Gea Tiemens from Diever recently received a unusual request. She was asked if she didn’t even want to collect the hair of her pool dogs. District of fellow Hilje de Geus did have a plan with it.
“I said: you are lucky because Tyson is in the moulting,” laughs Gea. Tyson is a cross between a Japanese Akita and a Malamute. And they have a lot of hair. After brushing Tyson a few times, Gea had collected a bag full of underwol.
With that bag she went to Wolwinkeltje d’Olde Wiba in the Hoofdstraat. Owner Hilje could not wait to get started. “I thought it was a very nice challenge. And if you feel the wool … it’s so soft.”
Hilje is very skilled in spinning yarn of all kinds of wool. She does that with a real spinning wheel. “You can actually make yarn from all types of fiber.”
But Tyson’s hair appears to be exceptionally good for it. Hilje manages to spin nine hundred meters of yarn from the contents of the bag to a scoop of gray wool.
For Gea it is a special moment if she gets it in her hands. “I got the ball on the day of Tyson’s birthday. Hilje couldn’t know, but that was very special. I got tears in my eyes.”
She doesn’t know exactly what Gea is going to do with her wool. “I think making socks is a shame, because they wear out with us so quickly. Maybe I want to make something for the wall, so that you are visible.”