Frog in knots

Knitting, knots and frogging.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Furballs

There are many different yarns available these days; you get the natural and the man made. It's strange to think that many will knit with angora or mohair without batting an eyelid, but shudder at the thought of knitting with hair from other animals like cat or dog (any pet owner will tell you it's hard to avoid if your beloved fluff ball comes anywhere near you when you knit). The advent of fun fur (I'd like to know what's so 'fun' about it) means that those that like that look can do it without courting the anger of the anti-fur mob, especially when it comes to the more 'exotic' types.

I have just finished this pull through scarf for my friend's mother. She chose the yarn. While I am generally not in the 'fun fur is the devil' camp, I would rather give up knitting than use this again. It was foul to work with. I dropped a stitch in it somewhere and can't find it despite very close inspection. I tried to sew the ends in neatly, but couldn't actually find the stitches to follow. It was a nightmare to use.

Owing to intense speculation and albeit a very suspicious coincidence, I must categorically state that this scarf is not, I repeat not, made from my dog. Scout is very particular about the use of his fur and prefers to scatter it around the house and coat my clothes in it.

24 Comments:

At 3:57 pm, Blogger Spinningsue said...

Apologies if this appears twice - blogger just ate my comment!

Ahhhh, Scout is gorgeous! I'm not sure I believe that the scarf yarn isn't spun from his fur! It's such a good match that if he goes bald you'll be able to knit him a new coat!

 
At 4:21 pm, Blogger Stacey said...

aw, Scout is so cute :)

Funfur is the devil...I try not to be all snobby when my friends (and my mom!) want me to make things for them out of the stuff. eek.

 
At 4:39 pm, Blogger T said...

No, the scarf isn't made from Scout, he's made from the fun fur!! ;)

 
At 7:20 pm, Blogger allisonmariecat said...

I always knit with my cats' fur, though not on purpose. It's the only fur I like to knit with, fun or otherwise :)

Am I crazy, or would that scarf look GREAT on Scout?

 
At 7:33 pm, Blogger Craftydramaqueen said...

You have been really busy. How do you manage to knit so much with a baby? I can only knit when mine's in bed otherwise she tells me to put it away!

 
At 8:20 pm, Blogger Knittypants said...

You are so nice knitting with something you hate to give a gift. Maybe if I keep hanging out at your blog, some of your sweetness will rub off on me and I will become a nice knitter, too.

 
At 8:46 pm, Blogger String Bean said...

I agree with you - I'd rather stop knitting than use fun fur. Nothing fun about it. They should rename it Pain in the ass fur or will give me a headache in five minutes fur.

Scout is a handsome pup! A fun fur sweater for Scout? Horrendous. He's cute enough as is.

 
At 9:06 pm, Blogger Rain said...

Thanks folks. I love my boy even though he's so naughty. The scarf would certainly match him, he's such a scruffy pup despite all my fights with the brush.

Andie, Scarlett isn't mine, she belongs to good friends of mine. The baby stuff is all for different people I know getting all sprogged up.

Areli, don't be fooled into thinking I'm nice, I'm a grumpy so and so most of the time. Besides, you do loads of stuff for others.

 
At 9:56 pm, Blogger DomesticOverlord said...

If fun fur is neither fun nor fur then it is a lie. The devil is the father of lies. Since we know that the devil doesn't create , the devil could not have created fun fur therefore fun fur must be the devil.

And your dog is cute.

 
At 10:26 pm, Blogger KnitPastis said...

Look at it this way, you are going to make your friend's mother very happy with a handknitted scarf!

 
At 10:37 pm, Blogger Jerry & Maxy said...

You are a good woman! I don't think I commented on the AWESOME football jerseys, but I had a friend over who I excitedly showed your jerseys - he was impressed, as am I. And now you take on the fun fur - wow. I have done a scarf or two for family in it, and you are right, it's yucky. You are a kind-souled woman to knit a gift with it!

 
At 10:38 pm, Blogger Jerry & Maxy said...

Oh, and Scout is precious!

 
At 3:51 am, Blogger Sharon J said...

Now you know why I called my daughter's black scarf "Linn Marie's hateful scarf" ;-) Actually, I have a scarf laying around somewhere that's very similar to yours. I'm sure it's down by the side of the bed with all the other junk. Must dig it out.

Cute doggie :)

 
At 12:23 pm, Blogger KnitYoga said...

I bought quite a bit of that furry stuff last year because I can't resist a *bargain*! It was going cheap in a closing down sale. I'm determined to knit it into scarves and things for the Charity Craft Fair I'm helping with so at least it won't be wasted but, I agree, it's the devil incarnate. If you drop a stitch it just seems to disappear into another dimension never to be seen again! I've been using some of it up for trims. Scout looks like a great mut and I bet he'd be most indignant to be compared to that "fun fur" stuff. ;-)

 
At 1:04 pm, Blogger Diane said...

Ah bless little Scout...And he can read the newspaper too!:0) I, like the other girls, did wonder if you'd harvested your pooches hair for the scarf......i do know how you feel about the hair balls...i regularly encounter them in my home....i never had a use for them until now......ONLY JOKING!LOL

 
At 1:06 pm, Blogger Seahorse said...

Too funny! And oh, I think you really might be quite a nice knitter indeed, despite your protests ;)

 
At 1:52 pm, Blogger Samantha said...

I always proudly display the cat and dog hair in my knits ... the claim I use is that it makes the sweater/blanket/whatever warmer. LOL

 
At 3:08 pm, Blogger Melissa said...

Scout is adorable!
I saw an advertisement in a knitting mag where you could collect the brushings from your cat/dog and send it in to have yarn spun. Gross!

 
At 4:34 pm, Blogger Stefaneener said...

Scout is obviously a superior dog. Despite his choice of reading material, he IS reading, so points for that. Plus, he could so easily be a fashion accessory. Knit with Scout fur? No! Teach Scout to sit around your neck? Yes!!

 
At 5:29 pm, Blogger Rain said...

I'm glad it's not just me that's had issues knitting with it.

Scout is indeed adorable, but I can't be held accountable for his choice in reading material. He's an incurable gossip.

I wouldn't fancy wearing him around my neck, he weighs about 27 kilos!

 
At 6:51 pm, Blogger dreamcatcher said...

Yep, fun fur is not fun. The worst one I've knit with is Wendy Shimmer. It looks OK as the "lashes" are quite short but it's a pain in the backside to cast on with.

 
At 10:19 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And he reads the paper! I totally agree with you and fun fur. I made a fox scarf last year and dropped a stitch myself. Where that bugger is hiding is still a mystery.

 
At 11:48 am, Blogger Dina said...

I never tried knitting with that stuff ... now in the event that your friend's mother drops by, let's hope she doesn't drape Scout around her neck instead!

 
At 7:42 pm, Blogger Jerry said...

LOL! Are you surethat yarn was not spun from Scout? It looks a bit too close a match for me ROTFLOL! I've never actually knit with fun fur by havaing seen it and handled it in the store, I don't like it. I'll stick with genuine mohair and angora if/when I can find it.

BTW-I made a midnight blue angora scarf for myself ages ago. Dropped a stitch, coldn't find it and it's still holding up well.

Let's see more of Scout :-)

 

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