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  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 2, 2026, 3:24 PM

    Hi folks, long time no me!

    October was another busy month, and I fell behind on social media while trying to keep up with everything else. I feel bad about falling out of touch, but I hope to catch up on what you all have been up to eventually!

    Most recently, I've (finally) gotten back into spinning dog fur! A generous and patient owner of a couple of German Shepherds in MI sent me fur a while back and I'm now processing their fur. While their coats are mostly black, the undercoat is a creamy beige, with some browner bits.

    The length is pretty short, as you can see here: 1.5-2" / 4-5cm, on par with the husky fur I started learning to spin with. It came in three batches, 2 from one dog and 1 from the other. 1 from each dog is post-grooming clean, while the third was from a de-shedding session without cleaning beforehand. That one required some extensive skirting to remove leaves, pine needles and other VM! And you can't visit Michigan without bringing back a bunch of sand. 😆 Fortunately most of that fell out in the process.

    The last photo shows 1 of the clean batches, which I'd rolled into rolags. I tried to twist them down into tighter punis, but the fur was just too slippery! This was the best I could achieve, which thankfully was good enough...

    🧵 1/x

    #Chiengora #HandSpinning

    A small clump of soft, fluffy beige German Shepherd undercoat fur, demonstrating staple length of the fibers. They're laid out next to a ruler for comparison, with 2 inches / 5 centimeters being the longest length, and most a little less than that.
    Two bins of German Shepherd undercoat fur sitting at right angles to each other on a black coffee table, touching at the corners, leaving a triangle of table in between. On the left are clumps of sorted and cleaned fur, on the right is the cast-off vegetable matter, guard hairs, and fluff attached to it. On the table between is a small pile of sand that fell out during the skirting process.
    Long fluffy tubes of fur carded into rolags sit in a bin next to an e-spinner, an EEW Fold, if you're curious, on a coffee table in front of a cabinet with a large TV screen on top. The fur is just starting to be spun on the spinner, while the Mijn Wolden YouTube channel playes on the TV.
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Replies

  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 2, 2026, 3:46 PM

    I have to admit that going back to spinning short, slippery fur was a bit of a re-learning process! It definitely needs plenty of twist to hold together. I started out with very slow inchworm worsted spinning, which got a bit tedious! I wasn't sure if I'd get through a significant amount of 100% yarn before deciding to switch to wool blends.

    But! I eventually got into the swing of things and managed to hit a stride where I was going semi-long draw that I was happy with: the fur fibers had just enough grip on each other that I could let twist travel up into the fiber & come out in a surprisingly consistent diameter single!

    The photos here show the results of spinning the 52g of clean/groomed fur from the lighter dog, which I'd carded into rolags. There were a couple of darker bits that I tried to keep together for variation, as you can see in the first photo, but the bulk was a basic creamy beige. I completed the lot in a couple evenings' sittings.

    The last photo shows the skirted unwashed lighter dog's fur on the left, clean darker dog's fur as it came to me, compacted for shipping on the right, & the spun rolags in the middle.

    I'm not sure if the carding actually helped all that much, so next I'm going to spin the darker dog's fur straight from the "batt" & see how it goes. Might save some time! This next batch is ~1/2 the weight as the first, so I figure I can make a 3-ply with 1 strand dark & 2 light. I'm curious if the contrast will show!

    🧵 2/x

    #Chiengora #HandSpun

    An EEW Fold e-spinning wheel under half full of single-ply German Shepherd fur yarn. It's relatively finely spun, and the color is overall beige, though there are a couple of sections of darker light-brown strands.
    The finished batch of dog hair. Despite being only 1.8 oz of fur, the 4 oz spindle is nearly full! Here, the final layer of yarn is a pretty consistently off-white beige color. You can see that the spinner has been set to spin around 350 rpm.
    Three batches of German Shepherd fur at various stages of being turned into yarn. On the left is a plastic bin of light beige fur, mottled with some white patches, and on the far right is another bin with darker fur, light brown sections broken up with beige and almost-white. The darker fur is somewhat compacted into a rectangular batt from shipping, while the light fur is a loose, fluffy pile from having been picked through. In between is the e-spinning holding a bobbin full of lighter colored dog fur.
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  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 2, 2026, 4:00 PM

    Part of what kept me busy this last month was reorganizing my crafting space in our basement living space where we spend most of our evenings.

    I found some Ikea shelving that perfectly fit the space AND the bins I've been using, which allowed me to organize all the clutter I've collected over the last few years into a vertical space. After a bit of sorting, I freed up some extra bins for temporary storage during the skirting process. (One last mental blocker for getting back into spinning.)

    It's a nice space for working in, but I still need to work out a setup I can use for recording videos (if I ever get to that goal).

    There's also that awkward protrusion from the ceiling above the TV that holds ductwork for the rooms upstairs, which makes the space a bit awkward, but I'm happy simply to have a dedicated work space now!

