46 Spin Off • http://www.interweave.com
Any fiber enthusiast understands the Call of the
Accessories, that urge to gather tools that help make
our fiber activities the best they can be. I think of my
blending board as an accessory to my spinning, and I find
a certain glee in having accessories for that accessory.
Although most blending boards sold today
come with several standard accessories, adding
a few helpful tools to your blending kit can help
you work more easily and even expand the creative
preparations you produce.Helpful Tools
Blending accessories include anything that helps you
get the fiber onto the blending board and back off
again. Here are a few to get you started.Tulle & Tools
for Blending Boards
By Amy TylerBasic Structure of a Blending Board
At its simplest, a blending board is a fl at piece
of wood with carding cloth mounted on one
side. The tines that make up a carding cloth
have a bend in the middle, called the knee.
Tines can be stiff or fl exible, long or short,
widely or closely spaced. All of these factors
infl uence the nature of blending. Most blend-
ing boards have carding cloth with longer tines
than the carding cloth on handcards.
The bend in each tine gives directionality to
the blending board cloth; this means the fi bers
will catch in one direction while being easily re-
moved in the other. The tines are pointed toward
the top of the blending board. The opposite end
of the board is therefore the bottom. Learn more
about blending boards on page 50.Photos by Matt Graves