Did you know that there are a variety of tools that you can use to prepare fiber for worsted spinning? I'm going to talk about them in this episode, including telling you about how you can achieve a worsted prep without wool combs. Hello there, dear Sheepspotter. I really can't talk today. Let's try that again. Hello there, dear Sheepspotter. Welcome to episode 124 of the I'm Sasha Torres, and my job is helping you spin more yarns you love.
I love combing wool. I think I actually enjoy it as much as spinning. I certainly find it as calming and meditative. And there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of taking a lock of fleece that's chock full of hay and other souvenirs from the field, combing it, and ending up with a lovely clean lock, all the fibers align nicely, and VM banished. Today I'm going to talk about different ways to achieve that lovely clean lock.
I'm going to tell you about the different kinds of combs, which are great for getting a large amount of fiber combed quickly, but one of the downsides of combs is that they can be pretty pricey.
So if you're working on a a small project, or you're willing to take your time with the prep, or if you're new to preparing fiber and you want to try it to see if you actually like it without having to spend a lot of money, there are several other less expensive tools that you can use to get a result very similar to what you would get with combs. But all of them require that you work with one lock at a time.
Let's talk about combs first there are many different styles of combs because different parts of the world have different kinds of sheep and thus they have developed tools that work well with their particular fleeces so you may encounter references to English combs Viking combs and and paddle combs or Russian paddle combs.
And rather than trying to explain in this audio format how combing actually works, I'm going to link to several good YouTube videos of people demonstrating working with different combs so that you can get a sense of which ones might work best for you. So basically, though, combing works like this. The fiber is loaded or lashed onto the teeth of one of the combs. And generally speaking, the fiber is still in lock form.
So the fleece has been washed, but the lock structure has been preserved, and they're loaded on one lock at a time.
So blocks are loaded onto the teeth of one of the combs and then the other comb is used to catch the ends of the wool pulling it through the teeth of the first comb and depositing it onto the teeth of the second comb once the fiber has been moved back and forth between the combs a few times, the fiber is pulled off the combs as a nice clean aligned prep that is perfect for worsted spinning spinning.
English combs were developed for working with long-stapled wool, and thus they have many rows or pitches of teeth. Teeth are sometimes called pins. And generally, the more pitches the comb has, the longer the staple it can accommodate. English combs are used with one comb, the stationary comb, clamped to a table, and then the second comb is held in the hand.
Paddlecombs are shaped differently than English combs, so they're sort of shaped like ping-pong paddles, so the rows of teeth are quite wide. And they're designed for shorter fibers, and also they're designed to separate the coats of multi-coated fleeces. In contrast to the English combs, both paddle combs are handheld, although some makers offer an optional system for clamping one of the combs. And traditionally, they have one pitch.
Then there are Viking-style combs. Both combs are handheld, although some can also be mounted with an additional accessory. Accessory, and these are available in one and two-pitch versions. So why and when would you choose to use one style versus another? I use a stationary comb with four pitches when I'm combing lots of wool, like an entire fleece, with a fairly long staple. I prefer handheld combs when I'm working with smaller amounts of fiber.
Now, that said, truth be told, I haven't really combed a whole fleece in a very long time, so mostly I use my two-pitch hand combs, which work well on a range of fleeces, provided that they have a staple of three to four inches and up. Now, availability of wool combs, they're a very specialized tool. Not a lot of people make them. I'll put some notes to, or some links to some people who are making them now in the show notes.
And both traditional English and paddle combs are fairly hard to come by. Most of the combs that that you'll see on the market are Viking combs. These are much more widely available, and they are a good choice because they're quite versatile. They work well unless you're working with a very long staple.
And later in this month, I'm going to review the Luet 2-Pitch Mini Combs, a scaled-down version of a Viking-style comb, which you can get from any Luet dealer, and there are zillions of Louet dealers. You may be wondering why I'm not telling you about the combs that I have and that I've used most often. Those were made by a maker. I love them. I love them. I adore those combs. They were made by a maker who is no longer making combs, selling combs.
So I don't want to tell you all about how great they are and then just make you sad because they're no longer available. available that's why i'm going to be reviewing the luet style combs which i've been wanting to try for quite a while. Now, if you don't want to invest in combs, or if the motions of combing don't agree with your body for some reason, you'll want to use another strategy to achieve a nice aligned prep. The first possibility is a flick carter.
And these are basically small pieces of wood with carding cloth attached to them that have handles. And these are quite inexpensive. They're about $30 or so. I would say $30 and up. And they're made by a number of different manufacturers.
Manufacturers my personal favorite and i have tried several my favorite is the ashford because i i just like the feel of the handle in my hand um and i will put a link in the show notes to a video demonstrating how to use a flick carter flicking doesn't give you quite as perfect and beautiful uh a prep as combing does but i think i would be pretty hard pressed to spot the difference in a finished product between something that was done on fiber that was prepared on combs and fiber
that was done with a flick carter. So it does give you a nice aligned lock. It does take out shorter fibers and vegetable matter. So you can get a really nice result. The downside of flicking is that it is more than possible, I would say it's even likely, that when you get started learning how to flick card, you're going to card your fingertips along with the lock that you're working on. So before you embark on this endeavor, check to make sure that your tetanus shot is up to date.
And it can be hard on the hands generally, flick carding, but it's a great way to start with prep without spending a lot of money. You can achieve very similar results as flicking by dragging one end of a lock of fiber through carding cloth while holding on to the other end.
You can do this with a single hand card, or you can use a relatively new tool developed by Clemas & Clemas, which is called a lock pop. And the lock pop consists of a block of wood with carding cloth attached that can be clamped to a table. And here again, you just hold on to one end of the lock, drag the other end through the carding teeth, and then you switch ends.
And later this month, I'm going to be reviewing the lock pop. I always want to call it the pop lock, but it's actually the lock pop and talking about the various ways you can use it. And it works very similarly to a flick carter, but with a flick carter, you're holding the wool stationary and moving the thing with the carding teeth on it. With the lock pop, it works the other way. You are holding the lock and moving your hand, and the tool stays stationary. Um, there is a, um, sorry.
If you love worsted spinning, lost my place there for a minute. If you love worsted spinning and you know that you love doing your own prep and the only way to do, to know whether you love it is to do it, you may want to invest in a set of combs. But if you're new to prep or you're not sure that you're going to like it, I would start by using a flick carder, a hand carder, or a lock pop. All will produce a nice result and get you started without breaking the bank.
So, as always, there is a dedicated discussion thread in the flock where you can comment on this episode and discuss it with me and other listeners. The link is in the show notes for this episode, which you will find right inside your podcast app. So just open up the description for this episode in your app, click the link, and you'll be taken right to the thread. If you haven't joined The Flock, Sheepspot's free online community for inquisitive hand spinners, you absolutely should.
You'll get access to all of the freebies I've created for the podcast, as well as several self-guided spinning challenges, our weekly spinning check-ins every Friday and lots more. And you can join us at theflock.sheepspot.com. So, darling sheepspotter, that is it for me this week. Thank you so much for listening. I will be back next week with more on fiber preparation. Until then, I strongly advise that you spin something, because I think we both know that it will do you good.