Hi, I'm new. I have a question. My silky terrier canine has passed away. I was saving her hair to make a sentimental treasure from her.
I would like to make something like a scarf, hat, or any ideas would be appreciated. But I don't know how to prepare the hair/fur, i.e. like washing it, spinning it. It's a bag full. Sassy's fur is not really fur, it is considered hair as she was a non-shedding dog. The hair is about five inches in length.
First: there was (may still be) a book specifically about Knitting With Dog Hair. Your library may be able to get it by Interlibrary Loan.
Since you don't spin, maybe you could find a spinner by asking at the local yarn shop if they know anyone who spins some of her own yarn.
I am not a spinner but I've read some comments about spinning and wool preparation. No doubt the spinners will be responding to you soon.
If possible, it would be good to lay the hair out so that all the cut ends are in the same direction. If you can get one of those mesh bags sold for keeping socks together in the laundry, you could carefully lay the sorted hair in it and then submerge it in a wide pan (or tub) of hot water with dishwashing liquid. Let it soak a while and then lift it (or just drain the water if it's in the tub) and rinse in equally hot water. Then lay it flat to dry.
A word of warning: Notice what it smells like when it's wet. That's what the finished object will smell like if it gets wet! Some people have had unhappy experiences when caught in the rain and suddenly their apparently smell-free scarf smelled like wet dog. Some dogs don't smell bad when wet, but it's up to you to decide once you smell it. If you'd rather not wear it, then your keepsake project should be something that will stay indoors and dry - perhaps a couch pillow.
If the hair is very silky and doesn't stick to itself well, then it should be mixed with something that will help it stay together, either wool or mohair. I think the mixing would be done in the carding process, but it might be possible to lay it on top of prepared wool and then make strips of the mix (called "roving") to be spun.
If "non-sticky" and the hair is spun by itself, it will shed everywhere, like rabbit fur. It may shed a bit anyway, even if mixed with wool. In that case, you might consider using it to needlepoint a pillow cover instead of knitting one; being sewn through the openings in the canvas might help hold it in place.
I just had another idea. After you sort and wash the hair, if you can't find a spinner, maybe you could use it with a latch hook canvas to latch hook a small shaggy pillow cover. Five inches ought to be long enough to make the pile surface about two inches deep.
Another idea: you could knit something out of a nice grabby wool and every so often knit in a hank of the dog hair. This would work for a couch pillow or the for ends of a scarf that could be plain wool in the middle. It could also be done that way for a decorative band around a hat, or even most of the crown of a hat.
Hi ya First of all, sorry for your loss. I did have this book, thinking I would spin from my dogs combings (westies) well I did once, but before I had the book I treated it as rabbit. However I gave the book away as it was a long old job spinning dog hair. Some say the smell never goes, it does until the item once spun and knitted gets wet, like a hat in the rain, then you can smell dog, luckily for you the silky terriers and the Westies don't smell too much as they both have two coats and the outer coat is what you have combed off. So it isn't so strong as the one coated types.
As it is that long, you'll need to comb it first, lay it into a tub or something once combed, as it may be a bit fly away, then you can either wash it first, by laying it into suds as you would fleece (I am taking it you are already a spinner) use a good conditioner in the final rinse.. then dry it on top of folded towels, once this process is done, I would lightly comb it again and spin from it off your finger, unless you have a Hackle in which case Hackle it as I did, if not then wind a few lengths over your finger to give you a loop and spin from the loop. However if you've a hackle, then do it that way, so much easier.
You can also add an alpaca or some merino to it if you wish to blend it to give it more stability, cos like rabbit, it is so very fly away....or at least mine was. Once spun and plyed wash again and hang with a weight you can dye it and anything you want once you have it stable enough.
Oh if you intend to dye it before spinning, then do lay the fleece in a vinegar solution to open the cuticles of each hair shaft and thus allow the dye into the hair, and then when it's done wash rinse and use condition to make sure the cuticles are closed again
Spouse once spun some for a friend but she never did anything with the yarn. He thought it was ungrateful, he'd put a lot of work into it and didn't enjoy it - mostly because of the smell.
Thankyou all, firstly for all your responses and great ideas! I have no experience at all with the preparation of the wool. Sassy's fur had very little odor. Mostly she picked up the smell wherever she was lying. She smelled like baby powder. I took a piccy of the fur so you all can see. Should I brush the fur out? Some of it has a little matting to it. I was a dog groomer at one time and I'm good with brushing it out . Can I use two twinkie brushes?
