I CANNOT resist pulling those little tufts of fur that stick out when Clovis is moulting (and it seems he is forever moulting). He really does not like it and runs off when I do. This is the indignant look and stance I get:
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| STOP THAT ! |
The thing is, somewhere in the back of my mind I think I recall Bunnits saying she could spin yarn out of Clovis fur if I saved it and I thought what a nice memento that would be, to wear a scarf or sweater as soft as Clovie, knitted from his fur. (Maybe Bunnits was spinning a yarn...) Anyway, I am filling a sandwich bag with fur I have sneakily collected.
Well, unfortunately he is on to me. If I even reach over to pet him he takes off. When I put his food dish down sometimes he shies away until he is sure I'm not going to touch him. What have I done? I feel terrible! I'm working on trying to reverse that and pet NICELY.
I wonder how much fur you need for a skein of yarn...
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| Am I nuts or what? |
16 comments:
I've been saving Mick's shed fur for ages in the hopes of making something with it, but my last attempt did not go well. I wonder if bunnits could make some yarn from it?
I'm hoping to hear from Bunnits...
*sigh*Speedy is the same moulting like crazy!
My baby boy is a Jersey Woolly and I could have made a king sized blanket from all the floof I have floffed off him.
I believe with very fine rabbit fur, say from a rex or angora, the wool has to be blended with another heavier wool in order to manage it on a spindle.
Karen over at Rabbits Eat Quilts Blog is a spinner, I bet she could answer your questions!
Oh, and isn't that sweetest smoochie mouf expression! Just want to grab those cheeks and smack a big gooey lipglossy kiss right on that mouf.
Yes, flat out nuts, but aren't we all? And all the bunny people said, " amen." I don't really know anything about this, but I've heard of something call needle felting or sculpting with felting. One would in any case need to tie the bunny fur up in a pillow case, wash it on high agitation in hot soapy water and then be creative with whatever came out of the pillow case.
(Sorry this is soooo long! Found an area in the first attempt that made no sense, so I deleted it)
Ah, the fun of moulting buns!! Mine always give me that same look, too.
Let me look into how much fuzz you will need to save. I have only spun small sample skeins from small amounts collected in sandwich bag that were so lightweight that they did not register on my scale. Unfortunately, those little skeins were in a storage bin that was destroyed in our garage fire three years ago. All I have left of my beloved Periwinkle is a small handful that was in a sandwich bag in my sewing area.
All the information I have about using rabbit wool is with regard to Angora rabbits. The fur from the two Mini-Rexes in my life have had very similar characteristics to the Angora fiber that I have purchased for spinning, but just shorter in length. It is very fine and fly-away and tickly to work with. I would blend it with sheep's wool or alpaca if I were doing a project of any size, especially since Angora/rabbit wool does not have much elasticity at all, so it is usually blended with another fiber such as sheep's wool in order to make the finished fabric retain its shape better. Angora is also about 8 times warmer than wool, so blending it makes it a little more comfortable to wear in all but very cold climates. The blended yarn would be some ratio of rabbit to other animal fiber (50-50, 70-30, etc.). In our case, the blend would probably depend on how much Clovie fur we end up with and whether you want the entire piece to contain Clovie fur or just some areas such as stripes (see reference to cat hair scarf below).
I haven't done any projects with my bunnies' fur, but I did spin up a blend of cat fur, wool, and alpaca in 2011 for a fellow who wanted a way to remember his dear kitty. He asked me to spin and knit a scarf from the combings he'd saved over the years. The cat fiber had both fur and hair, so I dehaired as much as possible, then experimented with various ratios until I got something that was easy to work with and that made a nice feeling yarn. Working together, we decided on a scarf that was mostly an alpaca-wool blend with the cat hair blend portions reserved for stripes and bands near each end of the scarf.
Whew! I didn't mean to ramble on so much and I'm sorry I can't give you an amount to save right now. I'll check with some angora folks to see what they recommend. In the meantime, comb or pluck when you can and give Clovie lots of treats and hugs to keep him happy.
(Oh, no! Not more!!) Lol!
For Jade and Mr. Mick--I would be happy to give Micks's fur a spin. Just keep saving it. I'll see what I can find out regarding quantities.
BL is pulling it off Benji like mad too. Maybe we need a "Coat of Many Colors"
Thank you Bunnits! I was joking a bit about the scarf and sweater. I'd be happy with a small square...
I don't think Clovie is totally in on this little scheme for his hair. I know our little mini-rex dwarf rabbit, Zoey sure did shed. I am sure her hair balls were bigger than her! Pet nicely and I am sure you will get lots of hair anyway. Good luck with the spinning.
Yogi had a Mohawk all the way along his back for weeks, despite lots of combing. It just eventually got thinner and thinner. I thought it would never all come out.
I know that look very well!
Oh, would that be awesome - coat of many colors! We could have yarn spun from all our bunnies' fur! It could be made into the "traveling scarf" instead of the traveling pants.... and we could send it around. Ok, I get a little sentimental when it comes to bunny fur (somewhat voluntarily gifted to us of course ... never taken!).
That mouf! I doubt he would allow it, but I would love to just snuggle him and sneak a smoochie on those bunny lips! He melts my heart!
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