Sunday, March 16, 2008

From bees to cars to yarn

While the town I live in is in the middle of an enormous urban area, it feels very small sometimes. Town boosters like to insist that it feels small in ways that no other town feels, and while I don't buy that, there are fun connections made as paths cross. I get to see my mechanic even when things are great with the (extremely expensive, as my spouse pointed out) car because he also is a beekeeper.

Last Friday, a woman from the beekeeping group (also the beekeeping partner of the mechanic, by the way), stopped by my house to drop off something she'd had for a few months for me.

I thought it was her neighbor's husky's hair.


Instead, it was the yarn her neighbor had spun from said husky's hair. Five or so pounds of two-ply, sort of silvery tweed dog hair yarn. Enough to make -- well, something or somethings big.

I haven't swatched it or anything because it was stored with some of the most horrifying-smelling soap in the bag that I've ever smelled. No moths (or presumably fleas) here.


So fun, but slightly odd, and who knows what it will end up as?

I'm weaving ends in on the finished stripy hooded raglan, although it's already been worn by a boy. It's perfect for him. And I'm glad it's almost done.

7 comments:

Charity said...

Fascinating! I long to be there, so I could feel it for myself... I can't wait to see what you do with it. :0) Hooray for the finished sweater! Ends, schmends, as long as it doesn't start unravelling on him!

suzee said...

It IS fun, isn't it? We once ran into Fred at Tucker's and he diagnosed our brake problem over a double scoop. And we've played soccer with pretty much everybody at this point.

Dog hair yarn is so...ironic? I spend so much time getting dog hair OFF me, that it'd crack me up to put it on me on purpose. Have fun with it!

Katherine said...

Odd...but interesting, eh? I really am curious about what you will end up doing with it. A dog coat, maybe? ; ) Is it soft?

I must admit, the comment by suzee cracks me up - I spend a lot of time getting cat hair off of me. But maybe he'd make a nice pair of mittens.

Lara said...

Wow! How does it feel?

I don't know why it squicks me out a little. No idea. I don't get squicked by human hair, or sheep hair, or llama, or alpaca or anything else. Why would dog hair be any different?

I wouldn't want to knit human hair, though. Too scratchy.

meg said...

Um, er, well, that was very thoughtful of her; like Lara, I'm not sure why it makes me squicky, but if it floats your boat, whatever :-)

NeedleDancer said...

What fun!
Dog fur is really soffffft if done right.
But you should be aware -- it's also really warm! It will be great for a jacket, one that goes outside and keeps you toasty, and then comes off when you come in. Any sweater to be warn indoors is likely to make you roast (unless you keep the thermostat set REALLY low).
I once made a smoke ring out of dog fur... couldn't wear it unless it was really cold out without getting too hot!

allisonmariecat said...

Wow, that is going to be crazy warm. Don't wear it in the rain, though :)

How are the bees? We have bumblebees mating like crazy in our backyard. Lilah thinks they're funny. She points and says "Bee!" and then giggles. I have to keep the cats away from them, as the bees move slowly and don't seem to pay that much attention as they are *ahem* otherwise engaged.