And this is the yarn - or 'chiengora'.
I charge £7.50 per 10g (p&p not included) with a minimum charge of £15. This is based on the final amount spun - not the amount received. There is usually some wastage in the processing (sometimes as much as 16%).
Below is Bailey - just the next-to-skin softest, fluffiest yarn from a Keeshond: The picture of the heart was made from Bailey's fur - it takes 10g of fluff to make a heart To spin and knit a heart will cost you £15 + P&P
Bailey the Keeshond
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… and the heart made from his fur.
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If YOU would like your canine (or feline) fur spun into gorgeous yarn to knit up (or would like it knitted up too) then please do contact me.
Suitable breeds of dogs are any of the double coated breeds - especially the dogs from northern territories such as Samoyed, Malamute, Husky, Newfoundland, Elkhound - but any dog with a long, soft undercoat is suitable - at least an inch in length, if possible.
.Any cat with long or medium hair would also be suitable (if you can persuade them to be brushed!): breeds such as Persian, Ragdoll, and Himalayan.. But even short-haired cats can provide fur as I found out from the Gingertom cat.
What to do if you are interested in having your pet's fur spun into yarn
You will need to collect the brushings from your animal, and store in a paperbag or pillowcase or similar to keep it dry. Plastic may cause the fibre to felt and sweat.
Clippings are also OK, but need to be long - at least1"/ 2cm and not include the 'short cuts' where the barber goes back over for another swipe with the razor.
Try to ensure the fur is clean and is as free of vegetable matter and guard hair as possible. Fur from the back and shoulders of the dog is preferable to the coarser hair from the belly, back legs and around the 'rear end'.
Send a small sample to me for assessing and I will let you know how much work is involved and how much it will cost before doing anything - about 10grams (or a handful in an envelope) will be plenty - this service will be provided FREE. Once I have assessed the fur, I will send you a form with an estimate of costs and the options available and a small knitted square so you can see what the resulting chiengora looks and feels like.
There is an extra cost for removing detritus or guard hairs. If you want the fur blended with wool (it tones down the halo and makes the chiengora more elastic and less 'hot' to wear and it can also make very short fibres easier to spin) then I will charge for the additional wool and weight (at cost - about £2 per 100g).
I can blend your pet fur with angelina fibres to add sparkle (great fun!) and/or dye it, again at extra cost.
I can also wind the skein into a centre pull ball for an extra 50p per 50g.
Please allow 6 weeks from initial order to completion (although I may well be able to complete your order in far less time).
Package and Posting is extra: Royal Mail Website
Ordinary 1st Class Post -large Letter :- Under 100gms = 93p (but has to fit thru a small slot!); 101gms - 250gms = £1.24
Ordinary 1st Class-Small Parcel :- Up to 1 kilo = £3.20 2nd Class = £2.80
Special Delivery (Please consider this option if your fur is particularly precious as I cannot guarantee your parcel arriving once it's left my hands). Your parcel is trackable, should be delivered the day after posting before 1pm and it will need signing for.
Under 100gms = £6.40; 101gms to 500gms = £7.15
(I can sometimes find a postal rate cheaper with a Courier - and will endeavour to find the cheapest but reputable post).
One MORE thing - I would LOVE a photograph of your pet to put up on this site when I'm spinning the fur please!
Spinning chiengora is a very labour intensive, long process involving washing (or scouring), combing or carding and otherwise prepping the fibre, handspinning into singles and then plying before making into a skein or hank and then washing again. It takes me a full day to prep (ie hand-card into rolags) and spin and ply 100g (just less than 200yards of my default) yarn but spinning fur from a beloved pet is very special and I enjoy doing it.
My default is 4ply/fingering/sport weight. A fine laceweight yarn would give you more yardage but would take me longer.
'Chiengora' (a 'portmanteau' or compound word from the french word for dog and 'angora') is at least 6 times warmer than sheep's wool and has a very fluffy halo - which will get even fluffier with time.
The best chiengora uses the soft undercoat of double coated dogs which is combed out (particularly the Northern breeds such as Husky, Malamute, Samoyed etc) - but the longer, soft coats of e.g. poodles (often clipped) are also suitable but be sure to just take the fibres over 1cm in length - any shorter than that and they will moult from the yarn, and get up my nose when I'm spinning it. The coarse 'guard hairs' of the topcoat are undesirable as they can be very prickly and make the resulting yarn itchy. These need to be removed as far as is possible before spinning.
As well as spinning Kyla's fur, I have spun the fur from a much loved (but now deceased) ginger tomcat, whose owner had saved his combings in a silk scarf. These little balls of fur needed teasing apart then blending with sheep's wool as they were so short. However I DID manage to spin it up and made a brioche hat and scarf with the resulting yarn.
I have also spun Tibetan and King Charle's Spaniel brushings to make fingerless mittens and spun the composting wool from Jack - a border collie - and managed to make just a small heart with the result (see the blog post - a warning to keep your brushings DRY!).
