Unusual Necktie

I had to put my hat making aside for awhile in order to figure out how to finish this project. A very nice customer asked me almost a year ago if I could make him a necktie out of his dog's hair. I told him I could make a hat, but a necktie was doubtful. I tried to discourage him thinking that he really wouldn't actually want to wear this thing. So he agreed to the hat and loved the result. (There's a photo of it here at #B.) He still wanted the tie, though. So I finally agreed to try and make it, and this is the result.

I first tried felting the fiber, but that didn't work very well. Felting is something I need to learn more about. So I ended up knitting it on small needles in a seed stitch. It took awhile, but seems to have been worth the effort. The customer is very happy with the result, and I've received some favorable comments on my Facebook page where I posted this same photo.

Poodle Hair Scarf

My poodle hair order is now almost complete. I've finished both the blanket and a scarf and am now getting ready to make a hat to match the scarf. The hat will be a watch cap style with turned up brim.

The scarf is 7 1/2 feet long including the fringe and about 6 1/2 inches wide. The fiber I used for the scarf is a shade or two lighter than the blanket because this very productive doggy is apparently getting lighter as he grows older. So the most recent shaving is almost white. The owners have had the dog since he was a puppy and have sent me about three years worth of shavings. So there is quite a bit left over for future projects.

Poodle hair blanket

I know it sounds weird, but it's actually quite pretty. A customer sent me a very big box of shavings from his camel colored poodle and asked me to make a small blanket with it. I've posted a couple of photos of the project on my facebook page, so thought I should put them up here, too. I don't usually do large projects like this, but am glad I took it on - a new challenge that seems to be turning out well.

I'm posting photos of the start of the blanket and how it looks now. It's about 20X30 inches now and will eventually be 3ft X 4ft., so I'm guessing I'm probably about half way done. The little ball of yarn in the first photo is some natural color tussah silk that I will be using to make a border to finish off the edges.


I don't usually spin skeins of pet hair for people unless they want something made out of it, and I do get some unusual requests! However, if you have some pet hair combings saved that you would like spun into yarn, my daughter might be able to do it. She loves to spin and dye all kinds of fiber and is working on a malamute hair order now.

Allie's Hats

This is my daughter, Alexis, at her spinning wheel. She's been helping me out with some of the spinning for my hats and is now making some of her own. She's very good at making lumpy yarn and especially enjoys experimenting with hand painting and various other dye techniques. She likes to make kids' hats, so has decided to make that her specialty. I'm posting some of them here and will be putting up a page on my website for her soon. I don't make a lot of kids' hats, so this will be a nice addition to the site.

This one fits a nine or ten year old up to a smallish medium size adult. It's spun bulky using Corriedale wool roving and is crocheted. She's made some nice knit ones, too, but I don't have photos of those yet.

The white stripes in this hat are malamute hair, which makes for a nice variation in texture. Allie has a Persian cat, so she may be finding ways to use that, too. This one is about the same size as the blue and orange one above and the yarn thickness is about the same, too. I like the green sunglasses! Definitely a good choice with this hat.

I like the turned up brim on this one black and gray one, too. It's a bit smaller than the other two, but would still fit a child up to small adult size. It's made from undyed gray Jacob wool and dyed Corriedale wool. The yarns for this hat are finer spun, but still bulkier than a worsted weight.

Extra Fancy New Hat

I put this one together up in my cabin in the Mendocino County hills. Maybe a result of cabin fever? It was the first rainy day of the season, and I had a nice fire going in the wood heater. It's pretty much necessary to stay right in front of that heater to stay warm there because the rest of the house tends to be cold and drafty. So that's where I stayed for most of the day. In my opinion, there's nothing nicer than a wood fire, a cup of tea, and a pile of outrageous yarn to work with!

I do like how this hat came out, too. It's got a little bit of everything - kid mohair curls, coils with blends of all kinds of fibers, a sprinkling of angelina for a bit of added sparkle, a glass bead on the tassel in back, and feathers! The blue is a bit more muted and grayish than the photo shows, though.

New Style Big Flower Hats

I've been kind of busy this summer. I had to find a new place to stay in Berkeley, which took about six weeks. Meanwhile my daughter and her husband were getting our spring and water system upgraded at our place in Ukiah. This was a really big job, and I wanted to be around for as much of it as I could. So I was running back and forth between Berkeley and Ukiah all summer. Not much time for hatting.

However, somehow or other in the midst of all the chaos I managed to come up with a new hat style. Got the old energy moving I guess. Anyhow, here are two examples. Both are on my website and are now sold, but I will probably make more at some point. They are both made out of lighter weight plant fibers and silk, so were intended for warmer weather.

The first one was fairly close fitting and made out of teal green organic cotton with a linen band and flower center and gold tussah silk flower border.

The next one was bigger and more slouchy. The body of the hat was made out of the same home grown flax as the brimmed hat in the next post, and the flower had a dark green linen center and gold tussah silk border similar to the first hat. These hats are quite labor intensive even though they are well ventilated with an open stitch pattern. I'm now considering making some wool and or silk ones geared more for dressy winter wear. No telling what the idea fairy may bring. She does keep me busy though!

Linen Brimmed Hat

I recently found a fellow online who sells his own home grown hand retted flax fiber for spinning. He has both the unprocessed loose fiber and some roving. I thought the less processed might work as a replacement for the raw hemp that I'm now all out of. If anyone knows where I can get some more, please email me!

Anyhow, I tried making a sort of straw hat style out of the new flax fiber, but it was too limp for the brim to hold it's shape. So then I tried spinning the fiber extra thin and then plying it. I got a nice two-ply yarn, which I used to make this cute short brim linen hat with a silk flower. The two-ply gives just enough stiffness for the brim to hold it's shape nicely and still be pliant enough to be able to tip and flip it in various ways. Definitely a fun hat! The fiber is rough enough to provide a nice straw hat looking texture, but not at all scratchy because it's actually quite soft. I may decide to keep it myself, but for now it's for sale on my website at http://handspunhats.com/spring.htm. (I guess I now have to say "was." It got sold today (6/6), but I will make another similar one soon, and I can also take custom orders with choice of color for the flower. I may make different types of flowers, too.)

Ski cap and scarf in Berlin

This is a photo of my son in law, Marshall, wearing a ski cap I made him awhile back along with my daughter's scarf, which he had apparently borrowed. She was taking the photo. They were in Germany for his mom's one woman show at Aanant & Zoo in Berlin. It was February and plenty cold by the looks of it. (Click photo to enlarge.) The scarf is about 11 feet long and is woven. I've only made two this long so far. The other is shown in one of my October 2008 posts.

Marshall's mom is Channa Horwitz, whose interesting mathematical art has been shown in LA at the Getty Museum as well as at many other galleries in the US. The Berlin show was entitled "Searching Structures" and is listed at http://www.argobooks.de/en/aktuelles.html She was also in a group show at Aanant & Zoo last winter, and she has another solo one going on now at Brandenburgischer Kunstverein, Potsdam called "Variations in Counting One Through Eight." She is quite the busy lady!