FROM CAT TO MITTENS

First you need an appropriate feline donor. Here is a silly photo of my Persian cat Pumpkin. She's quite spoiled and if she could talk, would sound quite similar to Zsa Zsa Gabor. "Could you fill my food dish, daaahling?" Her fur varies from about 3 to 5" long and spins up really nicely. To do this with other long-haired cats you may have to blend the fur with wool. I have a flame-point Himalayan cat named Bosco whose fur is just as long but is quite slippery and difficult to spin.






Next you need to procure fur from said donor. Pumpkin fortunately likes being brushed - I use a dog comb and save her fur in a Rubbermaid container. (Actually I save fur from all three cats and two short-haired house bunnies in the hope that some day I can spin it up.) In the next photo you'll see the comb I use, the fur, the fur combed out and a rolag. I have spun her fur after simply combing it out and straightening it but for these mittens I made a rolag. To make the rolag I used fine cotton cards (somewhat similar to a slicker brush) and brushed out her fur, then rolled it into a cylinder as I removed it from the card.





Now it is time to spin up the fur. I used my Ashford Traveler spinning wheel but you can also use a spindle. I spun a 2 ply yarn that was roughly similar to a DK weight. Here's a photo of the finished skein of cat fur.



I knit the fur into mittens for myself with a turned up cuff - my own design. They are extremely soft and gorgeous although not nearly black like Pumpkin. More like a grayish brown with a small halo. Now DH wants a hat from her fur but if you read yesterday's blog, you'd realize he'd never wear it.