Deborah Held

The Spinner's Blending Board Bible

From Woolen to (Nearly!) Worsted and Everything in Between

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Use your blending board to its full capacity! Held shares an untapped level of know-how for putting the blending board to use in color management, combining fibers and mix-ins, and for creating specific yarn structures. Beginners and advanced spinners alike will find plenty to learn from her beautiful and instructive photos of fiber, detailed explanations of techniques, and numerous blending recipes.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Globe Pequot Press
• Seitenzahl: 176
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. April 2025
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780811773676
• ISBN-10: 0811773671
• Artikelnr.: 70990039

Autorenporträt

By Deborah Held

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword (I will ask one or two friends who are extremely well known in the
industry and who have published their own books to write my foreword.)
Introduction
1. Why the blending board is my go-to, "desert island" tool for fiber
processing
1. Cost
2. Space
3. Ergonomics
4. Nearly limitless uses, including
1. Rolags (smooth or textured)
2. Roving (pulled or dizzed)
3. Batts
4. More (thoughtful placement of color and texture, such as tweed)
1. The board's impact on final yarn in terms of color, scalability, and
structure
2. Adding a few inexpensive items you likely have at home opens a whole
new world of possibilities
3. Reading this book will change the way you see and use your blending
board
Chapter I: Your blending board: the all-in-one fiber processing tool
1. Comparison, including photos, of fiber processing tools: drum carder, hand
combs, hand cards
2. Drum carder [photos of a couple of models]
1. Best suited for: Blending fibers (textures and colors) well; aeration
and loft, great for batts; good for rolags; color play, repeatable
results
2. Cons: expensive (anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of
dollars); large footprint; requires mostly minor but ongoing
maintenance; unless you have the most costly electric drum carder(s),
ongoing use can lead to wear and tear on your spine/neck and
shoulder; your blending is limited by the teeth per inch of the cloth
on your drum [Graphic: illustration of teeth per inch]
3. Hand combs and hackle [photos and examples]
1. Portable; mobile; small footprint
2. Can blend color and fibers, even repeatables, but only with smooth
ingredients
3. Removes second cuts and smaller pieces of the locks/fiber, then
aligns the fiber strands
4. The results are always smooth/worsted, especially when combined with
a diz. Combed and dizzed top is the baseline preparation for a true
worsted spin
5. High-quality combs are costly, and you may require more than one set
for the fibers you like to spin
6. Combing fiber is time consuming
7. The repetitive movements can put strain on your joints
4. Hand cards [photos and examples]
1. Closest to the blending board, IMO, but much smaller. Low footprint,
portable, and affordable, and may be used in many ways.
2. Good for true woolen preparation (the only true woolen prep is a
hand-carded rolag), and even for mimicking a combed preparation when
the lock of fiber is flick-carded into alignment
3. You could also card the fiber into alignment and then roll it
sideways (cigar style) off the card, or diz a roving off of your hand
card.
4. Good for color blending and for combining textures and fibers
5. Good for carding almost any fiber-cellulose or wool
6. You could make punis, puni-style rolags, and actual rolags (each
yields a very different result)
7. The small surface size means that the process can be time consuming,
especially if you are working on a garment's worth of fiber or other
large spin
5. Blending board [with photos]
1. Affordable, portable, and easily stored in small spaces. Can be moved
from area to area within your home with ease. With the adjustable
keel attachment, you can adjust the board to the most comfortable
angle and even from your most comfortable standing to sitting angle
within seconds. The flat surface makes for easier scalable loading,
for those who'd like to spin a good amount of fiber that works well
together
2. Excellent for releasing (and discovering) creativity
