I adopted Miss Lacey, a tortoiseshell Persian cat; for 14 years and she died this spring from old age at the approximate age of 19 years (the Seattle Humane Society said she was 3-5 years old when we adopted her). I continued to brush and save Miss Lacey’s hair until the day she died. I have a ½-full kitchen garbage bag of her hair. She’s a little gray in this picture.

I learned to spin 8 years ago, and decided to spin her hair into yarn a make a remembrance shawl for myself out of it. There wasn’t enough for a large shawl, so I have blended some mohair into it to stretch the amount of fiber I had to spin. It has a beautiful halo.

Long-haired cat hair is easy to spin. Some long-haired cats' hair felts very easily, so you need to make sure it will not felt before you decide to spin it. Store the cat hair in a paper or plastic bag. Do NOT pack it in tightly (for some cat hair, it will felt no matter what you do). Do not place anything on top of the bag you store it in or you will surely felt it.

You can spin cat hair by 1) carding it first or 2) spinning from the bag. If you card the cat hair first, it will develop a lot of static and make it harder to spin. I find it easier to spin it directly from the bag. If you plan on adding another fiber to it, get some of the same color to stretch the amount of fiber you have.  Also choose something that will halo like angora or mohair. Cat hair yarn has a halo to it. Blend it well before you spin it. When you spin the cat hair, use the smallest number of twists per inch as you possibly can so the fibers will hold together and retain its softness.

When you scour the yarn after you’re finished spinning it, blot it dry, then whap it across the counter 1 or 2 times. This causes minor felting in the strands of yarn. You don’t want it to felt the strands together, just the fibers to hold within the strand. This will get the fibers to hold together better so when you knit, crochet or weave it, you will have spectacular results in whatever project you make. I haven’t made the shawl at this moment, but as soon as the weather cools off around here, I will send a picture of the shawl to share with you.