Spinning the Fur of Man's (and Women's) Best Friend

Article by Kathy Fellows

I’ve always had the desire to spin yarn.  My Mom taught me how to knit and crochet.  She was always working on something, either knit or crochet or sewing curtains on the sewing machine.  I used to like to make candles, make my own salt scrub, etc.  I think I would have been a good candidate for the 1800’s.

 

Three years ago I decided I really wanted to get a spinning wheel.  So I browsed the web and found a place in Connecticut that took lay-a-ways.  I paid fifty dollars every two weeks until that wheel (Ashford Kiwi) was paid for.  Then I found e-bay and fiber.  And on e-bay I found the book on spinning dog hair.  It sounded interesting and didn’t freak me out because I knew the dog hair was washed before its made into yarn, and sheep are outdoor animals so what would be the difference!  So I started spinning dog hair.  First I had people who would save their dog hair from brushings.  I started out with hats and then mittens.  I did some sheltie mittens that were so nice and fluffy and the more you wore them the fluffier they became. 

 

Then on line I met a person from another state who wanted to sell me her dog hair.  One of her dogs is a Husky and I made a blanket out her dog fur that you just want to brush against your face because it is so soft.  When some dog fur is cut, it’s more prickly but if it’s brushed you can make some nice soft fluffy items.

 

The first picture is a hat made from Great Pyrenees and Sheltie fur.  The second is my wonderful soft husky lap-ghan.  By the way, dog hair does shrink so you should wash items as you would with wool.

 

 

I also make hearts for persons who want a memento of their beloved pet.  I just made one for a good e-mail friend who is a groomer in Massachusetts.  She has a friend whose mother’s dog was put down due to illness and asked if she sent me the fur, would I crochet a heart.  Well I did and sewed on some doggy buttons.  Her and her friend took the mother out of supper and presented her with the heart that they had put in a frame and this is what my friend said:

 

“As I placed the box I made for the heart in her lap she said “O my God, is this my Jasmaines’ fur?  I said yes and she started to cry and hugged me for a long time, then she showed me the photo she has that she pets every day of the dog and told me how that was all she had to remember the dog until now.  She said she thought that she would never feel the real fur ever again!  She said you have no idea how good it is to feel her fur again and to know that now I can pet her any time I want like as if she is still here sitting on my lap like she always was!!”

 

Did you get your tissues out? I need them every time I read her comment.  How wonderful this made me feel to touch someone so much! 

 

If anyone has a beloved pet and wishes for a heart made, you can contact me at spinninglady@adelphia.net.  You can read about saving dog hair at my temporary web site at http://www.mainecite.org/~kfellows.  Hopefully I can figure how to do a new site with my e-mail company. 

 

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Kathy lives in Maine where she pampers her two grandchildren, husband and household of beloved pets. She blogs at http://crochetingfiberlady.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

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Jet Tenley is a happily married 52-year old fiber artist/shepherd who knits (46 yrs.), crochets (44 years), and spins/dyes (8 years). She raises alpacas, Finn, & Icelandic sheep. She won a blue ribbon at the 2006 Black Sheep Gathering for a skein of 2-ply alpaca yarn & a red ribbon for a skein of 2-ply Icelandic wool yarn.