comparing wool combs day 4

day 4 of tour de fleece 2009
650 grams combed total
544 grams sliver (106 grams waste not pictured)

As usual, coke can for scale :)

The foam boxes my slivers usually hang out in were overfull twice over, so I'm storing the little nests in the cleaner's supply bags as they wait to be spun. Their tops are folded over to give you an idea of the color and variation in the fleece outside the plastic but are pretty much full to the top. I stored the original washed locks in one of these bags and it wasn't even halfway full, lots of air in the little bits! :)

I used my handheld 2 pitch combs all day yesterday like on day 3, hitting 13% waste yet again. Looking at my numbers above it seems I've averaged ~16% in waste fibers over combing the entire fleece, not bad at all. I went ahead and used one bag for the slivers I dizzed from the English combs and one for the slivers from the Vikings; I'll definitely be looking for differences in spinning them but mainly it's to try and break up any possible color banding/striping as I spin. If I can alternate or spin odd lengths I'm hoping to break any repeating color effect the finished yarn may have-- I'm also going to be spinning a 3-ply which will help as well.

I can't see any differences in the sliver from the different sets of combs by eye. There is definitely a weight difference-- I randomly pulled 6 nests from each bag and weighed them, 22 grams for the 2-pitch and 34 for the 4-pitch. It doesn't sound like a lot until you start thinking about that difference over a whole fleece's worth of fiber (and that you'll expend similar amounts of energy for each combful, assuming each took the same number of passes before a spinnable sliver was formed.) Also keep in mind that the sliver from 2-pitch combs is not going to give you a "true worsted" spinning experience if it's important to you (all lengths in your sliver will not be the same as they will with higher pitch combs), but for me that's not a big deal since I default to Paula Simmons' draft against twist/spinning for softness and speed spinning anyways.

I still don't have a preference for either/or, I think they both will have a happy place in my tool stash for a long time coming. I wanted to share comparison pics of the difference in size/tine spacing and circumference, just because I like these forest-thru-the-trees images :) I also am including comparison pics of the Valkyrie Standard combs, also no longer in production.


craftsmith 4-pitch "fine" English combs


valkyrie 2-pitch "standard" Viking combs


valkyrie 2-pitch "fine/mini" Viking combs

Note that the Valkyrie standard set has the largest diameter tines of all 3-- where the Craftsmith and Valkyrie minis are much closer in terms of tine size. There's also the issue of how those tines are spaced, not only next to one another in the row but how far the subsequent rows are spaced as well.


valkyrie standard (left) and mini


craftsmith 4-pitch fine (left) and valkyrie standard


craftsmith 4-pitch fine (left) and valkyrie mini

The rule of thumb is going to be the finer the tines and the more they're spaced together, the more appropriate they are for finer fleeces. (Think of the more teeth per sq inch in carding cloth/finer fibers rule, same idea.) The larger, wider set tines of the Valkyrie standard set (or other "standard" Viking sets) will be optimal for coarser fleeces... or other applications like blending, pre-combing, etc. I'll definitely be trying the standard set on some (more!) new fleeces... but that's enough for tonite :) I need to get spinning!

Miss you.

combing fleece on handheld valkyrie vikings, day 3

day 3 of tour de fleece 2009
514 grams combed total
426 grams sliver (88 grams waste not pictured)

Yesterday I spent my Tour de Fleece time combing fleece (again), but this time on my new-to-me set of Valkyrie handheld 2-pitch Viking combs instead of the Craftsmith 4-pitch fine English set. I swapped for the Valkyries on the Ravelry Spin or Dye swapping board (along with a bunch of other stuff I should show you sometime, super awesome forum for spinners, dyers, and raw fleece junkies) for some of my unloved stash and I'm glad I did.

Don't get me wrong, I love my big combs! For a while now though, I've wanted to be able to sit and comb. It sounds silly, but the first day of TdF I stopped combing for the day not because of time or upper body fatigue, but because my legs were starting to hurt. I'm not used to standing in one place for a long time at this point in my life, and the time does take a toll when trying to comb for volume and not just the day's spinning.

So yesterday was all about the Valkyrie handhelds... their "mini" size. Valkyrie isn't making these anymore but sometimes you can find them used (their tines are not stainless, be sure to ask on their condition if you find a set.) They are great, solid tools. I also swapped for the "pad" that holds the combs so you can pull off the sliver with both hands, or I suppose use it more as a fixed station to swing at like a large set. The appeal for me with these was to be able to use them freehand so I use it to be able to pull sliver off more easily.


