Blending fibre for spinning (or felting)

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Just in the middle of spinning a gorgeous graduated sliver created on drum carder. will post something on graduated batts and slivers soon

Why might you want to blend?

For colour 

            To produce the colour you want 

            To create variation in colour through yarn  or felt

For texture 

            Using different types of fibre or add locks or neps, material

For shine or glitz

            Add lustre fibre, silk, Angelina, tencel, etc

To change properties of a fibre

            Adding drape to a crimpy fibre or Memory to a drapey fibre ( Eg alpaca)

            Cool a warm fibre (or visa versa) – add silk or bamboo to alpaca or angora

To make a fibre go further 

            If you only have a small amount of a luxury fibre

To make art yarn 

            with bling, texture, colour the lot

To resuscitate compacted fibre, unloved colours and discovered remnants  

Unless truly felted many hard-to-drafts tops respond beautifully to gentle carding or combing; that ugly duckling orange can be transformed to a swanlike elegance or those not-enough-for-anything scraps can just lift a batt. 

(this list is based on suggestions from Anne Schwartz on a facebook group  

I will adda few more blogs on blending, i love the way it transforms what you have