Carding with a Tool!

The Olympics are over and I chose not to compete.   It is not that I wasn't doing anything for these last 16 days, it is just that I didn't want to put any pressure on myself.  I guess I just wimped out.    I didn't finish any of my projects, but am plodding along on the squares for my GAAA.   You know, knit one row, tink one row, knit 1/2 row, tink 1 1/2 rows.    And so it goes.   At this rate it's like paying off a credit card balance by paying the minimum payment each month:   it'll take 247 years (or so) to pay it off.  

I have borrowed a drum carder from fellow spinner, Lynn, to finish off my fiber

 from last month's shipment before I start on the fiber I got last week.   OK, I opened the inner plastic bag, and it is getting its first cold soak.  And I realized that THIS month's fiber is going out in another 10 days!   Yikes.  It is so soft and lanolin-y and hopefully most of the yuck will come out with the soak.

 The drum carder, a Strauch petite, is one hefty tool, and really does the job of blending the fiber into batts.   What starts out as this:

  ends up like this: a pyramid of batts, ready for spinning.

What could be done in about 10 rolags of hand carding can be carded into a single batt of about 1/2 oz with the drum carder.  What a timesaver, so much so that I feel a major purchase coming on.........    I had a 15 minute lesson Sunday at spinning group ( we are actually "multicraftual") and Sunday night I made 2 more batts on it, while watching the terrible new show, Marriage Ref, which came on after the Olympics closing ceremony.    Perfect background noise, and I am so glad I didn't expect to be entertained by the show! 

  Monday, I made 4 more batts with the rest on Tuesday evening.    I even went crazy on the last two, by blending in some natural mohair and some shredded sari silk.   See how pretty! On the pyramid they are the top two.

The flashes of color make me so happy.    Maybe I will ply with the plain batts, to maximize the yardage.