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Keepsakes From Your Beloved Pet
Article Source: Written by: Kathy Fellows Author's email: kfellows@doe.k12.me.us Author's website: http://www.mainecite.org/~kfellows/ Credits: Photographs by Kathy Fellows Ever thought you could make something out of your pet’s hair? Ever thought anyone would buy your brushed dog hair? Well it’s true and it’s not as undesirable as it may sound. Chiengora (pronounced she-an-gora) is the name associated with dog hair. “Chien” is French for dog and “gora” is from angora, the fiber the dog hair most closely resembles. It has been written on the internet that dog hair is now considered a luxury fiber along with mohair, cashmere, and angora. I have been interested in yarn crafts since I was in high school. My mother loved knitting and sewing, and it was she who taught me how to crochet. Then one day I was surfing the web and found a shop in Connecticut who took lay-a-ways and this is how I bought my first spinning wheel. I am now 49 years old and have been spinning yarn for about two and a half years, with the past year and a half focused on spinning dog hair. Today I live in the country and have two cats, two cockatiels, and a dog. My dog is a shepherd/lab cross and while he doesn’t have the longest hair to brush and save, I’m determined to make something from his hair that I can keep forever. The first item I ever made was a pair of mittens from some sheltie dog hair I had purchased from a friend at work. The more you wore them, the fuzzier they got. Well I finally got to make myself a pair and I lost them to another dog; one of the hazards of having something made from dog hair! With this specialized spinning craft its fun to see different reactions from people who inquire about my handmade goods. I wore a pair of the mittens into our small local store and the owner inquired about them. I told her all about how I made them and spun the yarn from dog hair. She wanted to buy them right there on the spot so I sold them to her. Before I left the store she told me she had bought them for her dog to chew on and play with! I was bewildered that my wonderful mittens were going to be chewed up by a dog.  
There was another time that I made a beautiful white hat out of Great Pyrenees dog hair. The person who I made it for gave it to her friend and her friend refused to wear it because it was dog hair! Recently a friend asked if I could make a belt out of his dog’s hair for his college age daughter. He said that when he told her it was from their dog she said “WHAT!” and dropped it on the floor at once. He then explained that I spun the hair into yarn and had made the belt from the yarn. It was then she decided that she really liked it. I have received much appreciation for making keepsakes for people. One lady I met on the internet had a dog that was sick with cancer. A friend of hers sent me some of the dog’s hair and asked if I would make a heart as a secret gift. I made the heart and glued a button on the front that said “I love my dog.” The woman received the heart in the mail the very day the dog passed away. She emailed me later and told me how much she loved it and even had it hanging at her desk at work. I once made a Golden Retriever heart for a friend of a friend. This woman’s dog had passed away and the heart was made as a keepsake. The woman loved the heart and even cried when it was given to her. It’s so nice to have a way that a person’s beloved pet can live on even after they’ve passed away. Another person I spun for was from another state and she wanted her dog hair made into yarn so that husband could weave with it. I spun the hair and kept mailing her 5 or 6 skeins at a time. While I was in the processes of spinning all the dog hair, her husband passed away of a heart attack. The woman emailed me and told me she buried a skein of that yarn with her husband because he loved the dog. She thanked me and said no one else could have done this for her. Yet another person had two dogs, a collie and a husky. She wanted hearts made for her Christmas tree. So I spun hair from both dogs and made hangers and mailed them to Texas for her. They sent me a message that said “It will be nice to have these special ornaments hanging on our tree this year and for years to come, thanks so much for all of your effort….your craft is a blessing!” When I spin a dog’s hair I look for brushed dog hair because it is softer then cut hair. You can, though, save your dog’s clippings from the groomer. I even met a wonderful groomer in Massachusetts who not only saved her long haired dog clippings for me, but she also saved some Persian cat hair as well! Short hair can be sprinkled in wool and carded together if someone really wants to have the hair from their precious animal made into yarn. Once I get the dog hair, I wash it in lavender shampoo. I have had good results with it taking out all the doggy smell and not having the doggy smell come back, even when the item gets wet. Items made with dog hair should be hand washed. I have made, hats, mittens, scarves, lap-ghans, slippers and keepsakes, such as a heart with a hanger. I get my dog hair from friends at work and people I’ve met on the internet. Some breeds of dogs for making yarn are Huskys, Collies, Shelties, Sheep Dogs, Great Pyrenees, St. Bernards and wolf . Persian cat hair is lovely too, just as soft as angora rabbit. I can no longer look at a pet without checking out its fur! It’s a wonder I don’t run around my neighborhood with a dog hair brush! It’s truly a nice feeling to be able to make a small keepsake from someone’s pet hair that they can treasure forever! My future goal is to find some crocheted dog patterns, specifically ones that are just like the dog’s hair that I spin and make yarn from. Just as I spin St. Bernard hair, I could crochet a little miniature St. Bernard from the hair. I figure it’s a great next step to recreating a loved furry friend and having them close always.
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