Betty Burian Kirk

 
Hand-knit Collie and Golden Retriever hair scarf.

Dog Hair Yarn - Custom Spun

Pricing listed at the bottom of this page.

Also see Frequently Asked Questions About Dog Hair Yarn.

Why Spin Dog Hair?

Handspun dog hair has a different quality than machine spun yarn. Some breeds produce a soft yarn. It makes a useful product, yarn, from the hair that is shed off your own pet. It is generally soft, fuzzy yarn resembling Angora.

Spinning dog hair is nothing new. It was spun long ago by many people. Indians that lived on the northwest coast of America used it. Dog hair sashes, made by the Anasazi, were found in Obelisk Cave, AZ. These date back 1500 years and are on display at the Mesa Verde Museum, CO.

Procedure

Upon receiving your dog's hair, I wash it I lay it out to dry on screens. I will separate the fiber and fluff it to facilitate the drying. Next I card the fiber. This aligns the fibers to prepare them for spinning. The carded fiber is then spun into a yarn or "singles" which will be stored until all the fiber is spun. I then take 2 strands and spin them together, this is called plying. When all the yarn is plied, I skein the yarn, wash it and set the twist. When dry, I weigh it. The finished yarn weight is how your fee is calculated.

Characteristics of Dog Hair Yarn

Dog hair yarn is very dense, heavy, non elastic and very warm. Because most dog hair is very short, it requires a lot of twist to hold it in place. To do this the yarn must be thin. To make thicker yarn it needs to be plied, several strands twisted together. When being spun, dog hair is smooth, slippery and short compared to wool. Because of this, dog hair yarn is heavier than wool when comparing the same length of yarn. With use, it fuzzes up to form a halo.

The breed of dog you have, the texture of the hair and the way the yarn is spun determines how your dog hair can be used. Dog hair can range from thin, soft and fine to thick coarse and harsh.

The nicest yarn generally comes from dogs with two coats, especially the northern breeds such as Samoyed and Husky.

Collecting the Dog Hair

For a nice yarn, collect hair that has the longest length and softest feel. Avoid guard hairs, they will make the yarn harsher. Colors of the hairs from several dogs can be blended to achieve a desired effect. Wool can be added to dog hair, but I prefer to spin it without adding wool.

Brushings of the dog's undercoat with a slicker brush, are the most desirable for soft yarn. Routinely brush your dog and save the hair. Spring shedding has fewer guard hairs. Prime hair or the softest comes from the dog's ruff, shoulders, back and sides. The legs, breeches and tail tend to have coarser hair. When storing dog hair, do not pack it tightly as this can cause it to become matted. Keep the hair in paper bags or in a cardboard box. Fill a bag only three-quarters full. Since dog hair is a protein fiber, moths may attack it just as they do wool. For this reason you may want to put several mothballs with the dog hair combings if stored for a long period of time.

Clipped dog hair tends to make a coarse, harsh, prickly yarn. If you save your dog's hair clipping, save only the softest and longest and dispose of the short fibers. Terriers who are stripped tend to have coarse hair which makes a yarn that is not suitable for garment, but can be used for rugs or wall hangings. The hair from short hair dogs is rarely suitable for yarn.

Tips on Using Dog Hair Yarn

Treat it and care for it as if it were fine wool. Weavers should take care if it is to be used as a warp. I advise the use of a warp sizing. Knit or crocheted dog hair is NOT elastic like wool. Gauge a garment the same as if you were using a cotton thread or yarn. Dog hair yarn items should be lined if it will be worn against the skin. Dog hair yarn does shed some at first. It is almost too warm to wear unless an open or lacy pattern is used. Many like it as an accent yarn used for trim or in design areas. This reduces your cost and prevents a garment from being too warm or heavy.

Don't cut your handspun yarn, break it. When joining two ends, overlap for several inches. Do not use knots. Handspun yarns have occasional thin areas. These are usually structurally sound. If they bother you or keep occurring in the same place, your can break the yarn and remove the thin section. Because of the thin areas, handspun yarn has an irregular yardage per pound. This must be taken into consideration when estimating how much yarn is needed for a project. Yarn breaking occurs occasionally. Because dog hair is silky and short, it does not hold together as well as wool. Breakage will happen more often when a tight tension is used in knitting etc.

When you are ready to knit or create with your dog hair garment, lay out all the yarn skeins and evaluate them. Some yarn may be thinner than other yarn. This is more likely to occur when you have had yarn spun on two separate occasions. You will need to design your piece accordingly, such as having the bulk of the piece in one type of yarn and the trim in the other yarn or the pattern in one type of yarn and the background in the other. If it is a block design, alternate blocks in the different size yarns.

Care Recommendations

Wash dog hair items in warm water with a mild liquid detergent such as Ivory dish detergent or dog shampoo. Avoid agitating the item in the water. Rinse in water the same temperature as that used with the detergent. Never let water run on the yarn or garment. Fill the basin with water and then add the garment. Gently squeeze excess water out and roll in a towel or extract the water in the spin cycle of the automatic washing machine. Be sure there is  NO WATER BEING SPRAYED IN THE SPIN CYCLE. Dry flat and block if desired.

Designing  a Garment

100% dog hair makes a delightful accent in a garment. The dog hair yarn, when first executed, will be relatively smooth or string like. The blooming or halo will occur with use. This makes the yarn easy to work with, but difficult to undo a section of knitting etc. It generally works well with 2 ply sport weight yarn.

Dog hair yarn has an aggressive halo that will dominate other yarns. It is a heavy inelastic fiber that drapes well, best knitted with some firmness to reduces a tendency to sag. Mixing it with other heavy inelastic fibers (silk, linen, cotton) will result in a garment that will drape exceptionally well. Dog hair can be used with springier yarns, but because a more elastic fiber will knit to a tighter gauge than an inelastic one on any given needle size, care must be taken to see that the dog yarn areas do not pucker.

The halo of 100% dog hair yarn is good and bad. Like all furry yarn, it adds size to the garment silhouette and obscures precise garment shaping. The same furry texture adds a lovely impressionistic quality to any graphic images in your design and will add shadows to color. In many aspects dog hair yarn is the same as Angora yarn. Like angora yarn you need to leave room for the fibers to "halo." This means you may need to use a wider sett in weaving or larger needles in knitting to have open areas for the yarn to halo. Try using size 5 knitting needle for  about 6 stitches to the inch and change as needed to suit your pattern. Always make a sample to check if you have the gauge required for your pattern, don't forget to wash the sample to see how the yarn changes before committing to a large project! Weavings are usually balanced weaves set at 8 or 10 ends per inch, but the desired result and one's personal preference should be taken into consideration.

 Key Benefits

• A unique item for an animal lover to cherish.
• Many breeds produce a very soft and luxurious yarn.
• Produces a very warm piece of clothing.

Pricing

To read testimonials on spun dog hair click on: *

To see more art work, click on: Dog Hair Yarn Photographs

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