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Cat Fur Recyled

Today was my day out.  I needed to vote, get groceries, have my hair done and pick up some red eyelash yarn (stay-tuned it will be revealed).  As I'm waiting for my beautician, I pick up the October 24 edition of People magazine.  Generally all I do is look at the pictures from magazines like this and skip everything else, but this title caught my attention:  "Cat Hair Crafting".  OK I'm game.

Crafting with Cat Hair (I read Japanese, right.)
Kaori Tsutaya wrote the book, Crafting with Cat Hair: Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat, apparently in 2009.  It was translated to English and republished in 2011.  This nearly 80 page book (who knew you could write about crafting with cat hair for this long) covers making finger puppets, book covers, tote bags, coin purses, pincushions, badges, mittens, gloves, hats and scarves with what most of us think of as a nuisance.  The author goes out of her way to make sure the owners know they must brush their cat to get this fur and not shave it from them.  As I read I'm thinking hmm-mm, Mike could become a source of yarn for me.

This idea had my beautician shaking her head in pure disgust, but me, I really don't see the problem.  I've seen sheep up close and personal; they aren't known for their fastidiousness.  The raw wool must to be washed several times to clean it before it is carded and twisted into yarn.  Most cats I know are far cleaner  than sheep.   Of course my cat, Mike, said this is not the time of year to be hoping for the mother-lode of fur.  He's working on filling out his winter coat. In fact, Mike was much more enamored with our new space heater than he was with the idea of becoming a part of crafting.

Mike loves the new radiating heat source
Thanks People magazine for bringing this book to my attention.  I don't think I'll be ordering it but it is a fun idea to contemplate and certainly quirky enough to suit my knitting tastes.
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