(sunlight's giving the fleece a gorgeous, not true color)

I've been weighing my waste fibers and finished sliver as I've gone along on the TdF challenge, more for curiosity than anything (I didn't plan on using the Valkyries for combing to compare.) It is worth noting though that yesterday I hit 13% waste using the handheld 2-pitch versus the ~20% when using the 4-pitch English. It makes sense, more tines catching more waste. The fleece is also a shorter staple than probably optimal for the English set (3").

I also was using one less pass on the Viking set than the English (3 vs 4)-- since I use the English as a "fixed comb" (the stationary comb never leaves its pad), I need to pass fiber by a multiple of two (taking off, putting on) before dizzing off. With the Vikings as handhelds, I keep the stationary comb in my left hand and the working comb in my right, transferring fiber from left to right. Once I'm ready, I just switch hands (the full fiber comb goes to the left, the empty/now-working comb to the right) so I can transfer fiber in any number of passes before I decide to diz off.


gvpencheff diz and one of my dining table chairs

It is nice, being able to comb anywhere I like. Here I'm set up on the couch, watching star wars with the kid and making sliver with the Valkyrie pad attached to a chair. Tonite I'm combing at my desk watching Hulu :) I think I'll be done with TdF combing tonite!!

I like both sets, English and Viking. (Really!) I think a truer test as far as waste production goes should be made using a slightly longer stapled fleece-- I think my numbers were higher than normal on the English because of the short staple. (I also did not plank on either set.) There is also the body tradeoff... I found standing for several (several!) hours with the English set to be tiring on my legs, but I never feel tired in arms or upper body since I let gravity do most of the work. With the handhelds I could feel my arms and hands get tired just from repetition and grip, not as much a strength issue. Keep in mind I'm also trying to power thru combing to get to spinning for the Tour; I'm not doing it to the point of exhaustion but it is probably more than I'd usually do any other time. I do get more volume off of the big combs with less effort (fewer passes for weight combed, etc.), but it becomes a cointoss with everything else considered.

The make of the handheld Valkyrie combs overall is very nice. Like I said the Valkyries are no longer in production, but the new sets designed by Robin Russo and manufactured by her husband Pat under the name "St. Blaise" are very similar and in several ways nicer (the pad can be used for storage/hackling across, finished cherry wood as opposed to unfinished, commercially available now etc.) You can order St. Blaise combs from your favorite fiber pusher; I just was drooling over a set at Verb (they'll ship if you're not local.)

Off to finish my tiny pile of locks and oil up the wheel for spinning tomorrow. Yay!

handcombing wool two and natural dyeing 1(01)

day 2 of tour de fleece 2009
362 grams combed total
294 grams sliver (68 grams waste not pictured)

I had to start putting the sliver in cleaner's supply bags since my foam boxes couldn't hold any more after this picture :) (meghan, these are the boxes i was telling you about from a while back!)

Not a bad showing, especially since Sunday was my last installment of the 3 week "Natural Dyeing 101" class I've been attending at Verb for Keeping Warm's Workshop in Berkeley. In the two previous weeks, Kristine had taken us thru mordanting...



...dyeing and dyestuffs...



...and yesterday was washing all of the beautiful BFL we had created.



I knew how intense the setup and work involved in natural dyeing was, but didn't body-know it. It really did take us three weeks to get from white wool to color, which is just crazytalk to me when I think about dyeing with acid dyes and being said and done in a matter of days (drying time occupying most of that).

I'm glad to have taken the class-- Kristine is an excellent teacher who fielded our questions like no book ever could. I know she'll offer the class again in the fall (after the cakewalks of vending at sock summit and soar :))... and it'll be a prereq to further classes such as cochineal, natural dyegardens, and indigo (lovely indigo discussion on anne's blog here today) that I'm already looking forward to.

For me, I was mainly interested in natural dyeing as it would apply to dyeing fleece... it really has gotten out of control here again fleecewise and for some reason, dyeing fleece would make it somehow more acceptable to have a wall of fleece come avalanching down in my closet as a regular occurance. Anyhow, I was able to take away enough information about natural dyeing to actively start daydreaming about how some of these colors would look over fleeces washed in lock formation, naturally colored and no...



Back to combing :)

handcombing wool, day one

day 1 of tour de fleece 2009
170 grams combed total
134 grams sliver, 36 grams waste

Have to admit, kind of pales when I already see others' finished yarns and full bobbins :) I do enjoy seeing the brown overtake the grey of the half-colored fleece, though it's a little less in different lights and makes me realize I was right... I have too few grey colored fleeces in the stash.

