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sheepish
New Pal
49 Posts |
 Posted - 09/06/2005 : 9:33:57 PM
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Yak? Dog? Camel? Some weird, funky plant?
I just saw possum advertised on ebay, lol! At first I thought...who in their right mind...but then I remembered petting one once, and the fur is extremely soft. So now I'm thinking about all the potential fiber on roadkill...
I milk sheep, do ewe?
Buy the new EWE WISH calendar! http://buckinglambpalace.bravehost.com/ewewish.html |
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Jane
SustaYning Member
USA
4299 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 02:50:18 AM
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Milkweed. Why, you might ask? Just because it was there!
Jane
Blog: Not Plain Jane
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Valk_scot
Permanent Resident
United Kingdom
1281 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 03:34:20 AM
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I`ve been trying to spin thin strips of fine tweed between two cords. Not working very well though!
I have spun dog....a friend of mine adopted a retired guide dog (Seeing Eye dog in USA?). Dog is a Golden Labrador, and I spun some of her belly combings with a wisp or two of merino, just to hold it all together. My friend knitted the very fine yarn into a bookmark, to send to the dog`s former owner. (Former owner, being an old lady who couldn`t cope with two dogs, the present guide dog and the retired one. She missed her old dog. though.)
Val.
[img]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/26/26_9_21.gif[/img] |
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Valk_scot
Permanent Resident
United Kingdom
1281 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 03:35:02 AM
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Oh yes, and I have my eye on next door`s long haired guinea pig. 
Val.
[img]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/26/26_9_21.gif[/img] |
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pjkite
Permanent Resident
1198 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 05:07:00 AM
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Cat-tail down - from the plant pods. Makes a lovely, strong, shiny yarn, but is even worse than angora for getting all over everything!
Pamela Kite
East Tennessee
http://fiberlife.blogspot.com/
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trekcelt
Seriously Hooked
USA
849 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 05:49:05 AM
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A woman entered a knitted layette set last year at our Harvest Home Festival. She knitted it out of Sheltie fur she spun from her dog. She took 1st place in her category but supposing the set got wet - pee-yew!
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
FO: 9, WIP: 2
trek's blog
"As for me and my house..."
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Lanthir
Warming Up
USA
54 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 05:53:16 AM
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I've considered trying thistle silk, but it's difficult to find where I live.
"And we shall call it 'This Land'"
Firefly |
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sheepish
New Pal
49 Posts |
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petiteflower
Chatty Knitter
USA
297 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 6:10:45 PM
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I have done a ton of dog, well actually not quite a ton but it seemed about like that. A friend of mine saved up the brushfuls of fluff from her two dogs for SEVEN!!! years and then stuffed the resultant TEN!!! pounds into plastic grocery bags and then stuffed the bags as tight as is humanly possible into a cardboard box and sent it to me. As I was unpacking the box, the bags just kept rising up and rising up, it seemed pretty much endless! Then I had to sort it all-she had one black dog and one creamy yellow dog and had thrown their brushfuls all together. Then I got matching fleeces, a dark charcoal gray and a creamy natural white fleece that had a yellowish cast. I took the works, dog fluff and fleeces, into Zeilinger's in Frankenmeuth, Michigan. They washed it, carded it into roving, did a terific job. I got back a gigantic bag of creamy yellowy-buff, a nearly as huge bag of almost black and a big bag where they had spiraled the two colors together. It was so GORGEOUS and so fun and easy to spin. I sent my friend 36 hefty skeins of yarn and she traded me a bunch of pairs of Birkenstock sandels (she owns a shoe shop).
I also spun cat hair from a long haired cat with siamese markings. I must say that my weirdest spun fiber is yet to come, for I cannot keep my ever-spinning mind off my husband's whispy long beard and sideburns! |
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hobbitknitter
Permanent Resident
USA
2284 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 6:34:14 PM
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I took apart lion brand boucle, taking the binder threads out and spun the fluffy part. actually was really cool!
weird though.
~Sarah Elizabeth
Spinners make the world go round.
