Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/24/janes-cat-made-from-cat-hair.html
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Would you like some cat hair? I’ve quite a bit of it.
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I realize that “typesetting” online is an imprecise art, at best, however on the front page, “outside” is one seriously orphaned word (in the single article view, it looks ok). It gets totally lost at the bottom of the photo. At first, I didn’t even realize it was there.
And since I’m so nice, I checked with Safari, Chrome, and Firefox (all Mac), and each of them has the same issue.
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Note that it’s possible to spin cat hair into yarn. Longer-furred cats are, of course, much easier. but I’ve successfully spun a short length of yarn from my DSH’s with a simple drop spindle by giving it a very hard twist and then doubling the yarn over a few times so the counter-twisted strands keep each other tight. (I think it’s the one piece of string in the house that Harry hasn’t tried to try to chew through.) I’m told that a common trick with shortfurs is to mix their fur with longer fur from other sources,
I’ll never have the patience, but I do like the idea of a catfur sweater. There’s enough fur on my sweatshirt that it’s approaching that state anyway. (“You have cats.” “How did you… Oh.”)
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Cat hair doesn’t spin like some dog hair but it does felt up nicely. I actually have this book. I must admit, I bought it as a joke but it is inspiring.
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That’s just frightening. I once noticed my cat shed so much I could probably save up the hair and make another cat… but your daughter actually did it! I shudder to think what dark magics animated this feline homonculus.
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I applaud her artistry and I’m awfully glad she had such a good time with it. But man, just seeing the result makes my nose tickle.
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I collected my cat Kesey’s hair for years, knowing that some day he would no longer be around and thinking that I might spin the hair into a yarn memento or something similar. He was an awesome little dude and with me from the day he was born until the day he died, seventeen years later. That approach, of keeping his shed fur, just seemed more suitable for me than an urn of ashes or a stuffed cat (not that I’m knocking those - just different strokes for different folks).
Kesey is now gone and I’m inspired to check out this book - thanks for sharing it, and sharing Jane’s work!
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When I brush my cats, they try to eat all the fur that gets caught in the brush. I’m pretty sure that if I tried to make crafts out of cat hair, they’d eat those too.
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Perhaps pre-washing the saved cat hair with laundry detergent might reduce the allergic response of your older daughter and Jane could continue to her projects inside?
(Fel d 1 being the primary allergen in cat dander: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fel_d_1)
Plus, how does your older daughter only have sneezing fits to cat puppets?
Does she not have similar problems with your actual cats?
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I’ve always thought the best way to solve the problem of cat hair clinging to your clothes is to make them out of cat hair in the first place.
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“Cats, they shed; and cats, they throw up
Cats, they defecate and spray
And I’m going to be a multi-millionaire
The day that I can make these products pay”
(Chorus of a song by Dr. Jane Robinson – I believe the title is Flea Enterprise.)
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