Posted on 12/22/2004 12:21:09 PM PST by atomic_dog
Pet owners have scarves, blankets made
By MARIETTA NELSON
Herald Correspondent
In the land of the Fountain of Woof, where dogs roam through the shopping malls and across the sands, it seems only appropriate that an enthusiastic pet lover could have a blanket woven of his golden retriever's hair, or a scarf that shows off the fluff of her Lhasa Apso.
Doesn't it?
Two Carmel residents, Bob Miller and Susan Willey, think so. Through VIP Fibers, a company in Morgan Hill, they are both the proud owners of items created from their dogs' hair.
"It was her gift to me," said Willey, who adores her fashionable tube scarf made from 9-year-old Spooky's hair. "Right now Spooky is in the prime of her life, but someday I won't have her. I will always have this."
Miller, an elementary school principal who brings his golden retriever, Kimball, to school each day, collected enough of his dog's hair to create a blanket, two couch pillows, a small teddy bear, a scarf and a picture frame.
"My mom once said it seemed like you could do something with (the hair) because it's so nice and soft," said Miller, who considers the items both "utilitarian and keepsakes."
Miller found VIP Fibers through a tiny ad in the back of a dog magazine. Willey read about the company in an article in Bark magazine, published in Berkeley. Willey and Miller had both tried other sources or companies before finding VIP Fibers.
Willey said she sent Spooky's hair "to a couple of places and they said, 'yuck.' It was a little odiferous."
After being specially treated by VIP Fibers, Willey said her scarf smells wonderful. Miller said his items smell freshly laundered.
VIP Fibers owner Victoria Pettigrew started the company about three years ago after her 16-year-old Lhasa Apso, Karly, died. Pettigrew created a scarf from some of the hair she had saved from brushing Karly. Having the scarf gave her comfort when she missed Karly, and Pettigrew thought other pet owners might feel the same.
"I have a personal understanding of how it feels to lose a beloved pet and we strive to treat every fiber entrusted to us as if the pet was 'visiting.' We work very hard and with the greatest care to send the pet back home as soon as possible and in loving condition," she said.
A majority of VIP Fibers' business is with dog hair, though the company has transformed hair from cats, sheep, alpaca, bison, rabbits, hamsters, cows and even horses. Customers come from across the United States, Canada and overseas, including England and Indonesia.
Pettigrew devotes a section of her Web site to discussing the merits of spinning pet hair into yarn. Yarn spun from dog hair, in particular, has been considered good luck in the past, and Pettigrew writes that it's 80 percent warmer than sheep's wool.
Besides, while a dog has spent life living indoors, being bathed and well fed, sheep typically live outside, where their wool is exposed to the elements and all manner of bugs, ticks and lice.
"Better yarn from your pet than from a sheep you haven't met," is Pettigrew's catchphrase.
The transformation from hair into a scarf or blanket isn't cheap. Miller paid more than $200 for the creation of the yarn and another $450 to have his items knitted. Willey's scarf was $95.
The two avowed dog lovers both said the expense was worth it.
"They will be listed in my obituary, let's put it that way," said Willey
Dog hair pajamas?
I see a great need.
ping
;-)
Lol! Nice.
yuck. would you wear a scarf made of your spouses hair?
ick.
( "here you go. . I've been collecting it from around the drain for MONTHS !" )
My Uncle Al used to edit and then publish this paper. As an old farm boy, he would have found this article ridiculous.
"The three little kittens, they lost their mittens
And didn't know what to do."
Awww...gee whiz, we could have just saved their hair and made them new ones.
And that's just 3 weeks worth of hair. Trust me.
I often invite my cat to take her fur coat off and get comfortable in the hot weater, but THIS is ridiculous.
I have three Shelties and I used to donate their hair to a couple of spinners I met at my local yarn store. They, in turn, sold the yarn to people interested in novelty fibers.
Somewhere in L.A. or New York there's a fashionista wearing a Dusty fur original.
"Dog hair pajamas?"
Can you imagine the smell if you spilled some water on them?
A friend of mine was a spinner and weaver. She made a jacket out of Wolfhound hair and it was the warmest thing she ever owned. In addition, it was soft and almost waterproof.
'More familiar with the hair of the dog that bit me...
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