The Vespiary Book Binding & Book Conservation

Wool is in the house! Well, at least on the property, now.  This past Saturday, I went to Sugar Loaf Mill in Hall, MT to pick up the wool insulation for the shed remodel. When we arrived, they were having a Spin-in, so not only did we get a chance to watch the carding machine in action, we were able to watch the processed wool get turned into yarn.  One gal even had a skein of beautiful black yarn that she had made from her labrador retriever. Sue and Ed were lovely hosts, and if you live in Missoula, they’ll be staffing a booth at the Clark Fork Saturday Market.  Check out all the photos from the trip on my flickr page.

The carding machine itself is like a Rube Goldberg contraption. Watch this video I took.

The basic principle of carding is to align all the fibers in the same direction and clean out all the debris (and trust me, if you’ve hung around sheep, they have a remarkable ability to trap debris in their wool).  Just like bookbinding equipment, carding machinery has changed little over the years. After looking at pictures of the different kinds of machines, it seems the only differences are in the number of drums and their alignment with each other.

It was a true Montana road trip - we got stuck in a cattle herd, saw cowboys on horses with cattle dogs, lots of raptors, deer, and even a weasel. Lunch was across from a ranch supply store. A big sky day, to boot. Oh yeah, we asked where the sheep were at Sugar Loaf, but apparently they can’t keep them because wolves come down from the mountains and are too much trouble. That’s when I knew I was in Montana.

Our concrete pad got poured yesterday, so we’re ready to roll on the actual structure now.  I’m getting antsy about moving all my equipment in and getting settled in the new space.