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.
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