strauch finest drum carder

I have been carding and carding! I really like this drum carder. It does a great job. I pull my wool apart really well before carding. It makes nice thick puffy batts. I also like to make 2 thin batts of merino and place loose angora fiber evenly over 1 batt and then cover with the second batt and press it down then roll it up like a big rolag(roll from end to end not side to side). I then predraft this into a long thinner length before spinning from it. I then spin this in the woolen long draw.

fern leaf dye experiment

This is an old once upon a time aluminum pressure cooker pot. In the quart canning jar are 3 1/2 oz. of wild fern leaves covered with water and 1 tbls. of ammonia. I kept them simmering on my fireplace wood burner insert for 2 weeks. I shook the jar 3 or 4 times a day. Every 2 days I would pour the liquid into the aluminum pot, and then cover the leaves in the quart jar with 1 tbls. ammonia and water.
At the end of 2 weeks I added enough water to the pot to fill it up. I had kept the pot on simmering the entire time. I added wetted wool to the pot and simmered for 3 hrs. I removed the pot and removed the aluminum foil cover. I allowed it to cool until it could be handled. I rinsed and washed it and rinsed until the water ran clear. I got a pretty green color, I would say it almost glows:

I put the leaves from the quart jar into this gallon jar and added fresh leaves and covered them with water and ammonia, I set it aside for a future dye experiment:

This is the 3 1/2 oz. of leaves that I stuffed into the quart jar. I only picked the small green leaves:

Most of the plants looked like this one:

made in the USA

This is my spinning wheel. It is a Fricke S-160 single treadle. I always buy American made if I have a choice. It is my first wheel. I have not spun much yet, but it is mine and I really like it alot. It is a reasonable priced wheel. It has 5 speeds. I also purchased the plying bobbin and flyer, but I have not used it yet.

I have a single of undyed merino on the bobbin. I spun 2 bobbins and made a 2 ply thin and thick(aka designer yarn). It was my first full skein of yarn.

my first drum carder

I ordered a drum carder today from the woolery. I have been googleing and reading reviews on drum carders for over 3 years. I decided on the Strauch finest about a year ago. It was hard to bring myself to purchase it because they are so darn expensive. It should be here in a day or 2. I will use it mainly to blend my angora wool with merino. I hope I will not be disappointed.