Knits made from pet hair

[Flaxbee]

Would you want your cat's or dog's fur to be made into a shawl / blanket / whatever so you'd have something 'real' by which to remember your beloved companion?



http://www.wmur.com/news/21480944/detail.html

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- People can become very close with their pets, and a Manchester woman has come up with a way to get even closer.

Nancy Brome's company, Hair of the Dog Designer Yarns and Pet Emporium, has been in operation for three years and started with an idea Brome had for her own dog. With just a couple of handfuls of dog hair, Brome can spin yarn.

"My family thought it was weird," she said. "They just thought this was another of my crazy ideas."

Crazy or not, the idea started with her 13-year-old Afghan, Chili Dog.

"I put the idea together and said, I'm going to spin yarn out of his beautiful fiber,' and then, 'I'm going to knit a shawl,' and then I'll always have something wonderful to remember him by."

Brome took a couple of spinning classes but was pretty much on her own in terms of working with dog fur. When she started showing people her work, something happened that she never expected.

"People started bringing me bags of their dog hair and their cat hair and said, 'Can you do mine?'" Brome said.

Three years later, and Brome has her own shop. She considers Chili Dog to be the vice president.

<<snip>>

Most clients are just like Brome and want something unique to remember their animals, a responsibility that Brome said she does not take lightly.

<<snip>>

Brome said she helps give pet owners a practical way to hold onto something they never want to forget.

[mcctatas]

1. My mom had her wedding dress made from Afghan hair

it was beautiful but HEAVY

[Flaxbee]

2. what?

that sounds unreal to me. Are you pulling my leg? Afghan hair? Afghan dog hair? The fur is beautiful, but I've never heard of such a thing.

Really? Any particular reason why? Just incredibly curious...

[mcctatas]

4. she honestly did...

she had a friend who was a weaver and also kept Afghans, I think she blended it with wool when she was spinning it (or whatever you call that thing you do with a wheel and stuff), I remember helping her card bags and bags AND BAGS of the stuff. If I find a picture of it I will post it, it was very simple but pretty

[grace0418]

3. My friend knew someone who did this, but she warned my friend not to knit a sweater

with the resulting yarn. She said it would be suffocatingly hot. I believe it. My cat is a little furnace.