The final product: a combed top, about 12g of VM-free fibre!

When the fleece has dried after washing, It’s time to remove the grass and other bits of vegetative matter (VM) that the sheep picked up over the course of the year. If you happen to be able to find a fleece from a sheep that was jacketed, you can skip this step, but most people in Canada have dual purpose flocks (meat & fleece), and sheep are rarely jacketed. So, the battle with VM removal begins.

For me, this is the slowest part of the entire fleece preparation. It takes about 15 minutes to comb and diz 10-15 g of wool. So, for an average skein of yarn that weighs 100 g, that’s an hour to an hour and a half of combing. I have tried many methods of VM removal, but none have been as effective as combing. The action of pulling the teeth of the combs through the locks seems to allow the bits of hay to fall out, or get caught right at the teeth for easy removal.

So, let’s just admit that all fleece processing tools look like they belong in a zombie apocalypse movie. It would be freaking amazing to see a set of wool combs used on The Walking Dead to defend against zombies!!?! No?!?! Anyway, the tines are super sharp and I never walk away from a combing session without at least one stab wound.

Wool combs can have just one row of teeth or several. The combs I have are Valkyrie fine wool combs, with two rows of tines. They seem to be very versatile and allow the combing of pretty much any fibre. Short fibres are a little more difficult, and can make more waste, but I have combed 2” fibres successfully.

These are the steps involved with combing a fleece:

1. Clamp the stationary comb holder down well, and use a heavy table. When you start combing and pulling on the fibres, it’s a lot easier if you don’t have to worry about your comb or table moving around. Note that you can just use one comb in each hand, but this method is more tiring than having one stationary comb and one working comb.

2. Load the stationary comb with fibre. I like to put the cut ends on the tines and have the tip end hanging free. Keep piling on the fleece until the comb is about 1/2 to 2/3 full. More than this can cause issues - the fibre really puffs up once you start combing. If the combs are overloaded it’s harder to get good transfer between the combs. Also at this point, I may decide to add other fibres to the mix. I just stack up the fibres in alternating layers as I’m loading the combs. The photos below show a blend of white Corriedale, black alpaca, and tan Angora. This all works best if the fibres are around the same length, otherwise the combs will separate the fibres by length a bit, which is not desired when trying to blend!

3. Start combing! On the first pass, it’s easier to take smaller strokes. So, to start, turn the working comb (the one in your hands) 90 degrees to the stationary comb. Move the comb into the fibre about 1” from the free end, then pull the working comb through the fibre. You don’t have to catch a lot on this first pass as the fibre is tangly. If you try to comb too much fibre, you won’t be able to pull the comb through, so just reverse the comb out of the fibres, then take a smaller chunk on the working comb. As the fibres untangle, you will be able to insert the working comb’s tines closer and closer to the stationary comb’s tines, and take bigger and bigger swaths of fibre with each combing stroke. Remember to come at the stationary comb from both the right side and the left side, and switch after every few strokes.

4. As you continue to comb, you will notice that the fibre will move from the stationary comb to the working comb. Try some different wrist movements as well, sometimes a slight twist during the combing stroke helps the fibres transfer faster. Also, ensure that between combing strokes none of the fibres on either the working or stationary combs fold over on themselves. You may have to lightly pat the fibres with your free hand between strokes to ensure they stay unfolded on the combs. This problem exists more in dry climates when the fibres can become static-y. If you are finding this very problematic, try making up some combing milk and spritzing your fibre with it during the combing process (a Google search will bring up several recipes). I have never had a fibre be so problematic that it has required combing milk, but try it out if the static is driving you bonkers!

5. The fibres remaining on the stationary comb will slowly become shorter and shorter. Be careful not to catch the tines of the working comb on the stationary comb as you can damage your combs if this happens.

6. When the fibres are too short or there is too much VM left in what remains on the stationary comb, it’s time to switch. Remove the short fibres and VM from the stationary comb. This is combing waste.

7. Remove the stationary comb from the holder and put the full working comb in its place. Repeat the combing process, continuing to comb with the working comb at 90 degrees to the stationary comb, and switching the attack between the right and left sides.

7. Typically 2 to 3 passes is enough to get the wool pretty darn free of VM. Also, if you’re blending fibres, after 3 passes the fibres will be pretty well blended up. See photo below for 1 pass vs 3 passes.

8. When you’re happy with the cleanliness of the wool, you can diz off to make a length of combed top. Start in at one upper corner and pull a bit of the fleece through your diz hole. Pinch the fibre right at the diz with your fingers and pull and slightly twist the fibre through the hole and off the combs. Keep the diz pushed up lightly against the fibre mass with the hand that is not pulling. Stop pulling before the fibre breaks and move your pinch/pull hand back to the diz outlet, pinch the fibres and pull again. Move the diz left/right or up/down the fibre mass as you are pulling to get all of the wool off of the combs. It takes a bit of practice to get a feel for the fibre, how much to pull out without getting a thin spot in the roving, and how much force to use on the diz to get a good amount of fibre.

9. Coil up your combed top in a neat nest for storage, remove the waste left on the comb after dizzing, and start again!

Sometimes, you may notice that you end up with a bit more of a compact area on your comb, and it is harder to comb and diz from this area of the comb. If this starts happening, just pay attention to how you are moving your working comb through the fibres on the stationary comb. You want to ensure that you are distributing the fibres evenly onto the working comb, so you may have to change how you insert the comb into the fibre mass, or switch from left side to right side more often. Also, you don’t want to twist the comb too much when combing, sometimes this can compact the fibre as well, and make it harder to release on the next pass or when dizzing.

Now that the fleece is clean, it can be dyed, spun, or combined with other fibres.

Raw Fleece Processing Step Three - Combing