New 4 pitch hackle and comb set

Originally uploaded by susancoyotesfan

My new comb and hackle set. Love love love this! I spent several hours yesterday, and maybe an hour today, combing a *very* dirty portion of a Shetland fleece (pics are elsewhere in my Flickr account) and got a bulk paper box half full of very lovely, very CLEAN ‘birdsnests’ that are ready to spin.

The fiber on the hackle in this picture is Cotswold from a ram named Franklin. It’s not horribly dirty, but it does have a lot of ‘second cuts’ (where the shearer makes a second pass over an area of the sheep) and VM (vegetable matter) that need to be combed out. My friends who own Franklin didn’t know what was important for spinners before she learned to spin this year…I can’t wait to get this old stuff spun up so I can buy some of the new stuff with NO second cuts and very little VM in it. I have already seen and plunged my hands into it. Mr. TF has no idea how difficult it was to not whip out the checkbook immediately! 🙂