New Toy! DaisyFiber Blending Board!

I have been wanting a blending board since I started spinning, and this year, as a Mother’s Day gift to myself, I finally got one!  I got the DaisyFiber Blending Board off Howard Brush Outlet on Etsy.  I ordered the factory second board with the foot/keel and a standard blending brush (also factory second...I seriously can’t find the “imperfections” though).  

I watched tons of videos and read everything I could find on this awesome piece of equipment, and when my board arrived on Friday, I had an old, unloved braid of fiber ready to practice with.  As expected, my first board full of fiber was a disaster!  The first rolag I rolled was so tight on the dowels that I actually had to cut it off the dowels and call it a loss.  I layered the fiber on way too thick and unevenly.   Lesson learned, but it took until my fourth and last board full of fiber with that braid before I got into the groove of evenly applying thin layers of fiber, which made drafting the rolags much easier.  

For my next and current project, I gathered up about an ounce total of pink, purple and blue combed top (that I have an absolute ton of) to make some multicolored rolags.  I find my blending board can take about an ounce of fiber at a time which produces 4 rolags.  I didn’t weigh the fiber because I am not super concerned about replicating these rolags perfectly.  I put the fiber down in three light layers, using my blending brush to smooth down each layer as I worked.   Rolling the rolags went smoothly this time and I loved the look of my little rolags so much that I made a whole pile!  Next stop, my spinning wheel!

Layer 1

Layer 2

Layer 3...ready to roll!

Completed rolags, 1 ounce ready to spin!