Well, Linda, you’ve gone and made me into a fiber prep nerd. I never every thought that I would get into combing my own fleece, but my glorious spinning teacher on Maintoulin graciously allowed me to try her wool combs. The power one has from combing their own wool is remarkable. I realized that I could never spin that pre-prepared matted roving ever agin (well I might be exagerating) after feeling the fluffy liveliness of fresh roving made by hand.
I remember learning about these mysterious weapons at Birklands, but never actually got to try them. I found the wool carders so awkward and hard on my wrists, not to mention that the little lumps of wool (woolags?) they produce are less than fun to spin off of. I then vowed never to do my own wool prep. How was I to know that wool combs would change my life? Who knew that one can even blend wool on combs? I may never have to use carders.
I searched online and found a man named Alvin Ramer, who is in Ontario and makes these combs as well as other spinning implements by hand. He sent me the combs right away with two dizzes made out of seashells (funny for Ontario!) and a tine straightener. Turns out he is the same gentleman who made Linda’s combs.
The ones I ordered are mid size, called Super Mini Combs (one step up from the Mini Combs, and one step down from the large combs). The Super Mini Combs are appropriate for Romney and Corridale, while still being small enough for finer fibers like Marino and Shetland. Excellent! I chose the Walnut wood, as it is a little heavier than the cherrywood (my second choice). The weight is quite perfect as I found the large combs I tried at Linda’s to be a little heavy - she said the Mini Combs are too light.
I highly recommend prepping your own wool - bye bye nubbly bits and little sticks, hello lively, fresh roving!