Most recently I have been spinning golden retriever fur (from 'Jack' and 'Silke') and knitting hearts and scarves with it.
Completed Easter 2015 - Tibetan Terrier fluff from Rikki, Spats and Buster - see pic to the left and below.
Bottom picture - a rag doll cat - 200g fur spun January 2016 and a further 200g spun December 2017/January 2018
Suitable breeds of dogs are any of the double coated breeds - especially the dogs from northern territories such as Samoyed, Malamute, Husky, Newfoundland, Elkhound - but any dog with a long, soft undercoat is suitable - at least an inch in length, if possible.
.Any cat with long or medium hair would also be suitable (if you can persuade them to be brushed!): breeds such as Persian, Ragdoll, and Himalayan.. But even short-haired cats can provide fur as I found out from the Gingertom cat.
What to do if you are interested in having your pet's fur spun into yarn
You will need to collect the brushings from your animal, and store in a paperbag or pillowcase or similar to keep it dry. Plastic may cause the fibre to felt and sweat.
Clippings are also OK, but need to be long - at least1"/ 2cm and not include the 'short cuts' where the barber goes back over for another swipe with the razor.
Try to ensure the fur is clean and is as free of vegetable matter and guard hair as possible. Fur from the back and shoulders of the dog is preferable to the coarser hair from the belly, back legs and around the 'rear end'.
Send a small sample to me for assessing and I will let you know how much work is involved and how much it will cost before doing anything - about 10grams (or a handful in an envelope) will be plenty - this service will be provided FREE. Once I have assessed the fur, I will send you a form with an estimate of costs and the options available and a small knitted square so you can see what the resulting chiengora looks and feels like.
There is an extra cost for removing detritus or guard hairs. If you want the fur blended with wool (it tones down the halo and makes the chiengora more elastic and less 'hot' to wear and it can also make very short fibres easier to spin) then I will charge for the additional wool and weight (at cost - about £2 per 100g).
I can blend your pet fur with angelina fibres to add sparkle (great fun!) and/or dye it, again at extra cost.
I can also wind the skein into a centre pull ball for an extra 50p per 50g.
Please allow 6 weeks from initial order to completion (although I may well be able to complete your order in far less time).
Package and Posting is extra: Royal Mail Website
Ordinary 1st Class Post -large Letter :- Under 100gms = 93p (but has to fit thru a small slot!); 101gms - 250gms = £1.24
Ordinary 1st Class-Small Parcel :- Up to 1 kilo = £3.20 2nd Class = £2.80
Special Delivery (Please consider this option if your fur is particularly precious as I cannot guarantee your parcel arriving once it's left my hands). Your parcel is trackable, should be delivered the day after posting before 1pm and it will need signing for.
Under 100gms = £6.40; 101gms to 500gms = £7.15
(I can sometimes find a postal rate cheaper with a Courier - and will endeavour to find the cheapest but reputable post).
One MORE thing - I would LOVE a photograph of your pet to put up on this site when I'm spinning the fur please!
Spinning chiengora is a very labour intensive, long process involving washing (or scouring), combing or carding and otherwise prepping the fibre, handspinning into singles and then plying before making into a skein or hank and then washing again. It takes me a full day to prep (ie hand-card into rolags) and spin and ply 100g (just less than 200yards of my default) yarn but spinning fur from a beloved pet is very special and I enjoy doing it.
My default is 4ply/fingering/sport weight. A fine laceweight yarn would give you more yardage but would take me longer.
'Chiengora' (a 'portmanteau' or compound word from the french word for dog and 'angora') is at least 6 times warmer than sheep's wool and has a very fluffy halo - which will get even fluffier with time.
The best chiengora uses the soft undercoat of double coated dogs which is combed out (particularly the Northern breeds such as Husky, Malamute, Samoyed etc) - but the longer, soft coats of e.g. poodles (often clipped) are also suitable but be sure to just take the fibres over 1cm in length - any shorter than that and they will moult from the yarn, and get up my nose when I'm spinning it. The coarse 'guard hairs' of the topcoat are undesirable as they can be very prickly and make the resulting yarn itchy. These need to be removed as far as is possible before spinning.
As well as spinning Kyla's fur, I have spun the fur from a much loved (but now deceased) ginger tomcat, whose owner had saved his combings in a silk scarf. These little balls of fur needed teasing apart then blending with sheep's wool as they were so short. However I DID manage to spin it up and made a brioche hat and scarf with the resulting yarn.
I have also spun Tibetan and King Charle's Spaniel brushings to make fingerless mittens and spun the composting wool from Jack - a border collie - and managed to make just a small heart with the result (see the blog post - a warning to keep your brushings DRY!).
Most recently I have been spinning golden retriever fur (from 'Jack' and 'Silke') and knitting hearts and scarves with it.
Completed Easter 2015 - Tibetan Terrier fluff from Rikki, Spats and Buster - see pic to the left and below.
Bottom picture - a rag doll cat - 200g fur spun January 2016 and a further 200g spun December 2017/January 2018
