Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Spinning the Dog - Auf den Hund gekommen!

Well, I know I'm likely to put about anything in my carders, but I never knew I would be spinning a dog some day ...



No, not a whole dog - it's the winter fur (underwool) of a Leonberger lady, belonging to a friend of mine - see what a dog like that looks like:

http://www.leonberger-oeclh.at/gallery/album/slides/DSCN3430.html (about 75 cm shoulder height - glances over the dining table, still standing on all four feet ...)

One combing/brushing (and there will be a few more this Spring) already contained about 100g, although it is light and soft (and clean!) like angora wool ...!

I blended it a bit more than half-half with white Merino to make it spinable, and the medium 2-ply now looks like this:



I think it looks quite promising!

Another experiment which I made lately was to spin a slightly variegated brownish/grey thick-and-thin wool and ply it with a skiny, metallic looking viscose yarn I had in my stash:



I have also spun more of that ice-cream yarn plied with beads and sequins and have now started knitting it with 15 mm needles:



It will probably become a slipover with separate arms (in another design) to button on ...

And as I'll be leaving for Stockholm for a week now, I wish you all a very happy Easter time!



(German summary: Ich spinne gerade die feine, seidige Unterwolle einer Leonberger Hündin mit 40% zu 60% weißer Merino, und bin recht begeistert über das Ergebnis!

Ein weiteres Experiment ist die braungraue Wolle, dick/dünn gesponnen, mit einem metallisch-glänzendem Viskosegarn verzwirnt - und dann noch mehr von der Eiscreme-farbenen Wolle mit Perlen und Pailletten, aus der ich gerade einen krausgestrickten Pullunder mit 15 mm-Nadeln angefangen habe - da überlege ich eine Lösung mit separaten, angeknöpften Ärmeln in einem anderen Material ...

Da ich demnächst für eine Woche nach Stockholm abreise, wünsche ich euch jetzt schon ein frohes Osterfest!)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter. Dog hair yarn looks way more promising than it sounds. i wonder if you knitted a vest from it, would you get fleas whe you wear it? :)

kristin said...

promising indeed!! all the different shades make for such scrumptous yarn.

Enjoy your break...and Easter.

Kathleen Mattox said...

I first found your blog by following a link from Sara Lechner's blog. I want you to know that I picked you as a recipient of the Kreativ Blogger Award.

You can come by my blog at mixedmessagesbykathleenmattox.blogspot.com and copy the icon and put it on your post and/or sidebar. Then pick 7 people as your recipients and list 7 things that motivate and/or inspire you for others to read about on your blog.

I really enjoy your blog--the whatiffing concept is really a fabulous one.

Thank you for being an artistic inspiration to me.

Elizabeth said...

This is the third time in a short period of time that I read about doghair used together with wool. Maybe I just stumbled on the latest trend or it is just a coincidence.

Anyway, I want to wish you happy flight to Sweden and lots of fun during your stay.

See you!!!

Elizabeth

mesa said...

dir auch ein schönes osterfest und entspannende tage in stockholm!!!!!

Sara lechner said...

ich nehme an, du bist in stockolm jetzt! happy easter doch!!
deine experimente werden immer besser.

Joei Rhode Island said...

Long ago I had a friend with the most beautiful collie. He asked me to spin the hair and he made a lampshade with it. It really was lovely....but smelled like the dog when it was on a long time. LOL
But...your yarn is lovely. Wash it carefully.

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Beautiful spun yarns and gorgeous colours. I like the natural colours of the doggy yarn!!! Never heard of that before!!! Have a good easter weekend, best wishes, Carolyn :o)

unwoven1 said...

I am a "cheingora" (dog hair) spinner from the US. I wanted to comment on the yarn in the first photo. It appears you have an extreme amount of over twist. Try tighting your tension and giving the wheel easier pull in. You also might want to try pre-drafting your fibers to get an evener yarn that is easy to handle while spinning

Anneli/Bockfilz said...

Thank you for the comment, Unwoven1! I'll keep it in mind and hope to improve!