Friday, March 15, 2013

DOREEN'S CUSTOM DOG HAIR SPINNING


I’m Doreen and I live on a small farm in New York State with my husband, two Collie dogs, three sheep, and “Oliver”, my angora rabbit.  Luckily all of my animals are fiber producing pets because I’m a Fiber Artisan by trade. Although I wear many hats and have dabbled in most of the arts, my main focus is spinning and weaving.

  

My husband and I have restored our 19th century barn, and in one section we created a spinning and weaving studio. This is a picture of our barn just as a rain storm passed over and this beautiful double rainbow appeared.

 

I’ll talk a little about my spinning in this post.

 

I’ve always been interested in history and the simplicity of spinning on an old fashioned spinning wheel. I have three antique wheels, and although they are working wheels, they have worn parts and are a bit fussy to spin on, so I keep them for decoration only. I’m self-taught and purchased several new spinning wheels that are made in Poland and New Zealand. These new wheels are what I do all of my spinning on.

 

After having horses my whole life, I decided to get a few sheep to keep as pets and have their wool to spin. The horses are gone now, but I have an Icelandic ewe (female), and two Shetland ewe sheep. Gabrielle (Gabby), Jazzlyn (Jazzy), and Lucinda (Lucy). When I walk into the pasture they come running over to be scratched. But if a stranger is with me they’re extremely frightened and won’t come anywhere near me.  They’re sheared once a year in the Spring, and the wool that is harvested from them, each weigh about 3-5 pounds.  Gabby is gray, Jazzy is black, and Lucy is white. Because these girls are my pets, I keep all of the wool for myself so I can spin the yarn and make items for my family and friends.

 

Through this journey I developed a very unusual business. I knew that dog hair could be spun into yarn, and since we have Collies, I have an endless supply of fiber to learn on.  Dog hair is much harder to spin than wool because the length is short and it’s very slippery compared to the way wool fiber sticks together.  After a lot of practice I developed a technique of spinning dog hair, and became proficient enough to start a business called Custom Dog Hair Spinning, where customers from all over the country send me their dog hair to be spun into yarn and have a keepsake or product made for them.

 

The purpose of the spinning wheel is a very simple process where a loose mass of fiber is gradually drawn out, and the spinning wheel adds twist to the lengthening strand and turns it into yarn. Picture a plate of spaghetti and when you scoop up a fork full, more keeps attaching itself, and the higher you lift the fork, the never ending length of noodles just keep coming with no end in sight. It’s the same principal as the spinning process.  You start with a pile of fiber, and as you slowly pull a small amount out (which is called drafting), more fiber keeps attaching to the strand, and it’s pulled into the spinning wheel which twists the strand and makes a strong yarn. Then it continues to wind into the wheel and onto a bobbin as the amount of yarn grows. While you’re drafting if there is a break in the fiber length, you simply overlap a new piece and as it enters the twist section, it’s magically attached and you continue as usual. 

 

The process of drafting and twisting is basically how all yarn and thread is made for the clothes we wear. Commercial yarn and thread are made in factories with enormous machines, but they’re doing the same process as my simple spinning wheel, but on a much larger scale.

 

Fiber Arts is a passion for me, partially because of the connection with the past, but also because it’s a tactile trade, and it feels wonderful to have a lovely fleece of wool, alpaca, silk or dog hair run through my fingers. By engaging in this historical craft, I can produce a useable product with only my hands, without electricity or even noise.  I love to sit in the solitude of my studio with the only sound being the whorl of the spinning wheel, while looking out the window at my sheep peacefully gracing and my Collies laying at my feet.

 

Thank you Marilyn, for letting me tell my story.

 

Doreen

If you would like to contact Doreen, go to:
www.CustomDogHairSpinning.com/
 

Thank you Doreen for your post.  I really enjoy and appreciate your doing this for us. 

Marilyn
 

17 comments:

Vickie said...

ooOoo! What an INTERESTING post Marilyn. I am quite sure poodle hair would work excellent don't you think Marilyn? Well, I don't have the extra funds for that right now. We are saving for something special coming up.
This was a great post and I like Doreen's pictures.

