Carder Tricks and Some Seasonal Yarn

some wool on the carder with the pipe insulation roll ready to roll

I knew I needed a better way to remove my batts from the carder. I had seen a few videos where the batt was removed by rolling it up onto a mat of some sort. Having recently completed the hot water heat pump project I knew we had some pipe insualtion left over. I thought this would make the perfect tool to remove my batt. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Just pulling the batt off by hand generally left a layer of fiber deep in the teeth. Rolling the batt onto the tube worked beautifully as you can see. I highly recommend this "high tech" batt removal tool.

removing the wool from the carder with the "tool"

unrolling the carded fiber

a nice clean drum!

I have about 6 ounces of yarn in this two ply skein. There is about another 3 ounces waiting to be spun. Will I have enough for a sleeveless vest at 9 ounces?

my 6 ounce skein of pumpkin spice mohair/wool blend

I am going to have to figure that out. I don't have a counter so I use weight to determine if I have what I need. If I used a lacy patern I fear the pattern would be lost in the variegated shades. I got some good ideas from a forum I frequent, such as using a solid color for the waist, arm hole and neck borders. Suggestions anyone?