Tuesday, July 10, 2012

And they called it Chiengora

In case you haven't already noticed, I'm just the tiniest bit insane.  Today, to illustrate this fact, I am preparing fur harvested from my dog, Max, to spin into yarn.  So far, I've soaked it in a small tub with nice-smelling shampoo and cold water, then rinsed and rinsed until the water ran clear.  Now I'm off to drain off the last bit of water and set the fur out in the sun to dry.  Tomorrow I will card the fluff using a pair of slicker brushes ($2 - $3 apiece, so not a huge investment if you would like to try your hand at carding fiber for spinning) and pre-draft it into pencil roving to spin at the earliest convenience.

I've also harvested fur from Nina, our Australian Shepherd.  Her undercoat is a blend of tan, grey and black, while Max's is a more uniform fawn color.  I may spin singles from both dogs and then ply the contrasting singles together.  I don't imagine I'll have enough yarn to make anything substantial, but to a spinner, sometimes a ball of unique yarn is its own reward.

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