Even before I learned to spin I had the idea to spin some yarn from the fur of my daughters two dogs Seratia and Montana. I tried llama, loved it, alpaca loved it, dog fur, not so much.
It's not the spinning part that I minded nor the actual knitting of the yarn into mittens for Michelle, it was the fur that kept getting all over my clothes, the chair, the floor, my nose, everywhere that I didn't like. It's everywhere I turn, dog fur.
The yarn is very soft with a halo and the pattern for the mitts is out of the September, 2010 issue of Creative Knitting magazine called Cable and Rib Set.
After a visit to the farm of Silent Valley Alpacas in Ompah, Ontario, I purchased some raw alpaca fibre the exact color of the dogs and the owner gave me some great advice on spinning and carding it dirty, when sheep are spun dirty it's called spinning in the grease, I don't
know what it's called when you spin alpaca and dog fur dirty because they don't have lanolin as the sheep do, maybe spinning in the dirt, maybe not!! But the advice was good advice and it worked. I washed the yarn in hot soapy water when I set the twist. It felted a bit because I had to pull the yarn apart slightly after it was dried. When I carded the alpaca and dog fur together the colors blended together and I got a golden beige yarn, the picture is pretty close to actual color.
know what it's called when you spin alpaca and dog fur dirty because they don't have lanolin as the sheep do, maybe spinning in the dirt, maybe not!! But the advice was good advice and it worked. I washed the yarn in hot soapy water when I set the twist. It felted a bit because I had to pull the yarn apart slightly after it was dried. When I carded the alpaca and dog fur together the colors blended together and I got a golden beige yarn, the picture is pretty close to actual color.I'm almost finished knitting the mittens just one more thumb left, but now (again) the test, will these be worn or will they sit in the closet??
