I have four BIG batts totaling 13 ounces. Even trying to be pretty careful about keeping proportions of color the same they are all somewhat different, but the silk unifies everything so they coordinate with each other just fine. If a person was really rigid and didn't want much change of color the batts could be split into strips and spun in sequence and any color variation would cease to be noticeable. I am not that person and will be happy to just spin it as it comes. Actually, I might spin just the smallest one as an example of how the silk will show up and then sell the rest. It's not like I don't have a vast stash of spinnable fiber waiting for me ;-)
I like the very smooth finish without having to run it through multiple times. I can see that you need to start with well picked fiber to achieve that and of course don't expect the carder to kick out VM and second cuts because it won't (much). Start with good fiber and you're half way there. I can also see that what doesn't look like much silk going on the drum shows up like a lot more in the batt. I knew to go light on the sparkly stuff and that came out OK for my taste.
Static was not a problem during carding, which I thought it might be, but it sure did show up today while I was handling the batts. Of course it's zero outside and the air is super dry so it's to be expected especially with the finer alpaca fiber in there. This finger of fiber is levitating on it's own from static.
All in all I'm very pleased with the whole process.
Now I have to get busy and skirt/wash/dye more wool!
Very pretty! You can help control static with a light mist of plain old water. Static Guard also works.
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