    🧵 3/x

    #Crafting

    A vertical shot looking down along a cabinet with a large-screen TV on top on the right, and couch with coffee table on the left, towards a brightly-lit nook with wooden shelving on the left, and a desktop workspace on the right. A swivel office chair sits in the middle and a basement casement window sits high on the wall behind. The ceiling in the nook is somewhat higher than over the TV.
    The same room and nook from the previous photo, seen from a more lefterly angle, so the shelving is now end-on and you can see that the desk has a scattering of plastic bins on top and underneath. You can also see the odd drop-down in the ceiling, with a notch cut out of it before it hits the far side wall. It happens to hold hidden ductwork behind finished drywall.
    One last photo of the same space, looking down at the couch and coffee table, but now the couch is occupied by a large lounging husky, Tonttu, and the table is a clutter of bins in the midst of a fur skirting and sorting operation, with a laptop on the side for taking notes.
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  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 2, 2026, 4:07 PM

    I neglected to take photos of the space before the shelving and reorganization, but you might have seen hints of the chaos in the background of previous photos I've posted. Here are a couple more that give an idea for what an improvement the current space is over the old!

    End 🧵 (for now)

    Human (Jeff) works at a laptop at the far end of the black leather couch in the basement space from the previous post. Husky Tonttu has poked his nose up under Jeff's elbow, seeking attention as he lies on the couch to Jeff's side. The bright-light nook behind and to the right has beige carpet and five battered paper grocery bags holding random bits and detritus from crafting projects.
    One last view of the basement space, this time from the photographer sitting on the right side of the couch, looking towards the far corner of the room and its nook. The coffee table holds the remains of supper, and husky Tonttu sits bright-eyed on the floor, looking at the camera, and wondering if the photo shoot will end with table scraps. The desk is turned out from the wall, piled with boxes and random stuff. The camera's angle is low, allowing you to see under the desk to stacks of bins beyond. An old rocking chair holds a pile of throw pillows decorated with various embroidered animals pretending to be humans.
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  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 3, 2026, 12:10 AM

    Addendum!

    Here are the sources of the current batch of fiber I'm turning into yarn: Ajo and Vuelker. Both are German Shepherds. Ajo is younger and lighter, source of both washed and unwashed fiber, and Vueller is older, darker one, source of the darker "batt" that is next to be spun.

    Their photos and fur are thanks to @jnye, coming from the wilds of northern Michigan. Those long dark guard hairs do a great job of covering up the lighter undercoat hidden below!

    @maru Note the availability of clean water for splashing in! This might help explain the lack of doggy smell to the fur that you asked about. 😂

    A very dark, mature German Shepherd, Voelker sits in a work area behind a large pile of tan undercoat fur that has just been groomed from him. It's a dramatic contrast, since his guard hair coat is mostly black, with dark brown accents here and there, like around the eyes, and only a hint of the beige undercoat at his shoulder.
    German Shepherds Ajo and Vuelker splash in light waves in shallow waters of what might be the upper Great Lakes, somewhere in northern Michigan. The shallow lakebed is sandy and the shoreline is a solid line of green trees.
    German Shepherds Vuelker and Ajo relax amid a spread of yellow maple leaves on a grassy lawn, pausing in play with toy balls that are black with brightly colored spots. They seem content and happy.
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  • Marumaru@sunny.garden
    Nov 3, 2026, 11:25 AM

    @Paws2Spindle when I see a dog going in the water I think of the wet-dog-smell haha. But is it soft? It looks very soft. And btw I saw an ad in a spin off magazine from 1997 for samoyed fur (you could buy)

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  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 3, 2026, 2:49 PM

    @maru Depending on the availability of clean water (or, rather the lack thereof) our huskies can start to smell a bit swampy in summer -- especially Tonttu and his love of soaking up as much water as possible regardless of how muddy it is!

    Vuelker and Ajo are clearly well-groomed dogs!

    The undercoat is indeed quite soft. The yarn, sadly, is dense and not squishy in order for it to hold together, but I'm hoping that, like my husky yarn, it will bloom and develop a nice soft halo around the core.

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  • nora.in.stitchespeatbogfaery@sunny.garden
    Nov 4, 2026, 12:22 PM

    @Paws2Spindle serendipitous to see this! Glad I'm not the only one doing this 😅 I have a second batch of dog fur currently drip drying. I have slightly felted the first batch, but hopefully it will come out to be useable.
    And if it isn't, there's PLENTY more to come the two golden retrievers my friend is currently dog-sitting 🤣
    I'll probably be drop-spindling it, although I might try it on the wheel.

    I'm not sure if I'll make anything with it, it might just be a novelty skein for my friend, although I have suggested knitting a hat with it and he didn't seem averse! Will you be making anything with yours?

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  • Petra van CronenburgNatureMC@mastodon.online
    Nov 4, 2026, 9:37 AM

    @Paws2Spindle Your wonderful thread brings me back so many memories of times when I still had my husky pack.🐺 🥰 And I remember I still have a box with unwashed winter fur for "I could learn to spin one day". But I fear to open it after about 20 yrs. How could it look like? Will it stink from all these years (not the dogs)? It's in a closed cardboard box in a dry place. I think, I should also do something against my chaos in the studio. 🤭😅

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  • Paws 2 SpindlePaws2Spindle@sunny.garden
    Nov 2, 2026, 4:14 PM

    @maru Not really! Even the stuff that I skirted that hadn't been (recently) washed was pretty clean. I think they're like our huskies in that they don't have oily coats like other breeds.

    There's a bit of dander that falls out during spinning, and a very slight greasiness to my fingers after spinning from natural oils, but even that is surprisingly light.

    When I finish the yarns, I give them a wash in doggy shampoo, so the yarn smells like it just got back from the groomer. 😁

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