Open Inquiry 5: Carding

The next step of the process was to ‘card’ or brush the wool. At this point, the wool is pretty clean, but there is some matting and debris present. I found this video helpful in getting started.

The carding process begins by layering a small amount of wool on the brush in your right hand. With the other hand, the other brush is lightly run across. The brush teeth on the brush’s face in opposite directions, which helps untangle and switch the wool from the right-hand side to the left. The purpose of carding is to both untangle and make the wool all run in the same direction. This is a picture of my first attempt at carding.

The final part of this process is to roll up the wool into ‘rolags’. This prepares the wool for spinning. I found that my wool is still quite rough and definitely not as soft as store-bought felt. I found the process quite calming and satifying but getting it all done will take a long time. Here is a picture of my rolags, which took me about 30 minutes in total to do.