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So this weekend I have been getting things done that require large chunks of time instead of the small moments here and there that I tend to use for my crafting pursuits. One of the fleeces I got at Rhinebeck one year was calling for some attention. I wasn’t even sure if it could be turned into something usable, but my friend Heidi knew better. She suggested I come by her place and try her hand combs.

SCARY! She taught me how to use them, then kindly lent them to me so I could continue to work on the insane amount of hand combing needed to work on four pounds of sheep hair. Here is the un-technical, very abridged version of what the hell I am doing with lots of spikes and nothing but time.

First, I have one of the combs attached to my breakfast bar. Not the most appetizing of sites, so we’re just eating on the couch for now. I have to “lash on” on locks of the already washed fibre, without stabbing myself.

Once I have a load of fibre on the stationary spikes of death, the next step is to take the other comb and… well… comb. It’s not easy, the hair is about as matted as a ten year old dread lock in some places. I just need patience, determination, and wrists of steel. Also, I have to avoid stabbing myself.

At some point all the fibre ends up on the comb in my hand. Success! Kind of. I then spend the next five minutes putting that fibre back onto the comb that is attached to my counter, trying not to stab myself.

Once it’s all on that comb, I do a little celebration dance and then begin the process of putting it back onto the comb in my hand. Yes, this is pretty tedious. But as you can see, the fibre is slooooowly becoming more puffy and less like the tangled mess it started as. I haven’t even stabbed myself yet!

So now I have one more transfer to do, back to the comb on the counter. It’s four transfers in total, four sets of countless brushes in whatever direction I can manage, all the while avoiding stabbing myself.

But look! It’s a cute little pouf of something that actually looks spinable!

The next bit seems a little impossible, but I kind of coax the fibres out towards me then thread them through a button hole. I know it seems really small, but it’s totally doable. And, I kind of quit worrying about how sharp those damn combs are at this point because I am not madly swiping one sharply pointed object in the air anymore.

I then pull the fibres, move the button up, then pull more fibres, and move the button up again. This is the part where I am actually creating the roving that I will, at one point, get to spin. It’s like an airy intestine, bursting with yarny potential!

Wheeeee! Once I have everything on the comb pulled through the button I wind it into a ball and appreciate that intense amount of work and stress. So I relax, and as I’m putting the combs together so I don’t stab myself, I stab myself.

At least I wasn’t stressed for nothing! They will spin into some lovely lofty yarn.