I have a big garbage bag full of wool that has been carded on a drum carder. I have no idea who originally owned the sheep and what breed it was. I also don't know who put it through a drum carder without picking out the second cuts and excessive amounts of VM (vegetable matter). I was just asked if I would like to have this big bag of wool, donated anonymously to the guild. I opened the bag and looked inside, and even me, a relatively new spinner, could see that there was trouble.
I took it on the condition that no one would complain if in the end I decided it wasn't worth the effort and threw the whole lot in the garbage. It was obviously not spinnable "as is".
Out came my handy, dandy
combs. I discovered that with a lot of time spent combing (just as much as if the wool was uncarded) the VM dropped out quite nicely. The resulting 'nests' spin up into a beautifully soft and springy wool. Of the two samples I tried the thicker one is the nicest.
