I'm a member of the Handweavers & Spinners Guild of Victoria and yesterday attended a one day workshop on preparing fibres for spinning. First part of the day involved pulling wool staples through a carder mounted on a small vice to create fibre free of tangles, cut ends and knots and ready to spin. Once this was mastered we moved on to using the same process to mix fibres of different colours, using the results to create a colour-wheel. Each participant was set up with a carder and a selection of fibres, so very much a hands-on session. The afternoon session was a demonstration of using the drum carder and while interesting, lacked the hands-on experience we all had in the morning.
A worthwhile day; Jess would have approved.
Go here for photos of the workshop.