Spinning and Knitting Dog Hair
Cheingora, the Humane Fur
Most of us with one or more dogs continually battle an abundance of dog hair on rugs and furniture, if not our clothes. We put up with it because we love them but wouldn’t it be nice if there was some good use for all that hair? Well, there is! It’s called Cheingora (pronounced she-an-gora), a fabric made from dog hair. Chein means dog in French and gora comes from angora, because the fabric is so soft and fluffy, resembling angora. Though, actually hair, it is luxuriously soft like fur. If you have the patience and the will, you can create a beautiful sweater or blanket from your own dog’s hair.
It’s as simple as brushing your dog and collecting the hair that is shed or simply clipping a longer haired dog. You can card the hair or skip the carding step if you want to preserve your pet’s natural color variation, and then spin it into yarn. Of course simple doesn’t always translate into easy. Dog hair can not be spun on a machine. It must be done by hand. Once the yarn is spun, it must be hand washed, rinsed, deodorized, and then ‘set’ with a special compound to fix the fibers into place. Once dry, it can be knit by hand or by machine, or crocheted. Dyeing is not necessary as the natural colors are stunning. From Great Pyrenees you get snowy whites, from Newfoundlands you get shiny blacks, from Golden Retrievers, satiny goldens, from Setters, glowing reds, from Huskies and even wolves, smoky grays, and Collies provide mingled grays, reds and whites.
Not every dog’s hair is suitable but the softer and the longer, the better. Soft undercoats seem to work best. Generally, two inches is the best minimum length but other fibers can be blended into hair of at least one inch length. Yarn made from wirehaired dogs is best used in rugs or blankets. With its somewhat water repellant qualities, cheingora has practical uses such as caps and socks, but nothing is more beautiful than a fine cheingora sweater. It may be hand washed or dry cleaned and maintains its beauty and fluffiness even as it ages.
If you don’t have the time, skill, or patience to spin your dog’s hair yourself, there are services, such as Furever Creations or Rovers Comb, who will do it for you for a fee. They will turn your dog’s hair into yarn and create the product you request or they will simply send you the yarn if you prefer. For an item the size of a scarf, approximately 10 ounces of hair is needed. That’s enough to stuff a grocery bag.
Cheingora is the humane fur-lover's fur. What could be more special than wearing a unique sweater or showcasing an embroidered picture of your beloved dog, crafted from his own beautiful hair?
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