I'm currently spinning a silk/wool blend that I bought as a mill end.
It could almost be spun out of the bag, but considering that I want a
few miles of a fine yarn *almost* ain't quite good enough, so I ran it
through my drum carder.
It still didn't draft quite as I wanted it too--I was pulling strips
off the side and spinning, and I had to watch out for little clumps
that wanted to come out together and tease them open.
Rolags worked much better, but handcarding is not one of my best
skills, nor one of my favorite ones. I remembered reading something in
an old Spin-Off, and gave it a try.
You'll need
a drum carded batt of fiber
two smooth sticks (1" wide by 1/4" thick), several inches longer than
your batt is wide.
A heavy book at least as wide as your batt.
Technique:
slide one stick under the batt at the end, and put the other stick on
top. You'll be sandwiching the very end of the batt between the two
sticks. Give them one full turn over (the top stick will have one
layer of fiber on it). Lay the heavy book on the batt a staple's
distance away. With one hand hold the book down, and with the other
grab the two sticks in the middle and pull them away from the batt.
Give it another couple of turns to roll up the fiber you've just pulled
loose, and slide the sticks out.
And voila! a perfect rolag. OK--the first and last ones tend to be
not quite perfect (they're like the first pancake out of the pan). I
usually get 6-8 rolags per batt.
OK--back to spinning
-Ann, in Florida, where spring has sprung and everything is in riotous
blook (azaleas, dogwoods, and wisteria) and *everything* is covered in
a thick coat of oak pollen.
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