3. Holds and blends as much as an average (7-8" wide drum) drum carder
4. The flat surface allows for intentional placement and loading of
fibers and decorative elements
5. Easy on the body
6. The alignment of the teeth means that you can replicate a worsted
result easily, but you could also card a true roving. With the extra
knowledge gained in this book, you can card fiber through the entire
spectrum of woolen to worsted prep
7. Good for fiber play and experimentation, especially since you don't
have to load and entire board's worth of fiber if you don't want to
8. Can replicate any preparation or blend as a drum carder, including
gradients, placement of color/texture for a variegated result, true
color blending, and more
9. While different TPI (teeth per inch) are available and are part of
selecting the board that's right for you (see Chapter II), the hidden
blending power lies within the accessories you use with it. One board
can help you do it all
10. Accessories and additional tools are affordable and often found lying
around the house
11. Turns fiber prep into fiber play
12. Most people just don't realize all the blending board can do,
especially since spinners tend to focus more on combs and carders,
and which of those they should get first
6. How to choose the blending board that's right for you
1. TPI of cloth
2. Directionality of the teeth/how this differs from drum carder cloth
3. Size of the carding cloth
4. Does it have a keel?
5. Price
7. How to DIY your own board (see appendix A for supplies list, schematic and
full directions)
8. List and photos of board makers used in this book (will be using course 48
TPI, standard 72 TPI, 90 and 120 TPI and comparing results)
Chapter 2: Industry secrets for unlocking the hidden powers of your
blending board
1. Brushes
1. An assortment of brushes picked up around the house, at dollar
stores, grocery stores, etc. and how these bristle types make all the
difference in the blending/carding of the fibers
2. Vs. the brush(es) that typically arrive with your purchase
1. Loading
1. Order of your fibers and mix-ins
2. Importance of building up the overhang
3. Best staple lengths
4. How much can it hold (and why you shouldn't overload the board)?
1. Dowels
1. Size of typical dowel
2. Size you should go have cut and the difference this makes
3. Sanding your dowels for best results
1. Diz
1. Styles and materials
2. Sizes to collect
3. DIY and other options
Chapter 3: Carded rollups: rolags and batts
These preparations are excellent ways to become comfortable with your
blending board
1. Supplies needed:
1. Wool
2. Silk, Tencel, bamboo or other shinies
3. Angelina and/or sparkle (optional)
4. Scissors or snips
5. Bits of fluffy handspun or yarn
6. Random wool locks
1. Smooth
2. Textured
3. How-to
1. Gradient
2. Variegated
3. Random
1. Rolling off a batt
2. Make it a double (batt)
Chapter 4: Roving vs. top
1. What is roving?
2. How to create it
1. Easy way (from a rolag)
2. From a roLOG
3. From a batt
4. Dizzing a roving
1. How top differs from roving
2. Replicate a combed top using the blending board
Chapter 5: Totally tweed and other texture
Texture can be subtle or bold, and anywhere in-between
1. Supplies needed:
1. Wool
2. Silk noil
3. Angelina and/or sparkle (optional)
4. Silk threads
5. Assortment of locks
6. Scissors or snips
2. What is tweed?
a. Example #1
b. Example #2
c. Example #3
3. Freeform textures for spinning
a. Example #1
b. Example #2
c. Example #3
Chapter 6: Color play
1. Create a fractal-style spin (3 different ways)
2. Repeating stripes
3. Variegated yarn
4. Color blending
Chapter 7: Scalable blending for large, multi-board projects
Chapter 8: Going off board
Other uses you may never have considered
1. Flick carding locks
2. How to make a carded cloud
3. Batty bumps
Chapter 9: Blended recipes and patterns (4 or 5 total)
Ultimate sock yarn with pattern (top down)
Cabled, tweed vest with pattern
Wacky, woven scarf recipe
Gradient shawl pattern
Textured singles yarn with hat pattern
Appendices
DIY blending board (supplies needed, schematic, instructions)
Comparison chart of all brands of blending boards used in this book (makers
to include Ashford, Louet, Daisy, Majacraft, and possibly Clemes and
Clemes)
Resources (a list of makers for all items, including fibers, used in this
book)