So... I was reading through the string chapter in TBB, and I got me thinking about trying to make some cordage.
I have a Siberian Husky who blows her undercoat roughly twice a year. I say roughly, because it's spread over about two months and at least that many marathon brushing/shedding sessions each spring and fall. But that's given me two sizeable garbage bags full of Husky fluff... I saved it with the vague idea that maybe I could find somebody to spin it or felt it for me and maybe make a hat or have my wife knit a sweater vest.
Wikipedia says dog hair was the main fiber spun on the Northern American continent before the Spaniards introduced sheep.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChiengoraSo, I decided to try spinning a little myself, just by hand, and an hour or so and a couple misfires later, I had a pretty solid piece of reverse-twist dog hair cordage in front of me. It's about 18" long and maybe 3/16" thick. It weighs less than one gram, maybe .5 - can't even get my kitchen scale to register it.
I read that horse hair string breaks pretty easily, but has anybody ever tried making a bow string out of dog hair?
If I can get the drop-spindle figured out, I could probably put together enough thread for a 14-ply flemish twist in no time, lol.
