Dogsbodies started when I was asked to spin some of the dog fibre at my local agility club. I had spun lots of different types of sheep wool in the past, even some cashmere but never dog hair! Could you spin it? Would it smell? What would you use it for?

Not one to be easily put off I went to the library and the Internet and carried out a little research. Wow! Yes you could spin it people had been doing it for centuries. In Estonia the locals believe it helps to bring relief from the symptoms of rheumatic type illnesses. The Samoyed’s amazing coat has been put to good use in its native country to stunning effect. Allegedly mountain climbers like to wear clothing with some dog fibre in it as is warmer than pure wool, even if it is not so elastic. In fact, it is often best to go for a 50% wool, 50% dog fibre plyed yarn as dog fibre alone may make you uncomfortably hot!!

So….off I went into the strange new world of spinning dog fibre. Help! I was well on the way to becoming an eccentric I thought. Yet if I was eccentric, there were plenty of others out there like me – including the people I trained with at my agility club! I spun German Shepherd, Samoyed, Husky, Border Collie, Poodle (all sizes and colours!), crossbreeds, mongrels, Cavaliers, Beardies, Coodles, even a tiny Alaskan Klee Kai!

What did they use the resulting yarn for? Well, all sorts of things. Favourites were a hat, scarf or gloves. Owners of the larger breeds, especially ones that ‘blow’ their coats, were more ambitious. They saved their yarns for a jumper, shawl or even a blanket for the dogs bed. Whatever you can knit with ordinary yarn, people can make with dog yarn. Is there a doggy smell? Properly treated – no. If you have a very ‘aromatic’ breed it may take several goes to get rid of the traces of hound, but I’ve not been beaten yet!

Interested? Well read on. For the perfect memento of your beloved pet why not have it spun? Its an ideal present for the person who has everything. Each skein is unique; reflecting all the beautiful colour variations that modern yarns could never reproduce. What a conversation piece!Coming soon – why not have your yarn woven into usable fabric? Email me for more information and options on Andraste369@aol.com