Sarah aK: (a) teleknitter helped me on that one, recently...


"Florence," CVM from teleknitter yarn farms

No, I can't believe the crimp either :) Flo's already been washed up and stored waiting for inspiration to strike; she's actually half a fleece, around 2.2# raw and ishouldhaveweighedherscouredbutobviouslylessthanthat and even less once I'm done combing :)

Combing for the tour is going to be a good way for me not only to work on building up more muscle memory with the combs, but also to be able to track where I'm hitting re: waste fiber. Velveeta is a shortish stapled fleece, 3"... so I'll see more than if she were longer and less likely to get caught in the tines. She is also a lamb's fleece so I'm getting the lamb tips in with the waste as well, but 20% loss isn't too bad. I'd like to get it lower but I also admit I'm working more for speed than cleanliness with the deadline ahead.

I am also still deciding on how much to comb prior to spinning. Yvonne only calls for a little under 1300 yards over 13 ounces, and I'm pretty sure I read Julie say that she didn't use all of the 3rd skein when knitting her sample. I don't mind combing, and part of me thinks I should just get it all done so I don't have to go back and stop to comb if I run out while spinning... but another just wants to get in front of the wheel right about now.

We'll see :) Off to finish more prep before my day is thru :)

differences in carding and combing romeldale fleece

This was going to be part of my last post, but it got way too long! If you hadn't seen it, I took this wonderful Romeldale fleece from Peeper Hollow Farm...


(actual photo of Hartley the sheep whose fleece is in the bag!)

...separated it into pieces and scoured it, intending to handcard the fleece for spinning into a heathery grey. I was hoping the handcards would leave me with a evenly colored, airy, squishy yarn to take advantage of the crimpy life in the fleece-- but I had a lot of problems with evenness and bumps. After a few rolags on the handcards I decided to comb a sample on the big combs, and unfortunately both cards and combs weren't quite right. I did find the difference between the preps interesting though and figured it's always fun to share :)


Rolag from handcards pulled into roving, left; sliver pulled off of combs, right

It's easy to see how clean the sliver is on the right with all of the waste fibers removed-- it's also easy to see the "jumbly" nature of handcarded fibers (along with shorter and longer bits and bumps) as well. I prefer a smoother fiber prep (using combs)-- but combs aren't always going to produce exactly what you want, either.



Notice how the sliver gets darker towards the center? The Romeldale staples were grey and white... apparently, the whiter fibers in the fleece were longer than the grey and pulled off the combs first. Even after I planked and relashed the straightening combing back on for additional combing, the fibers again pulled off white to dark.

I try not to buy variegated fleeces as it is hard to keep the colors consistent on the combs, but since the Romeldale staples were half white, half grey I didn't think I'd have that problem. Wrong ;)

So I ended up with a few rolag-to-rovings and a spectrum shaded sliver (five times fast!)... for fun I spun each on a spindle and navajo plied, just to keep the color gradation intact.



It's easy to see the difference-- the carded prep on the left is less smooth, has more bumps and neps where the combed prep on the right spun very evenly and at a finer weight (same spindle). Usually when spinning I would try and pull out large bumps in the fiber or try and even them out-- but kept them in the carded yarn both to show what was left in the fiber once prepped (vs combed) and also because I'm less able to stop and start when spindling :)

I honestly don't think one is better than the other-- I like how airy the carded prep spun and its rustic, evenly colored look, and I also like how smooth and effortless it was to spin the combed prep. It is just kind of fun to see the difference, same fiber in but two different swatches out.



I steamblocked these instead of wet finishing, I think the carded prep may look even more cohesive once wet blocked. Looking closely at the carded swatch, you can see towards the center where I changed rolags and one was browner/less grey than the other... small batch even blending can be difficult on both handcards and combs.

Best of all though is the light to dark transition the combed swatch takes, with the bulk a mix of white and grey.



Easier to see the difference with the edges folded together :)

I buy fleeces with the longrange intention of spinning for a sweater with them-- but not variegated sweaters. Sampling like this has given me a few insights: I need to practice more on the handcards because I don't know if it's me or the technique that is the problem when carding out a reasonably smooth rolag/roving from fleece. I also am now considering how to deal with spectrum colors in this Romeldale sliver-- I could separate the white from the grey when pulling off of the combs, leaving me with two distinct colors from one fleece. I could also try and handcard the slivers pulled off of the combs for an even color, maybe eliminating both the problem with waste/bumps and uneven color.

I actually love ending up with more things to think about :)

Til then, miss you.