Knitted Gems has a problem. After I wrote my post on dyeing with walnuts she commented that she has some wool that is full of tiny walnut pieces. I told her that I would ask the spinners on a few of the spinlists for advice. I know other spinners or knitters have had similar issues. If you have carders, try those. Card the fiber and hopefully the bits and pieces will fall out. In order to do this successfully the wool needs to be squeaky clean. No grease can be left in the fiber or the VM will not fall out freely. If you don't know how to card, look here to learn how. If you don't have a carder, a dog comb may do the trick. Alternatively, hand tease the fiber apart in small chunks and the VM may fall out this way. Is this going to be tedious? Yes. But you will have some super prepared fiber when it's all done! And if it is really nice fiber it might be worth it. Otherwise, use it for insulation!
Technorati Tags:walnut dyeing, dyeing, fiber, vm, vegetable matter, carding, fiber preparation
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