The Milk Can Project began many many years ago.
We had two daughters and three Shetland Sheep Dogs or Shelties. Jen with G'Day Mate, Trica with Misty and Moses. Misty and Moses were the parents of G'Day Mate...and also Captain who lived for awhile with my parents, we took care of him when they went on vacation and one time he just stayed living with us.
Moses, Mate and Captain in 1996. Misty died in the spring of 1996, Moses died in 1997 and G Day Mate in 1998. Captain held on and was a wonderful companion for us until 2002.
One constant was that I groomed them and cleaned their teeth...usually twice a week.. G'Day Mate loved double turns and Moses would fall asleep while I cleaned his teeth. Bathing them was a group effort...I would wash and the girls would take turns towel drying them...we bathed them once a month more often if they found a smelly fish to roll in.
I saved all the dog hair. INSIDE the milk can. It has been waiting for me to do something with since about 1987.
I began by sorting the hair outside in the evenings on the patio.
Getting rid of all the twigs, burrs etc... I rather enjoyed sorting...I could tell which dog was which and enjoyed the unique fragrance of all the dogs. Just a few tears were shed. When I had a bin full I washed it in the kitchen sink. I do like the smell of a wet dog...what can I say I am weird.
I rinsed it many times and took it out to the greenhouse/woodshop to let it dry out. Batch after batch...I should have counted. I started washing and sorting mid June and finished the first part of July.
Dog fur drying out. After it was dry I collected the fur in paper grocery bags.
I ordered some carders. Through the miracle of You Tube I taught myself to card. It takes practice.
I struggled with making rolags...but I think I have the hang of it now.
The one on the far left is correct the others will be carded again...although usable they will take up space!
Otto Bruce my spinning wheel is waiting...Can I spin it ???...that remains to be seen...and that will be a winter project...right now I am concentrating on carding and making rolags. The rolags will be stored in old pillowcases or paper bags until I can work with them. I have some special roving from some of my favorite sheep to mix in with the dog fur if needed when carding. Did you know dog fur that is spun into yarn is called Chiengora?? Someday I hope to make a lap blanket.
So my Milk Can project is coming along. I hope to work on this project every day for awhile...the weather is cooler and I finally have time to concentrate on carding!
The Milk Can itself found a new home and is going to be a project for Jen.
I bet it will be painted burgundy or red and be used on her front porch. ( She probably will not store dog hair in it as seeing the paper bags of dog hair made her gag.)
Far Side
Your Shelties are adorable. Great pictures and I love that milk can! However, I think I side with Jen on the dog hair collection.💖
ReplyDeleteI have often wondered, and perhaps now is the time to ask, how did you come to name a dog G’Day Mate?
ReplyDeleteI’m with Jen. Any loose hair makes me feel sick. Great project though. Good luck!
We thought it was a cool name:)
DeleteOK!
DeleteInteresting project.
ReplyDeleteI hope it will all work out the way you want it. Have a blessed Sunday :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow! What a wonderful project! And a great way to remember your lovely dogs.
ReplyDeleteLovely dogs!
ReplyDeleteSometimes when my husband is brushing our dog, I tell him that if we had saved all the dog hair over the years, we could stuff a mattress! I did not know it could be used like wool. Very interesting!
Have a blessed day!
Have a blessed day!
Well, that was not what I expected--LOL! Interesting project. I used some of Karma's fur one time in making handmade paper (for a bookcard cover) for my dear friend who loved animals and Miss Karma. I knew it would make her laugh. There's no name for that, though--LOL! ;)
ReplyDeleteI would never have guessed what the milk can project would be. It will be an interesting to see the dog hair become a small blanket. Good memories for you.
ReplyDeleteTake care and stay well!
I suspected you were going to be spinning. I have no doubt that you’ll have great success - have fun.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am almost speechless. I never would have thought this was your milk can project! I now think I remember long ago you mentioning saving their hair to be used later. Now I know there is nothing that you can't do! It will be amazing to have a lap blanket from those sweet dogs. I hope we will get to follow the process as I know nothing about carding and weaving. Well done Connie!
ReplyDeleteYou have completely surprised me! I would have never ever guessed this was the milk can project. I can't wait to see what you spin.
