General Chat

Oh no couldnt do it. I would probably cry all the time when i looked at it. The thought of washing it!!!!!!!

lol Sheila:) I am really starting to feel bilious about it now. Spun??

Apparently they're waterproof, Alko :)))

This has made me feel ill and I'm going for an early night. Thanks for all the pms though:)) Nite nite

Ick is the word
Oh and Mac thanks for the laugh mate ,the vision of the great danes had me off my chair.
Tania

on BBC news earlier today there was a picture of the old couple wearing the sweaters in question - may I say the fur must have looked very much better on the original owners - d'you think they had to be de-flead by the way?

What a squeamish lot you all are, lol!

No doubt the 'fur' is cleaned the same way as sheep's wool will be ridden of ticks, mud and droppings:-)

We wear the surplus wool of sheep and goats, stuff our pillows with down and feather, so why not dog?

theres probably many a cat thats been sold as rabbit!!!
Bob

The couple assured people the fur/wool had been collected over the years, not taken from the dogs when they died, and I have often heard of other people doing the same thing, it can be made into yarn as sheep's wool is, or that from alpacas etc.
I thought she had done a good job of knitting them and if they were happy, why not. No harm came to innocent animals in the making of the garments!
Liz

It makes me squeemish

I dont like (But dont object to) people wearing fur anyway. It makes me cringe.Eeeeuccch !

I think, Liz & Hula, why people feel squeemish is the fact that those coats was once a loved pet...part of those peoples family. It can be akin to collecting hair from our spouses/sister/family members hairbrush...keeping it & knitting it up for a wooly when they die as a reminder of them..

Wool obtained from wild animals is very common & we dont usually have these animals treated as part of our families.

If I saved the hair that my three leave all over the floor, there would be enough to produce a range for M&S :)))
The only problem would be that Cally's coat ,( Lab), stinks when it gets wet so could never go out in the rain wearing anything knitted from her :))
The long haired German Shepherds are not so bad, but will be giving this idea a miss.
I think i saw on the television a few years back about a couple who knitted jumpers from the hair collected from their two dogs,poss St Bernard's or the like.
When we have our sheep sheared we give it away as it looks so mucky yet any bits left out in the rain go lovely and white.

x Jill

It's not so much the wearing of something that came from a dog that makes me uncomfortable but the wearing a part of something you loved. I'm not an animal lover per se but I have loved some animals more than most of my relations and the thought of having them turned into an item of clothing is repulsive to me.

Would these people have their mother's hair knitted into a scarf?

Actually, just reading this thread (Hi, David) it got me thinking. When I brush the 5 cats every week, I usually put their fur in the composter in the garden. So eventually, of course, their fur is going to be spread over the garden - i.e. it's going to be put to good use. In that respect, I don't see much difference between that and wearing it.
Mmm, mind you, if it came to the crunch I don't know if I could wear something previously belonging to a deceased pet.
Ooh, I don't know what to think now!
x

Had this same discussion in work this morning!
We have a very large siberian husky there who is currently shedding his undercoat, it is sooo soft it's unbelieveable - but i would NEVER in a million years want to wear it as a coat/jumper/pair of socks etc...

Imagine if you got caught in the rain then had to walk around all day smelling like wet dog!
UURRGGHH!
Not for me ta!

LOU XXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxx

Kay,This Musician,Was his Theme Tune," How much is that Doggie in the Window"? .The mind "Boggles" at what happens if they visit the Doctors" wearing it. ( Where does he put the Thermometer ) when he takes their temperature?.**M**.pmsl.:o))>

Merlin.

Honest its horrible,,,,,,,,but so alive,!!!

Son is not so amused, and when they go he will burn it he said,,,,,,,,,!!,,,,,,,,but they take it out to brush her,,,,,now how un-nerving is that,,,,,,,,,,

I have lots of memorial stuff with real plaited hair inside that did at some pint belong to a passed loved one,,,,,its my lone of buisness as why they come my way,,,,,,,,,I have beauty that is an arrangement that looks like flowers,,,,,,,,all real hair from a dead person,,,,,,,,,,!!I'm not spooked by them,,,,,,,,,

The jumpers well Id be botherd about other dogs ,getting the scent,,,,,,,,,,Ha,,,,,,,,

*hides the screen as one of the cats comes into the study to jump on Mum's lap*
Hah! It would have to be one of the long-haired ones, wouldn't it!! :-)

So what's the fuss? Samoyed's have beautiful fur. I knew a lady in England who had four white Samoyed's that were combed regularly (if not their fur would matt.) She span the combings and made sweaters for sale. They were soft and like Alpaca wool. The garments do not smell when wet as the wool is processed the same way as sheep wool but they are incredibly waterproof when you wear them.
A friend of mine had an Old English sheep dog that shed a vast amount of hair and he asked me to spin the combings and knit him a pair of mitts. They were warm, snowproof and never wore out. In Northern Canada here the musk ox scrape their neck hair off onto trees and fences and it is is collected and spun and knitted into the most wonderful sweaters. I think the couple who had the Samoyed's hair made into sweaters were exactly right - they have a great memento of their beloved dogs.
I have spun and knitted with wool from sheep, alpaca, llama, goat, dog and bear and it is a time consuming job but the end results beat anything ready made.

Joan, Huia, I agree, thought it was a nice way to have their pets close to them, nothing wrong with the idea at all.
Lizx

My neighbour had a Samoyed crossbreed, and every time she was brushed he collected her "wool" in a big bag with a view to having it spun and knitted into a sweater.

The dog grew old and died, but he still has the big bag of her hair. He hasn't yet had the sweater knitted up, although he did have a tattoo of his beloved dog done on his upper arm!

Dee
x

Maybe he should get in touch with those people and they could get his sweater knitted.
Lizx