So I think I should detangle it before I wash it? After I wash it, can I spin it by hand? In other words, without a spinner?
You know I was also thinking I could make a nice teddybear out of her fur...as there is just a shoebox full of it. Thanks, Shirley for that tip. She was a curly haired silky terrier.
I think once I see how much wool I can get, then I'll figure out what to make.
Thankyou all, > In article snipped-for-privacy@craftbanter.com,
Wash by laying carefully in a bowl of hot suds...do not agitate, hair wont' felt up so much but it can still matt back up. so just press it gently but firmly down into the suds and soak a while...repeat if needed.
Rinse in same way without suds. Final rinse of conditioner.
Lay on towels to dry pressing it down to get out moisture
finally lay onto more towels and place somewhere warm to dry out
when completely dry...Re-comb to liven up the now flattened hair.
Not sure where to go to see the picture? Anyway, use ordinary dog comb to gently comb it out so that you have all the hairs lying in one direction. A needle padded dog brush will be ok if you are used to using this. Not sure what twinkie brushes are but am presuming these are the needle pad type ones, like mini carders. This could make the hair a little bit static, so be prepared for this and to use a dog comb on it.
I'm guessing it will be all sort of grey and light browns in colour, so you could have it so that the brown is mainly at one end, and the grey at the other end.. Then if you spin it all from one length you will get a varied stripe effect, thus an experienced spinner will be able to look at it and advise you on the effects that could be gained from various ways of spinning this hair.
If you don't have a wheel or a spindle to spin with, you could do it by rolling it out on your thigh, but how about getting someone who does spinning to do this for you? If you go to your library you may find a list of local guild spinning members in your area who would be willing to do this for you, for a small fee, maybe to help a charity out??
However if you want to have a go yourself, then buy or make a spindle and drop spindle it, although I ought to say, that learning to spin on your precious bit of hair may not be as easy as you think if you've never done it before, and you could end up messing up your prized bits of hair. So be prepared to loose some of it in trying..lol
Some types of dog hair will unspin it'self, as like human hair. A sheeps fleece single 'hair' strand,as with all hair strands... under a microscope has little tiles all the way down the shaft, but the difference with the sheep fleece strand, is that at the end of each tile they have little curly barbs, that hook into each of the other fleece strands and cling together and thus you get felt.
The tiles open up when in a detergent or acid such as vinegar, and take in the dye if being dyed, then conditioner smoothes all these tiles down again and locks inthe colour. I've never seen a dog hair shaft under the microscope,so am thinking this doesn't have these barbs, as I've not ever seen a dog with felted fur..only matted fur, caused by bits of debris.. whereas sheeps fleece often have felted bits around its belly where they lie on the ground and move around. Friction and often wet ground, causes this felting process. So this also means that you can spin a fleece without it unspinning it'self, because these little barbs, which look like hooks or pigs tails in shape, cling to each other and hold the spun fiber together..and you get spun singles (unplyed) yarn, good for crocheting.
SO presuming the dog hair is much the same as human hair in this respect you may experience some ''fly away'' static, and thus a good conditioner would be a must to help control this. I suggest a hair conditioner for flyaway hair.. Maybe even a small amount of baby oil (or a solution of 3parts water to
1part babyoil) on the fingers of the person spinning it.
Some people take to spinning really easily and find it like second nature, whilst others struggle to get the effect they want for ages and go through alot of fleece trying. Remember too, that you will need to ply this hair, and thus will end up with half or even a little less than what you have now. Being silky and much like human hair, I would think it would unspin itself...try twisting your own hair and just leaving it.....so will need to be plyed.
That's alot of info I had no idea about! I think the piccy might have been too big. I've resized it, and will try again.
Yes, the twinkie brush is just like a little card brush. I'm thinking about when you explained what the sheep wool looks like and why it works so well. My dog's hair is much like a poodle's fiber. It's not straight. I hope the picture shows.
Well I've got my work cut out for me, eh? *lol* I hope my craftiness, pettipoint and art abilities all work in my favor!
Anyway, I'll post as I go al> Hi, this is what I would do...
Another idea: instead of spinning it, just wash it and then use it to stuff a small toy or pillow. Admittedly you don't get the same effect, but the pillow could be embroidered with a picture of the dog.
