https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/spinning-your-pet-hair • Posted by Tina J.
As soon as my friends and family found out I could make yarn they began collecting their favorite pet's fur. With careful selection and the following tricks you too can spin your pets hair.
As soon as my friends and family found out I could make yarn they began collecting their favorite pet's fur. With careful selection and the following tricks you too can spin your pets hair.
Gather your pet fur. Often the pet owner will regularly brush their pet and save the hair over time in a resealable bag. Both the Dog and Cat hair used for this project were collected over a period of 2 years yielding approximately 1 gallon of dry fur. In order to work well the fur needs to be fine and with a slight wave or crimp. having a fairly long length is desirable as this will make spinning easier.
I use the slow washing method. Pour 1-2 Tablespoons of dishwashing liquid into a tub (at least twice as large as the amount of fleece you will wash). Fill the tub with hot tap water about half full.
Gently drop your fur into the hot and soapy water pressing against it until it is submerged. Leave the water to cool slowly. It is crucial that you DO NOT agitate the fur while in the hot water or pour cold water over it. Fine animal fur can felt quite easily and these two things are likely to felt your fur.
Leave the fleece in the water until it is cool. I usually wait until the next day but a few hours is enough. Gently lift the fur and squeeze out the excess water. Place the wet fur into a bucket. Refill the tub with hot water and re-submerge the fleece into the tub to rinse. Hint: because this is really important to say twice! You can bring animal fibers up in temperature without felting your fiber. If you pour colder water or agitate the fur too much you risk felting it. If you feel that there is still soap in the fur you can repeat this. I rinsed both my dog and cat fur just once.
When the water has again cooled lift out the clumps of fur and gently squeeze out the excess water. Spread the fleece onto a lined drying rack (I lined mine with paper towels but anything absorbent will do). Leave the fur to dry overnight.
Pull the dried fur off of your rack and pick it (pull it apart repeatedly) to remove any bits of vegetable matter that remains in it. I found very little vegetable matter in these pet's fur. There is usually much more in sheep fleece! Run your fur through a carder. I have an electric carder but this fleece will card just as well if using a hand turned drum carder or even hand carders. A pair of dog brushes is an inexpensive way to get a pair of small carders. Carding aligns the fibers to make them easier to spin. If your fur is particularly fine or short blending it with another animals fleece will make spinning much easier. Either Sheep or Alpaca fleece would work well for this. To blend the two fleeces together mix them during the picking process or layer your sheep/alpaca fleece onto the carder with the fur. Placing find pet fur on top of a layer of fleece works best. The carding process will blend the two together.
Spin your carded fur or blended fur on a spinning wheel or using a drop spindle. If you choose to spin the fur without blending a longer draw technique while spinning will help you successfully spin shorter fibers. Just as your pets fur shed your combed fur will also shed while you spin it. Be prepared to get fluffy!
Ply: When you have finished spinning this one ply yarn create two ply yarn by dividing the bobbin in half. Reverse the direction you are spinning and ply the two strands together. This will make a stronger yarn to knit or crochet with. Set the Twist: wind your two ply yarn onto a niddy noddy and tie it in several places. Remove the yarn and twist it into a skein. soak your skein in warm water. While wet take your skein of yarn out of the water and whip it against something stationary like a tree trunk or fence post. This technique called 'thwacking' disperses the twist creating a more evenly twisted yarn. Hang your yarn to dry on a hook with a weight hung from the bottom. A spray bottle with water in it works well for this.
Use your pet fur yarn to create a gift for someone!