt like I'd purchase from an indie artist. That's my goal. I'm using the batt I made to make a slub yarn, which is fine but not what I'm hoping for. I would love any ideas on how to get from lumpy to smooth.


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## rosalind (Oct 6, 2014)

Try putting it through a couple more times - rip the batt down the middle and run half through, then the other half, and repeat.

How long is the staple length of what you are carding - is it the 3" and under? That's pretty short and you may be asking a lot of your carder... Also, are you sure you've got all the seconds out? That will cause lumping.

I've found that with my carder, the longer the staple, the quicker I get smooth roving. My 8" Border Leicester only goes through once or twice. My CA Red and other short staple wool I have to do at least 3 times to get somewhat smooth.


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

Morning Mo! Have you tried using a diz to pull your fiber directly off your combs into a roving? This should give you a very smooth fiber to spin. I usually use my combs for longer fibers, combing 3" max length must be tough!


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Romy, are you saying that longer staple lengths are easier to card with good results than shorter ?
How long a staple length is too long for a drum carder ?


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## rosalind (Oct 6, 2014)

Each carder is a little different. With mine, longer staple works better. It's a coarser cloth. A fine cloth may work better for smaller staple wool.

I've been told that you don't want the staple length to be any longer than the width of your carder.

http://www.majacraft.co.nz/blog/?tag=drum-carding


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## MoVikingSheep (Oct 12, 2013)

Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for all the input and advice. For some reason the site isn't notifying me when there's a reply to a thread I subscribe to. I'll have to check my spam folder, yadda yadda. First, the fiber I pulled through the combs by hand has a staple length of about 4 to 5 inches. I pulled that fiber through the combs and then carded it. The batts are gorgeous. They are a kind of pale champagne color and they have a lot of sheen. I only had to pick out a few little nibs of short gumpy fiber I missed. What I was left with and what became the lumpy, ugly batt was very fine, almost angora like fiber that I just didn't want to "waste" with needle felting. This is the undercoat of my Icelandic sheep. I swear there's at least three levels of coarseness and softness and staple length. Books and shepherds say two layers, one thel or outer coat and tog, the soft inner coat. I think there's tog, which would make great rug fiber, soft wool that's 4-5 inch staple and the downy stuff I want to save because it's just so fine and cozy seeming. I have an Ashford Wild Carder. When I bought it I chose it because I was thinking I could use it for regular batts and art batts.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Forerunner said:


> Romy, are you saying that longer staple lengths are easier to card with good results than shorter ?
> How long a staple length is too long for a drum carder ?


Hey Forerunner!
That was Rosalind and not me with the carder. I am still in the dark ages here. I am using antique carding brushes now and have graduated to an 1880's spinning wheel (after my own repairs and combining two flyers). I can hand card even small fibers but prefer a few inches....long fibers are wonderful!


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

MoVikingSheep said:


> Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for all the input and advice. For some reason the site isn't notifying me when there's a reply to a thread I subscribe to. I'll have to check my spam folder, yadda yadda. First, the fiber I pulled through the combs by hand has a staple length of about 4 to 5 inches. I pulled that fiber through the combs and then carded it. The batts are gorgeous. They are a kind of pale champagne color and they have a lot of sheen. I only had to pick out a few little nibs of short gumpy fiber I missed. What I was left with and what became the lumpy, ugly batt was very fine, almost angora like fiber that I just didn't want to "waste" with needle felting. This is the undercoat of my Icelandic sheep. I swear there's at least three levels of coarseness and softness and staple length. Books and shepherds say two layers, one thel or outer coat and tog, the soft inner coat. I think there's tog, which would make great rug fiber, soft wool that's 4-5 inch staple and the downy stuff I want to save because it's just so fine and cozy seeming. I have an Ashford Wild Carder. When I bought it I chose it because I was thinking I could use it for regular batts and art batts.


When I spun up the two fleeces some months back of Icelandic, I pulled out long hairs and spun up mohair like yarn. Then I used the short fibers to spin up what is as soft as merino wool. It was wonderful to spin! It was easy to hand card. I don't have a drum carder so I can't answer that question. However if you have any further issues with the drum carder results, maybe try hand carding your lovely fiber!


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

Thanks for the update Moviking -I thought you were having problems with the combed fiber, not the "waste" from the combing. I couldn't imagine being able to transform that into a smooth batt. Would love to see some pics of your fiber, sounds lovely!


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