Tag: christmas

Christmas Card(ing)

Earlier this month, I was hoping that Santa would bring me a new a carder.

Specifically, I was dreaming of a Patrick Green Big Batt carder.

Yeah,  it’s pretty sweet (especially with that cool burnishing tool).

And there are some videos on You Tube of it in action that just made me think that it must be a quantum leap from my current equipment.

So smooth, so quiet. Such lovely fluffy batts.

But then there’s that big price tag. And the wait list.

I wouldn’t have gotten it by Christmas (or even my birthday) anyway.
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So I got this

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Yep, that’s still Clem. But he feels like a whole new machine since he got is Christmas tuneup!

I’d known for a while that his alignment wasn’t really right.

There was too much turning resistance.

And noise.

There was quite a lot of fiber that had gotten stuck down on the drum axles, and he probably hadn’t been lubricated in ages.

So we took him partially apart. Thankfully that’s not a tricky thing. Pretty simple construction.
But it really made getting all the crud out a lot easier, because it turned out that the wool that was building up had gotten shoved into the brass bearings in the frame because of the rotating motion.

I should have taken before pictures, so you could see how much junk came out of the poor guy.

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It’s hard to keep fiber out of those gaps, but I’m going to try and be more diligent from here on out.

And while he was apart, it was a lot easier to adjust the alignment of the smaller feeder drum to get the right spacing of the tines between the two drums.

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He was way too tight. The tines were meshing and causing a lot of resistance and noise.
I learned that the right spacing is to have them about and index card (or Christmas card!) thickness apart. This allows for the fiber to transfer effectively without causing a lot of stress and tension on the machine, the wool, and the operator (Go figure) 🙂

Now that I’ve got Clem all tuned up everything goes faster and easier, and I’ve been carding up a storm-

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The batts are fluffier, and he seems able to do a better job on just one pass.

Not only that, but while I was looking into drum carder use and maintenance online I discovered a handy little trick or two-

Turns out a flick carder is really great for cleaning his drums

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And also held lightly against the big drum for a couple passes after all your fiber is loaded, it can act as a burnishing tool as well, smoothing the surface of the batt very nicely.

Turn out Clem and I probably still have many happy years and batts ahead of us!

Pre-Christmas Stay-cation

It was quite a week-

Measuring and mixing.

Beating and blending.

Scraping and rolling.

Baking, cooling, frosting.

Packing and Shipping.

But I made it. All 13 batches of it.

Then I sent it off to friends and family. (ok, not ALL of it. I kept a little for local munching)

And I’m afraid I didn’t take any pictures of the process. I was just glad to get it all done in time.

Of course, I made sure to take wool breaks to ensure I retained my sanity in the midst of all this cookie craziness.

Exhibit A- Oscar Socks

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I started these socks months ago, when the recipients feet were only as long as the white part! Yeeks!

Exhibit B- Custom Photo Glove/Mitts

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These are a not-so-secret Christmas present for The Man. Still need thumbs and index fingers (with openings for finger tips), but I’m getting close!

And the spinning-

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Mioget Shetland with blonde mohair and gold tussah silk, Border Leicester, and some CVM/Suffolk cross.

Yum. High fiber goodies. Healthiest things I made all week!

Now perhaps I can just relax and enjoy the holidays 🙂

Let the Games Begin!

This week I am taking off work to participate in the Christmas Cookie Olympics.

I plan to compete in the following events:

Springerle
Gingerbread
Cinnamon Mandelbrot
Sugar Cookies
Fruit and Nut Bread

and perhaps Pfeffernusse and Cardamom Biscotti if I have strength left.

This is the view from the starting blocks

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All ingredients are present and accounted for, and I’m going to get a start first thing in the morning.

Dough chilling, baking and cookie cooling time will hopefully offer me the opportunity to take some wool breaks, as I do have a few little non-baking projects that I need to wrap up pretty quick!

The goal is to have everything packed up and shipped out by Saturday the 17th.

See you at the finish line- 🙂