It’s a scarf! It’ a memento! It’s Bella!
It’s not something the typical dog owners does, but with enough sheddings and some hard work you can make a shawl out of your shiba inu, a cowl out of your collie, a scarf out of your Schipperke, or even an afghan out of your Afghan.
Denise Rothwell of Great Falls, Montana, has turned the fur from her two Great Pyrenees — Bella and Windsor — into scarves and throw blankets, with a litle help from her mother.
Shirley Rothwell spins Bella and Windsor’s hair into yarn, and her daughter does the knitting. Denise got the idea from a book, and asked her mother to make the yarn.
“The fur is white and beautiful. Great Pyrenees are double coated, with a long top layer and a short downy under layer. It’s really quite pretty. I first made her a scarf and I am working on an afghan,” Shirley told the Great Falls Tribune.
Shirley, with Bella and Windsor at her side, demonstrated how to spin shed dog hair into yarn over the weekend at the Montana State Fair.
Denise combs her dogs on a regular basis and collects the hair in plastic bags. She turns it over to her mother, who washes it with Dawn dishwashing soap and places it in a lingerie bag to soak in 140 degree water.
Dawn, Shirley said, takes out that wet dog smell.
Shirley has started an afghan made up of the coats of all six of her Great Pyrenees her daughter has owned. Denise sees it as a way to preserve her memories of them.
“Some people keep ashes or other mementos for their pets, and this is my memento,” Denise said.
(Photo: Larry Beckner / Great Falls Tribune)
Posted by jwoestendiek August 1st, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: afghans, animals, bella, denise rothwell, dog, dogs, fur, great falls, great pyrenees, hair, hobbies, knit, knitting, mementos, memory, montana, montana state fair, pets, pyrenees, scarf, scarves, shed, sheddings, shirley rothwell, spin, spinning, sweaters, windsor
Comment from Anne’n'Spencer
Time August 1, 2011 at 7:18 am
My mother knew a woman who did this, and I know my mother (who was a hand weaver and spinner as well as a dog lover) always wanted to try. The most beautiful pieces I ever saw were done from the combings of a few Samoyeds–snow white and so soft!
Some people think this is a dandy idea, but I’ve also run into people who were disgusted by it. I always thought it was no different from wool, alpaca, or any of the other warm fibers we can get from animals without causing them suffering.