Keep on knitting on!
http://knitonespintoo.blog-city.com |
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Susan T-O
Permanent Resident
USA
2481 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 8:05:46 PM
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Sheepish, the possum you find advertised isn't the same as the possum you find on the road. At least, not in the US. It's from the long-haired possum, native (I believe) to Australia and an imported nuisance to New Zealand. I've spun it blended with wool, and it is yummmmmmmy! I even had one person ask if it was angora.
I've also spun cat hair scraped off the side of the couch (to see if I could); Christmas tree icicles (they do NOT spin well at all!); camel (not cleaned too well; so many guard hairs left in it that it was scratchy); and let's see, anything else unusual? Not that I can think of. . .
Susan T-O in Long Beach CA
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the
most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny.'" --Isaac Asimov |
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sheepish
New Pal
49 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 9:44:45 PM
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Oh, a possum from down under... Well, then, I've never felt one of those possums, but I have held a North American variety, and it was soft as anything I've ever had the pleasure to curl up in my arms. I was very surprised at how soft it was, mentioned it to my dad, who told me they dye possum fur and call it all sorts of things here in the US because it feels so luxurious (but folks don't like the thought of wearing possum!)
I milk sheep, do ewe?
Buy the new EWE WISH calendar! http://buckinglambpalace.bravehost.com/ewewish.html |
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Wovenflame
Seriously Hooked
Canada
812 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 7:32:40 PM
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I have an exquisite possum and merino cardigan made from "Merino and Fur", a commercially spun yarn. I was wearing it at a chilly outdoor wedding reception and whenever I received a hug, the person would come back for another "feel" and a whole lot of questions. The groom and his grandmother (of New Zealand origin) went on and on about how lovely and soft it was.
Now that I am a spinner, I would love to get my hands on some merino/possum roving. I'm sure it would be as blissful to spin as it was to knit. Warm too!
-Marlene-
Come visit me at: http://wovenflame.blogspot.com/
"First is to shift the perception. If you learn to look at something differently, you will change it in an instant. The point of perception from which you view any situation determines your entire reality." - The Group |
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dragonmom
Seriously Hooked
USA
956 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 7:52:16 PM
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well, i havent' seen it mentioned yet, so here i go. i have a yahoo friend who bought some buffalo roving, and has asked me to spin it. yes, buffalo, as in american bison. i can't wait! any advice?
Minnie
the world is knitted from one beautifully variegated skein and it's up to us not to drop a stitch.
http://dragonmadknitter.blogspot.com/ |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 7:59:48 PM
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Buffalo is a very short downy fiber - I spun a bit in a class once. It's similar to camel, but with a deep chocolate color, rather than caramel... (I think I'm hungry) It's lovely to spin, though
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
http://RoseByAny.BlogSpot.Com |
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dragonmom
Seriously Hooked
USA
956 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 8:21:30 PM
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does that mean it needs a lot of twist, and a firm hand, or can i go a little easier on it?
Minnie
the world is knitted from one beautifully variegated skein and it's up to us not to drop a stitch.
http://dragonmadknitter.blogspot.com/ |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 8:47:46 PM
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You'll need to spin fine yarn - think cotton - with lots of twist. Not so much that it goes wirey. A fine yarn spun woolen should be lovely.
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
http://RoseByAny.BlogSpot.Com |
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SpottedTApps
New Pal
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2005 : 12:07:50 PM
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Man, you guys have spun all kinds of different stuff. My experience only extends to the Alpaca, Llama, all sheep, angora rabbit/goat world. When I got really desperate I went down and bought some doll hair from Michaels to spin on a drop spindle, but I think that was some kind of wool anyway.
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indigomuse@verizon.net
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
468 Posts |
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sheepish
New Pal
49 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 9:37:57 PM
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quote:
i have a yahoo friend who bought some buffalo roving, and has asked me to spin it.
I see there's an article in the current Spin Off on bison. And yes, it does make a person think of chocolate and other wonderfully sweet (and fattening) things!
I milk sheep, do ewe?
Buy the new EWE WISH calendar! http://buckinglambpalace.bravehost.com/ewewish.html
Sheep Milk Soaps at http://kesoaps.com |
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kbshee
Permanent Resident
USA
4130 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2005 : 07:21:52 AM
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I've mentioned this before, but I *tried* to spin dryer lint. Just because it looked like it needed spinning.
kim in oregon
http://kbshee.blogspot.com |
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