Knitting with Dog Hair

Better a sweater from a dog you know and love than from a sheep you’ll never meet.

By Kendall Crolius & Anne Montgomery

                You may have fiber for spinning right at your feet (and on your bed, and all over the floors, and stuck on your clothing…) – your pet’s fur.  In Knitting with Dog Hair you will learn how to turn the fuzz from your beloved pet into a garment you can wear.  Dog hair produces a halo effect in yarn similar to angora and mohair, and is even warmer than wool.  So instead of just wearing your dog’s hair on your black dress slacks, turn it into a knitted or woven garment you choose to put on.

                There are 10 projects to knit and weave producing fluffy hats, mittens, scarves and sweaters. There is even a sweater for Fido in case he needs another coat.

                The first half of this easy to read book walks the reader through the fiber harvesting process, the combing and blending, and the spinning and dying.  Tips on handling the fiber and spinning on a drop spindle and a wheel are described.  Pet fuzz is recommended to be spun thin and plied since it may be quite fine and often shorter than sheep wool.  Blending or ‘sprinkling’ the dog fiber with wool is the best way to handle shorter and courser fiber types. 

                One rather witty chapter certainly worth reading is the Spinners’ Guide to Dog Breeds, which describes the fiber and spinning qualities of every breed of dog from A to Z.  What is especially fun to read is the ‘personalities’ of the dogs and their fiber harvesting issues.  Samoyed, Great Pyrenees and Newfoundlands provide copious amounts of down for beautiful yarn.  However, if your dog is a short haired breed, you will find suggestions on how to harvest and spin these fibers too. 

                In case you aren’t interested in spinning your pet’s fuzz, but you must have yarn from the gobs of fluff you comb and sweep up daily, there is a list of pet hair spinners for hire in the Appendix.   

Christine Williamson, Librarian, 2009

Butler County Spinners and Weavers Guild