Would you like Drum Carding Services?

Here's an idea that I've been thinking about. For over a year I've been selling fiber by the ounce at Wind Rose Fiber Studio. You can purchase larger quantities, but I list by the ounce for a couple of reasons. One is that I know many of my shoppers make felted creations. An ounce is often more than enough to fill their needs. The second reason is that I really like the idea of people being able to create their own yarns by buying an ounce of this and an ounce of that. I love giving people a wide variety of fibers and colors to choose from.

So here's my idea. I'm thinking about offering a carding service for people who would like their fiber purchase blended and combed. Of course you can mix fibers together when you are predrafting and spinning, but its so nice to have them carded. It blends the fibers well and they are so soft and easy to draft. I have a very nice Pat Green Drum Carder and it would be something I could do for spinners with relative ease. I was thinking of charging something like two dollars an ounce which I think would be reasonable for my time.

The carded wool you see here was designed by my weekend guests. Hanna and Lan used to be my crochet students back in VA. They are visiting me here in AZ and I took them into my studio to show them what I've been up to lately. I asked them if they would like to design my next skein of handspun yarn and they jumped enthusiastically into the task. They chose an ounce of Teal Soy Silk, an ounce of Teal Merino. A half ounce each of Teal and Spruce Firestar. (They love sparkle just like their teacher.) Then we divided the rovings in half and carded them into two gorgeous batts of ready to spin fiber. I love the colors they picked! It makes me think of fairy dust. It's so fanciful and sparkly!

Hanna and Lan had such a good time designing my next yarn. Watching them explore my studio looking for the perfect combination of fibers reinforeced my thinking that a carding service would be fun for customers. So what do you think? Good idea? I'd love to hear your thoughts.