Picking
Picking processes clean wool into a veritable cloud, preparing it for carding. During this stage it's easy to blend different types and colors of wool, and putting the entire batch through the picker two or three times produces a very uniform blend.
Going through this process, most of any remaining VM remaining in the fiber drops out, as do small pieces of wool such as seconds from shearing, and short pieces of the fleece.
Wool Moving Down the Conveyor
Pulled apart puffs of clean wool is progressing down the conveyor to the picker where the wool will be separated substantially, clumps eliminated, small VM and pieces of wool shorter than 2 inches will be kicked out of the mass.
Wool After Twice Through the Picker
This is the cloud of white wool after it's been through the picker twice, nice and lofty, ready for carding.
Wool Ready to be Blended in a Picker Run
I've added picked black Wensleydale to add to the white Gotland/Targhee shown above. After both have been through the picker individually, I'll put them through together. It's primarily important as at this point I'm blending three breeds, two coarse longwools and a finewool.
First Carding, Blended Breeds
This is the result of the three blended wools, white Gotland x Targhee, and black Wensleydale after the combined picking has been through the carder once. There are occasional white neps throughout the blended fiber, those are from the Targhee fine wool, and they make for an interesting spinning blend!
Wool on the Picker Conveyor
The wool is lightly fluffed prior to moving down the picker conveyor belt, somewhat slowly, and in controlled amounts. The picker is moving so quicklu that it will pick up clumps of wool right over the intake drums.
Various Picked Wool Ready for Carding
Some will be carded as is, others are ready for blending!