Day of Fun and Fiber Part II Knitting With Nelea - Literally

This afternoon, while hubby and I watched the Royals win Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, I had my sweet old lady Nelea cat on my lap for much of the time.

Everything I knit ends up with her fur in it. I have toyed with the idea of making some yarn out of it and creating a keepsake for when I no longer have her. She's 17. While she was on my lap, I gave her a good furminating and saved all of the undercoat hair that was removed.

I sort of carded it, but I'm too cheap to spend any money on carders, since I don't know if I'll ever be able to spin anything. I went shopping for those dog brushes that are studded with little wire pins, but dang, those are priced in the teens, and I'd need two. The real thing costs about $70 for a pair. I ended up getting a couple of boar bristle brushes at the dollar store.

 

Carders

Dog brush

Here is tonight's harvest:

 The little caterpillars lying in the pink bucket are what I pulled from the furminator and stuck on the brushes. After I straightened them as best I could, I combed them off with the wire-toothed comb.

This is the fur donor lying beside my first drop spindle and the little chunks of yarn that I previously tried to spin with it. The spindle is on the heavy side, the cat fur fibers are short, and the yarn kept breaking. I decided I'd need to call in a sheep.

Nelea is sniffing a wad of wool fiber I bought from Yarn Barn of Kansas a couple of weeks ago, along with the smaller spindle I purchased there. I asked what would be the least expensive and easiest fiber to work with, and the lady recommended this wool from a Corriedale sheep. The minimum purchase is eight ounces, so that's what I got. The store has big tubs containing fat ropes like this in coils. It reminds me of the cotton they wrap around your hairline when you get a perm.

I didn't want to sacrifice the nice fresh fur in an experiment, so I tore apart the little worms of yarn shown above. I didn't take any intervening pictures showing the process of making the new yarn because my hands were busy. Suffice it to say it was challenging. I have never practiced spinning using just the wool, and the ex-yarn had become felted into chunks and didn't mix in very well.

In theory, twisting the heck out of fibers instantly creates yarn. Beats me how spinners prevent it from untwisting, which is what it really, really wants to do. I gave it my best shot. I have had no prior experience with drafting the fiber from the wad to be caught up in the twisting of the spindle. I ended up with thick and thin yarn with chunks of cat fur poking out of it. Then I twisted two strands together. They didn't want to stay twisted, either.

I ended up wetting it to see if it would help. Then I blotted it with paper towels and ultimately blew a hair dryer on it. It seemed to gain some stability.

I thought about trying to knit something small, but it was just too hard to work with. I ended up dividing it into thirds and braiding it. Then I sewed both ends very tightly with standard thread and hooked the two ends together. I made a little wrap piece using cotton yarn and small needles in linen stitch to hide the joint. Tada! Nelea bracelet. It's already starting to shed individual hairs.

Before I try this again, I am going to practice with just the wool. If I never try the fur again, I have accomplished my objective. I have my keepsake, and I have my Nelea.