Hi you may not be able to post photo's to this list, not all lists are for sending files and photo's. Some are able to get them through though. It also isn't always appreciated on some lists. Have you a blog site or other photo online place to put them, there are lots about, including Photo bucket, Shutterfly and tons more with free online photo housing, then all you do is post a link to your pics on here.
Yes I'm afraid spinning for the first time ever, isn't altogether a very easy job for some, and fibres need careful planning beforehand to get the result you want and even then you don't always get exactly what you planned in your head. To say nothing of preparation of any fleece or hair beforehand.
However some do take to it like a duck to water, I sent Noreen some homespun singles(unplyed) yarn that I'd dyed into shades of blues and mauves, and she already had a wheel languishing in the roofspace/attic, and decided to have a go at it, her hubby got it down and sorted it out for her, and she was spinning within a few hours, it didn't phase her at all. Whilst others get large lumps which we call slubs, and didn't want that, and as for me? I couldn't fathom out how to ply although my actual spinning of the single thread was neat and uniform, and Wooly was learning at the same time and helped me out.....many moons ago now all this...but it's funny when you look back.
I thought you meant a Yorkshire Terrier Silky what breed was yours then if it is curly as I am not sure now what your dog looked like.
If it is as curly as a poodles hair then brushing would be the way to go. However don't expect miracles when you begin to spin, you may find you have it too tight, and it comes out like thin cord instead of soft bouncy yarn or too loose and it doesn't hold together... See there are all these things to learn to overcome, so that you are spinning and it isn't like string and rolling back on it'self, and isn't so loosely spun that it isn't any good at all.
I still think you ought to learn to spin before taking on this dogs hair of yours, so that you know what you are doing and don't spoil it, or get someone else to spin it for you, or you could end up with it not how you want it and not useable as far as soft teddybear knitting is concerned. I don't want to put you off either, it's just like anything new, once you've learned you don't forget, but it is getting past the learning stage bit and you really ought to consider picking up say 100- 200grms or so of fleece and learning from that before you take on the only bit of dog hair you have... put it into a tub with a lid to keep it safe, and buy some fleece and a spindle on ebay or something .... learn to spin and then you will have the confidence to tackle this dog hair, so that you get a useable yarn. Some spinners on here may have a bit of fleece they can sell you really cheaply just for you to learn on. If you were in the UK I would send you some, I also run a uk list for spinners weavers and dyers felters etc but you have to be in the UK to join us. However there is plenty of lists and groups out there for any country and I belong to several of them.
You all are so sweet! I really appreciate all the detailed help and advice. I think I got spoiled when I was able to post Sassy's piccy!
*lol* I uploaded piccy's of her hair from my photobucket site. Thanks Mary! Yes she is a silky terrier, but her coat is called a curly coat and is a bit wooly. Not like the regular silkies. I wish you were closer, Cher...I'd love to join in with your group.
Well, time for me to take the great leap of faith! *lol*
Thnx for the photo bucket pics, just tease it out with your fingers brush and wash and rinse etc and dry thoroughly. Brush again and keep somewhere safely stored. Least then when you are ready to spin or have it spun for you, it'll be all ready.
They do this service here in the UK too, but obviously I didn't know what they do where she is, I've never used any of these, although I know of several people who send in whole fleeces to be carded into the woollen factories.
What you do is comb the dog and use the combings so this will come out as a fluff more so than strands, if you've a long haired dog and it's been cut, then it needs to be either combed or carded to produce the right type of spinning material. I've spun a short haired cat fur before, so I would say yes a short haired dog coat would spin, unles it is less than half an inch, then I'd blend it with something else..like alpaca or something.. To make sending it away to be carded and spun you'd have to collect a fair amount of it to make it worth the money and thus get an amount of yarn back you can use, and most is charged by the weight too.
Thought I'd drop in a line on how I'm doing. I started as you call it
*carding*. I must say that the fur is very matted but can easily be dematted. I carded a few piles and I have to say *oh my God* it looks beautiful! But as you say, Cher, when I tried to twist it, it untwists so I will have to ply the fiber. I'm going to do this all myself, but I can tell you that it will be a loving experience...every dematting, etc.
I was wondering, should I dematt first then wash? I thought I'd card it all first then wash it...then card it again. Which will go easy.
The colors are just beautiful, blacks brown and silvers and I'm very happy that I saved her last haircut.
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