If you are on Facebook, or have been following the blog, you know what toy I am talking about. For the newcomers, its my New Drum Carder!
Now, I’ve been wanting a drum carder not quite as long as I’ve been spinning, but certainly, almost as long as I’ve been dyeing. It seems that as I get more and more into the world of fiber arts, I really just have a distinct need to try everything. Well, I can honestly say, I love this part of everything. 
So, while I might have written this post when the carder came, that would really have been against the grain. you see, if I had writtten it then, I would not have been able to play with it then. and, if I had written the post the, I would not be able to show you all the pretty things I have been working on since then. So you see, to those who wait comes the glory, right?
Having said that, here, in all its glory, is the real purpose of this post, to show and share pictures of the fun I’ve been having.
The box it arrived in, complete with a big made in USA sticker:
Opening the box, this thin is packed like it was a priceless (and fragile) treasure. Which, of course, it is priceless, to me, but not so much on the fragile, I think… its heavy.
Ah, here it is, in its new (if temporary) place of honor. It has not moved from here yet, because I have been using it too much, and because I haven’t figured out a better place then on the plastic table that doesn’t mind having the clamp screw bite into its edge, and that isn’t damaged by the bits of vm that seem to fall out of even the cleanest fibers
Fancy Kitty Kitten 90/20
I went to work right away, stopping only for, oh, about 3 hours of dealing with the kids before their naps. (did I mention, this came EARLY in the day? compared to what I expected anyway. around 11AM)
Here is my very first Batt, about an ounce of Romney that I washed from Raw Fleece. This fleece was free, and for good reason. There is so much VM in this fleece that even with washing, picking, and carding, there is still more in the batt. Its got a nice staple length, and a nice feel, thoguh, and it would be great for a learn to spin kit. which is where it will probably wind up.
1 oz Romney Fleece
Then I moved on to more fun. I had just a bit of fiber left over form making up mini batts last week, and so I decided to see waht I could do with the drum carder.
Poison Apple - 1.5 oz wool and firestar
Ive done lots more since then, you can click the picture of Poison Apple to see them, it will take you to my gallery. I hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed making the batts. some of these will be going onto my shops in the near future, others will probably be held aside for a bit, or I might even spin them up myself (I spun up Poison apple myself, as an example. Well, I had to know if I was doing it right, didn’t I? Without tooting my own horn, I loved spinning it up… it was so nice and smooth, perfect for long draw from the fold.)
