How to prepare wool for spinning into yarn.

Handspinning your own wool into yarn can be lots of fun and a rewarding experience.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• raw, washed fiber (wool, alpaca, mohair)
• cards (electric or hand carders)
• patience!

1. If your wool is coming directly from the sheep, you'll need to wash and skirt your fleece before using these instructions. First, pick out any large clumps of vegetable matter (VM). Much of it is picked out in skirting, but some stays and must be removed.

2. 
   An Electric Carder will save you time and energy!

   Next, go through your fleece carefully and search for short guard hairs. Any clumps of fiber under an inch long won't card or spin well, so they're best removed and discarded.

3. 
   Hand or paddle carders are the "old fashioned" way to do it, but still effective.

   Next, feed your wool into your electric carders (if you are lucky enough to have an electric carding machine). The roving you pull from it is ready to spin!

4. If you do not have an electric carder, use small clumps of wool at a time, place it on the center of one paddle, and with the handles pointing AWAY from each other, brush out the wool. When you've worked out all the knots, peel the carded wool out of the bristles and roll into a sausage. It is ready to spin!

Tips & Warnings

• Vegetable matter will clog a carder (electric or paddle), remove as much of it as possible!

[melgrimes]

on 6/11/2009 Thanks for the spinning info

[SarasTextureCra]

on 12/19/2008 I use the hand carders I supply customers with... lots of work but rewarding. Thank you for sharing!

[SeaDawg]

on 10/7/2008 Thank your for this article. I'm trying to clean some Alpaca fleece and I was wondering where you go to get an electric carder or carding paddles.