ReplyDeleteOh... oh... oh... OHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! This is one of THE most NEATEST stories I have ever ever heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should see me now.... staring at my computer screen, with my mouth open!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh!! This story is going to stick with me probably for the rest of my life. How beautiful!!!! Thank you!!! Love, Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteI would have NEVER guessed this was the milk can project! Very cool, and such a special walk down memory lane for you. Chien is French for dog, so the name of the yarn makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a skein of'Heidi Hair' from our first Great Pyrenees, and I even caught a trout on my first handmade fly from her hair. As for you liking the smell of wet dog hair...I agree!
ReplyDeleteWow! You are always doing something interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat was totally unexpected. I never heard of anyone before saving dog hair to make into yarn. How long I have heard of the milk can project? I wouldn't have thought this was even possible. Wow!!!
ReplyDeleteI am astounded... had to actually look that up. I had absolutely no idea people did this. But it makes total sense, if an animal has fur, you can do this. Golly gee, you are one of the most interesting people I know online! Jerry lived with his grandparents on the farm when he was little and says he knew people who did this! Wow, neat "milk can project!"
ReplyDeleteI guessed it then ;) Only not sheeps' wool but dogs'. Thougth so, as you did answer in a rather evasive way. I kope we get to see the spinning, the yarn and the end result. Exciting!
ReplyDeleteI would have never guessed in a million years. Sounds like a terrific project and will be very interested to see how it turns out. You are something else, you are!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun Project! We have been collecting cat fur from the "long-ish hair" cat. Hiro just simply does not produce enough hair. ( American Mutt/ Shorthair) I was using thier hair as "smoke" for my stop motion videos. Leo has lots of burrs in his long hair, but it does not matter when I'm using it for the illusion of smoke in Stop Motion. I can only imagine how much hair a collie produces. ( Sheltie) enough to fill a Milk can, I guess. Sounds like a great way to remember the dogs, occupy some time, learn a new skill, and get free Yarn! I don't see a down side at all! Now people will be wanting to adopt long hair dogs just for their yarn making properties! ( And waggy tails...)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
ReplyDeleteThat project should keep you busy all winter so that you don't have to worry about anything.
ReplyDeleteI new a person who lived near the school and used its hair for scarves. I can't remember the name of the dog but it was a big one and you could see it every morning outside in its pen.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very sweet project.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad's dog Lady died last year. Last year, he also gave me his old truck, and when he gave it to me, it still had Lady nose prints on the back windows. I FINALLY cleaned the windows, and now I'm a little sad to see that last reminder of the old girl gone.
This was surprising and interesting, I have only had short hair dogs
ReplyDeleteI just bought a milk can. I have to fiure out how to paint it!
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed a very interesting project. I have no doubt you will be able to spin that dog hair and make a unique lap blanket.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have guessed this was your milk can project but I have spun dog hair into a hat several years ago. I had a co-worker who asked me if I would spin her collies hair and make a hat for her. So I did. She wore it to do chores on their little farmette. She said when it got wet it still smelled like wet dog no matter how many times it was washed.
ReplyDeleteI loved your story about your four beautiful shelties. I did read your blog back then so I didn't know about them. Beautiful, beautiful dogs. I always wanted a collie or a sheltie.
Blessings,
Betsy
I would NEVER have guessed that! I saw your Monday post first and instantly thought you were making gnome beards with the dog hair! That's just the way my mind works as we are an area that has gnomes all over the gift shops.
ReplyDeleteI like the painted can as it is.
How wonderful!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteI thought your Milk Can project was refinishing the can, painting it & such. What an interesting & exciting project. We had sheep years ago, got a spinning wheel & took a spinning class at the folk school. We played around with the wool & spinning but that was about it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting project. All the years that you have been planning it give me hope. I have some old, old projects I would like to get back to.
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! You like the smell of wet dog hair? You are weird! LOL! Look at you though after all that work with more coming down the pike! You made rolags! There is nothing you cannot do. Did you spin before? I used to joke about using all the dog hair to make sweaters but then someone said they smell so I never pursued it but I think it's only when they're wet but sheep wool smells to before you wash it. I am impressed!!! You're amazing!!! I would never have guessed that was what was in that milk can! Good one!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see how this turns out. My mother tried to spin our Golden Retriever's fur. She told us it didn't work, but perhaps she was not as invested in it as you are!
ReplyDelete