Taking Crazy Cat Lady to a Whole New Level?

[susiestar]

I just saw this book featured on a craft website. I find it a bit disturbing. I am all for reusing, recycling, etc.... and I am probably one of the more frugal/cheap/thrifty/tightwad people or at least people tell me I am. But this just seems like an open invite to take "Crazy Cat Lady" to an entirely new level.

[h=1]Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat[/h]
It is a real book, sold on amazon. It is NOT a joke or spoof.

I know at least five women who would get this and then bring home 5-10 MORE cats and say "It is my BUSINESS. They will support themselves once they shed for a few weeks!"

None of them would actually follow through, and they all have more than enough cats already (the women I actually am thinking of).

Here is a link to the amazon listing for ths book - with the "Look Inside" feature : Amazon.com: Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat (9781594745256): Kaori Tsutaya, Amy Hirschman: Books

What are YOUR thoughts/ideas on this oddity of the day/bold new idea?

 

[AnnieO]

Actually, I found this a while back, posted it on facebook with some appropriately snarky comment.

I can see people taking this way too seriously. I really can. on the other hand, trying to CLEAN the fur enough to use it for commercial purposes could be an issue.

 

[susiestar]

I did the look inside thing and apparently the author says that cats clean themselves so you don't need to clean it BUT if you want to you can put it into a stocking and hand wash it gently.

Blech.

 

[AnnieO]

Uhhh. Yes, cats clean themselves - so the fur's all covered with CAT SPIT!!!

And if it is collected from shedding, from the floor and furniture... DUST?!

 

[DaisyFace]

Evidently, making hand-made yarn from assorted animal hair is the newest thing...

You can make yarn from dog hair, cat hair, horse hair - whatever you have...as well as the more traditional goat, sheep, llama hair. Once the hair is washed and spun into yarn, the source animal is pretty irrelevant. Most of it makes nice hats and sweaters.

 

[trinityroyal]

Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat

Having just finished reading the "misused words" thread, I'm more entertained by the title of the book.

Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat. Well, with stray bits of your cat at any rate...

 

[AnnieO]

The first time I saw this title, all I could think was... How did they get the cat to actually DO the crafts? I mean seriously. Mine would roll their eyes and stroll away, or lie on whatever it was.

...I wonder if there's a craft in that book that uses old razors (our name for cat toenails)???

 

[InsaneCdn]

Uhhh. Yes, cats clean themselves - so the fur's all covered with CAT SPIT!!!

And if it is collected from shedding, from the floor and furniture... DUST?!

If you've ever worked with raw wool - its not clean at all, either.
ALL natural fibers need to be cleaned before working with them.
(even the ones that are plant based!)

 

[AnnieO]

IC, very true. However... I've seen what my vacuum picks up... Someone else can clean their cat fur before felting it.

 

[InsaneCdn]

If I was dirt-poor and had my granny's old felter (a really good hand-driven one)... it would be worth the trouble, but I'd be using dog hair... we have double-coated BIG dogs, and one sheds continually... wouldn't take long to have a fair pile of hair. Dogs groom themselves too... and its just as disgusting.

But trust me, it would be a very detailed cleaning process.

 

[flutterby]

There is a woman who is a groomer who makes purses and stuff out of the dog hair. But she isn't collecting it off her floor. It's what she is cutting off.

 

[TerryJ2]

I bought a book like that when I had borzoi.
I was way over-zealous. I had no idea what carding was, and couldn't even keep the fur all in one place with-o having it fly about.
I dropped it off at the art gallery where I have my stuff, labeled the bag of fur with-a professional weaver's name, left a msg, never heard back, and one day, the fur was gone, never to be seen again.
I guess she thought it was too much, too.
I discovered, by the way, that hugging my dogs was okay, but once the fur had dried and was in a bag, it itched like crazy. So I would never have been able to have worn anything from their fur, anyway.
Interesting idea.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I HAD thought about collecting the dog hair, felting it, and using that as stuffing for the DOGS' sleeping mats...

 

[AnnieO]

I HAD thought about collecting the dog hair, felting it, and using that as stuffing for the DOGS' sleeping mats...

If you're using it as stuffing... Why bother felting it???

 

[InsaneCdn]

If you're using it as stuffing... Why bother felting it???

Male dog is over 65 lbs. And HATES to be warm. So... he needs just enough of a layer that he doesn't get pressure points. FLUFFY filling would be WAY too warm for this puppy.

Female dog, on the other hand, is definitely related to the females in our family, and could quite enjoy a feather bed below and a feather quilt on top! So, fluffy would work for her.

Beyond that, though... "fluffy" is next to impossible to wash, "felted" washes better (if you have a REALLY good felting machine, you can even get away with machine washing on gentle). And "fluffy" shifts around, whereas "felted" stays put.

 

[donna723]

I'm just trying to picture what would happen in my house with four dogs if I suddenly started wearing a sweater made out of cat hair!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Donna...


I'm guessing you'd have to wear your warrior-mom armour ALL the time...

 

[donna723]

Actually since I have to take them out on a leash a dozen times a day and the yard is full of cats, they've grown pretty tolerant of them.

Thankfully, Bostons don't shed much, and when they do, their little short hairs look more like a human eyelash - no big deal, I just vacuum a lot. But my mixed breed, Freebie, is another story. She has that fuzzy undercoat and the more I brush her, the more she sheds, and that fuzzy hair sticks to everything! I've brushed her before and filled up an entire plastic grocery sack with her hair, then did it again the next day and filled up another whole grocery sack with hair!