Slight Hiccoup

Going over the rules of the 2011 Sheep-to-shawl, it was noticed that combs were not an approved method for aligning the wool for spinning.  Crap.
This leaves us with the choice of handcards or flicking.  I wasn't quite sure what were the advantages of either or why my new beloved combs were not allowed.  Over the past two weeks I've been getting a bit of practice plus a class up at the Trading Post in Pendleton giving me a better understanding about the three methods for aligning fibers. 
Combs are really great for long staple fibers - a by long I mean 2.5 to 3 inches in length.  When you comb all of the short fibers get winnowed out.  Those short fibers are now waste (you could use them in other places, like stuffing toys or hexapuffs or card them for other spinning but they no longer have any place within the yarn you are currently trying to make).
Carding aligns a lot of fibers rather quickly and with very little waste.  However a good set of card can be pricey and can quickly tire you out.  They take a good amount of coordination that I just wasn't able to make happen in a single afternoon.  I'm not saying that the use of cards in out of the question, only that I have a new found respect for handcarders.
At the Trading Post class I tried flicking fiber. 
The first time I heard the term flicking, I was creating a mental image of rapidly snapping wool in the air and wondering how this would clean and align fiber staples.  What I discovered is that flicking is a method using a wire brush and using plucking strokes, you tease the fiber into individual filaments.  While you can buy special brushes designed especially for flicking, you can create equal results with a ten-dollar dog slicker brush from your local pet supply store.  I was able to apply the technique very quickly and able to replicate the technique once I got home from the class (something I couldn't say about carding).  I was satisfied with how quickly I could work through chunks of the practice fleece (okay, okay so some of the samples worked better than others - I'm going to get to that, I promise).  And there is very little in the way of waste fiber.
My vote for right now is geared toward flicking for 2012.

Choose your weapon

Last Sunday I went to A Wool Gathering fiber fair over in Ohio.  We planned finding a practice fleece.  I also thought I might buy a pair of hand cards. It wasn't exactly what happened.

For the contest, there are three types of fiber prepping tools that have been approved for use - hand cards, hand combs and the flicking method.  I am a terrible klutz and felt that hand cards might be the safest choice.  Mandie, a friend and teammate bought a pair of Ashford student cards last spring.  She let me play with them one evening to see how I liked them.  I fought them with very little success.  I did discover how incredibly sharp the wires on the paddles after scraping the side of my left hand.  Imagine 10 cats with freshly sharpened claws all attacking you at one precise location.  Not much fun.

Anyways, at the fiber fair was a booth from the Fiber Artist Supply with a man using a specially designed comb set.  He made the combing process look nearly effortless. Here's a video:

He also told me that combed wool tends to be more drape-y and less fluffy than carded.  I was very quickly getting sold on the idea of combing.  Added plus from my perspective, your hands are much farther away from the point bits.

I walked around for a bit thinking I might wait and order the combs, but it was pretty futile.  I bought the comb set.  Now I needed a fleece.

The Story So Far....

On Thursday evenings I knit with a group of people.  One of the wonderful things about knitting and spinning with others is that it exposes you to things in the fiber world that might initially be beyond your personal horizon.  The Indiana State Fair sheep-to-shawl contest is one of those things.  That evening, while discussing who won which ribbon with which project, it was mentioned that Indiana State Fair had a sheep-to-shawl contest.

The basic idea of any sheep-to-shawl contest is to take one wool fleece and transform it through washing and processing into some form of spin-able fiber, spin it, ply it and finally create some type of wearable garment.  Using a smart phone, one friend looked up the requirements for the State Fair - a pre-washed fleece, combed or carded, spun and woven - and discovered that there were no adult entries for 2011.

There were at least 6 people in our group who could spin or weave.  We could do this. Hell, we could win this!

And so it began...

I tried my hand at weaving in high school and never enjoyed it that much.  I knew I wasn't going to be much help with the weaving portion of the contest.  I'm a decent spinner.  My singles tend to be a bit on the thinnish side, but I have enough confidence (read hubris) that I could get a match to whatever was needed.  What I needed to learn was how to hand process a fleece.
I have never held a pair of cards or combs in my life and drum carders and way outside of my budget.  So, I'm fine with buying process roving.  The Trading Post, in Pendleton (IN) has a wonderful range of processed roving representing different sheep breeds.  Fiber fairs are also great places to find specialty roving.  I never felt like I was missing anything.  But if I really wanted to help my team mates out, I was going to have to learn how to process wool.