Stalking the Elusive Drum Carder

I’d been dreaming of, and scoping out, drum carders for a while now.

The thing is, they are a little spendy.

I would get all excited about one, and then talk myself out of it, saying “Oh Denise, you don’t really NEED a drum carder. You have perfectly nice hand carders. Yes, it is slow going- turning washed fleece into perfect little rolags. But isn’t it relaxing? And surely it’s good for the arm muscles”

But in the next breath I said to myself “There have to be old, serviceable drum carders hiding away in people’s attics. I just have to wait for these people to clean out their attics and unload their drum carders on the web.”

So I kept a close eye on Craigslist.

Bellingham
Seattle
Portland
and further.
Much further.

And after a time, I thought that maybe the universe was telling me that I wasn’t supposed to have one.

And I was OK with that.

.

.

.

Then, out of nowhere, comes Clem.

Isn’t he handsome?

Here he is from the other side:

He still needs a drive belt. But I’ve got that ordered from Clemes and Clemes already.

For right now, he’s making do with a double thickness of jute twine.

And here is my first batt. East Friesian wool from Quiet Water Farm. Fluffy and beautiful.

Got Felt?

Last weekend while I was down in Langley, I visited a really neat rug shop, Music For the Eyes.

It was chock full of rugs (and various other textiles) from the Middle East and Asia. Silk, wool, knotted pile, kilims, embroidered cloths, lots of beads, and a small collection of felted mats.

While there was inspiration in every corner the thing that really sticks in my head from the visit was the felt. It was embroidered, and in some cases combined with pieces of woven fabric to really wonderful effect (sorry- didn’t have the camera with me).

(They also had a little mini yurt there too. Like a little yurt dollhouse. It was embellished, and outfitted with furniture-like bits and everything. Very Cool)

So, I thought I would give felt a try. ( Since I happen to have (quite a) bit of wool hanging around the house.)

Now, the only felting I’ve ever done has been with things that were knitted beforehand. So I’m a compete newbie at this. And, of course, I didn’t bother to get online look for instructions.

No. That would be too easy.

Wool+Heat+Water+Agitation=Felt

How hard can that be?

Dag. Guess it all depends on what kind of wool you choose!

The very fine shetland I tried first felted really easily, but the romney and friesian in my second go took a little more work.

Here’s what I did:

First, I layered hand combed top on an old bedsheet (three layers, in different directions)

Then I sprinkled it with hot water (and a smidge of dish soap):

Next, I rolled it up in the sheet:

Tied it up so it wouldn’t shift around:

And began to abuse it.

(If the man had been home, he could have gotten shots of me whacking the felt roll on the steps outside, or trying to knead it into submission. But since he wasn’t , you’ll have to use your imagination)

As I’d been out working in the yard most of the day, I didn’t have too much energy left to give to whacking the felt roll for long, and I finally resorted to putting it first into the washer, and then into the dryer.

And here is the result:

It’s definitely felted, though perhaps not as densely as I would have liked. I suppose I could abuse it some more, but I’m too tired.

I’m thinking that what I need is a better technique.

Any felters out there with tips? website suggestions?

I think I could really dig this, if I could find a way to get fairly consistent results….

Whidbey Weekend

Scenes from Langley, WA.

The site of the retreat-

Waterfront-

Bunnies-

More waterfront-

Yarn Shop-

Early morning grazers-

My new special friend-

And projects!

Some fiber prep-

Knitting-

And re-knitting-

And a good time was had by all-

BIPs

(Bears in Progress)

Meet Ted.

Ted is almost complete, except I think his eyes and nose need more work.

This is Ted’s sweater.

Ted is a bit challenging to knit for because he has a HUGE head, and no neck.  But I’m giving it a shot, because I think he’d look really sharp in a pullover.

I had only planned on making one bear, but then a friend presented me with an interesting challenge.

This is a handknit norwegian sweater from the 1940’s. It’s been in her family all that time, and has seen much wear and tear (see repair work on cuff below).

It has some really colorwork reminiscent of viking ships and ocean waves. Think I’ve going to chart that out for future reference!

While it has held up admirably all these years, this friend has decided that it has lived for long enough as a sweater, and should be repurposed into a bear.

This one is still in the early stages. But at least I’ve made a start.

Meet Bjorn.