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Vickie,
I thought this was very interesting and asked her if she would put a post on. I asked Doreen about poodle hair and she said it is too short. Darn !!! The dogs have to have long hair.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Hello Gerritje H,
Your recipe has been found !!!! We haven't put them on yet, but I think it will be on Monday of Easter recipe week.

Marilyn

Countryside Reflections said...

Thank you for posting my story Marilyn. The pet hair I use for spinning is the undercoat that is brushed out during their regular grooming. It should be at least 2" long. I can use clipped hair from breeds like poodles if the coat is kept very long before it's sheared off. It would be hard for a small breed like a toy poodle to let the coat get this long, but I've spun several standard poodles where the owners let the coat grow over the winter and cut it short in the Spring.

Spun dog or cat hair yarn looks very much like Angora that has a soft fuzzy halo surrounding the yarn.

~Doreen

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Doreen,
Thank you for the post. I haven't clipped Pierre since December, do you think his poodle fur might be long enough? I am going to get him slipped on April 3rd-if I remember to call the groomer.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Just got home and I can't believe this. This is lent. I went to 8 churches to take pictures and not one of them was open. With violence and all I can understand, but during LENT. Some of the pastors live next door to their churches and I know they need private time, but you would think at least one of them would be open. I did get outside pictures of one of the churches that I believe would be at the head of recipes. Also, I do know one of the pastors if I went to her parsonage and asked her, she would give me the keys to go open the church up and take pictures, but today is her day off. Of course she says no day is her day off, but this isn't an emergency. It's sad that violence is so bad that we have to lock up the houses of our Lord. I hope I get pictures in an least he church I attend this Sunday.

Marilyn

sheila said...

Thank you, Doreen for your interesting post. I just lost my comment so this will be shorter....my daughter had a big wheel at one time and we tried to work on it, it was fun but we didn't get too far. I would like to take up spinning some day, but for now my yarn cupboard runneth over and beyond. Thanks again,

New York State Of Mind said...

Thank you for your comments, Sheila. I am sure Doreen will appreciate them.

Marilyn

Countryside Reflections said...

Hi Sheila. I just told my husband about your cute comment that your 'yarn cupboard runneth over', and he said to tell you that I can top that with "my fiber room runneth over" big time!! Between spinning, weaving, knitting and crocheting (along with all of the other crafts I'm into), I'm bulging at the seams. But I'm a really happy girl. ~Doreen

SueAnn said...

Thank-you for posting this, Doreen-so interesting...and fun...it is on my list..to learn to spin...I like the feel of the yarns working thru my fingers too....I hope you do more postings about your work.
SueAnn

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi SueAnn,
Thank you for comments. Doreen, you have been asked by SueAnn for more posts and I would be glad to have them on here.
Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning SueAnn,
I was wondering if you see this if you e-mail me at:
lincolnlady1121@yahoo.com I would like to ask you something.

Marilyn

dynnamae said...

Thank you Doreen for such an interesting post. I am a knitter and I do love yarn. I also have a long haired cat that I would love to have yarn from. Maybe some day I'll get enough from brushing her to have it spun. Loved the photos also. Happy spinning to you.

New York State Of Mind said...

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY,everyone. My grandparents on my Mother's side came over from Ireland to the U.S.On St. Patrick's Day, my Mom use to say: "There are only two kinds of people in the world today.Those that are Irish and those that wish there were."
It is snowing today. We should have green snow today.

Marilyn

Countryside Reflections said...

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Thank you for all of the kind word regarding my story. I'm glad that you found it interesting, and at Marilyn's request I'll be doing another one in the future. If there is anything in particular that you would like more information and pictures on, please let me know.

Have a great day,
Doreen

Gerritje H. said...

Hi Marilyn and Jean,
thank you so much,I can't wait to try it.It was so nice of you to search for it,I will certainly make it.God's blessings
Gerritje

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Gerritje,
When we put the recipe we will tell you how we got it. Glad we found it for you.
God's Blessing,
Marilyn