Wednesday, December 2, 2009

hangdog

Yesterday, Neatorama introduced Awful Library Books, a blog written by librarians who are asking the eternal question "To weed or not to weed?" about some truly horrible, outdated, irrelevant books.

I laughed when I saw the photo Neatorama chose to illustrate their post - "Knitting with dog hair!? Ew! Who reads that book? Why would a library even buy that?"

But then I had a horrifying thought... and checked our catalog. Slightly mortified, I went back into the stacks...
Yep.
at

26 comments:

  1. Weer'd BeardDecember 2, 2009 at 11:24 AM

    Hey what are you going to do with all that unwanted dog (or cat) hair? Throw it away???

    Want not, waste not! ; ]

    Just don't get your knit goods wet! EWWW!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JohnOCDecember 2, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    Will your catalog system tell you how many times that book has been checked out?

    ReplyDelete
  3. JDDecember 2, 2009 at 11:35 AM

    Old lady story. . . one of my moms friends kept all the hair from her Shelty for years. Got it cleaned and made into yarn and made a sweater with it. I hear it is soft and warm, and a way to remember her dog from years ago. . .

    ReplyDelete
  4. RachelleDecember 2, 2009 at 12:17 PM

    Honestly, it's not as horrifying as it sounds! Okay, maybe it is, but still, it's the kind of book I would check out, if my library carried it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chas S. CliftonDecember 2, 2009 at 12:22 PM

    Maybe this is the new edition?.

    It sounds like an evergreen topic for me!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Robert LanghamDecember 2, 2009 at 12:24 PM

    There could be a whole cult of folks living amoung us whos highest calling is dog hair knitting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jeanne SDecember 2, 2009 at 12:43 PM

    There are actually businesses that will make yarn from your pets shed hair. They charge a good chunk of change for it, too! The whole concept leaves me caught between being impressed and being horrified.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Old NFODecember 2, 2009 at 12:48 PM

    Oops... hoist on your own petard on that one...LOL And yeah, how many times has it been checked out?

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousDecember 2, 2009 at 1:08 PM

    Now, knitting with cat hair, I could understand. Mine generate bales of the stuff.
    Verification word = cartier. A Cartier cat-hair blanket, maybe?

    ReplyDelete
  10. HunterDecember 2, 2009 at 1:32 PM

    I could not bring myself to type in the title on iBistro, but used the call number on your photo....
    there it is, bigger'n Stuttgart.

    Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  11. BobGDecember 2, 2009 at 2:44 PM

    I guess chihuahua owners will have to find a different hobby.

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  12. NYEMTDecember 2, 2009 at 2:51 PM

    Aren't there Angora dogs? ;)

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  13. Loki1776December 2, 2009 at 3:08 PM

    @ NYEMT

    Is a samoyed close enough?

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  14. bredaDecember 2, 2009 at 3:12 PM

    The book has been checked out 9 times!

    ReplyDelete
  15. LydiaDecember 3, 2009 at 12:39 AM

    my love/horror for Wickliffe and the library has just grown.

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  16. fast richardDecember 3, 2009 at 12:57 AM

    most of the gun books for children, have been "weeded" out, especially from school libraries.

    ReplyDelete
  17. FreyalynDecember 3, 2009 at 3:11 AM

    Lots of hairy dogs have fabulously soft undercoats - I made a hat from my GSD's combings and it waslovely until it was stolen! Once properly washed there is no dog smell.

    I wouldn't do it with an unknown dog though! (And there's a statement you can take how you like it....)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Gay_CynicDecember 3, 2009 at 4:01 AM

    http://knittingincolor.blogspot.com/2003/01/from-cat-to-mittens-first-you-need.html

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. JulieDecember 3, 2009 at 8:48 AM

    so, did you read it???

    ReplyDelete
  20. LarryDecember 3, 2009 at 6:07 PM

    Could be a useful skill, come the Zombie Apocalypse. After the sheep are eaten, anyway.

    Too bad you crochet instead of knit, Lil. Otherwise I know what you'd be getting for Winter Solstice. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousDecember 3, 2009 at 10:57 PM

    Atrange but true.

    When we had a housefull of giant, double-coated dogs we used to donate mountains of excess hair to a wildlife sanctuary. They used it to line sea turtle nests. Apparently the dog hair lining significantly reduced egg predation by raccoons.

    ReplyDelete
  22. LabRatDecember 4, 2009 at 5:48 PM

    All the birdies have lovely luxe Akita-fur nests in spring and there's way more where that came from.

    Having the fur spun is hideously expensive, otherwise we'd consider it. That undercoat puts even angora sheep to shame.

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousDecember 5, 2009 at 10:56 AM

    As much as my loafers might be former gophers, even I have my limits.

    Jim

    ReplyDelete
  24. SparrowDecember 5, 2009 at 10:15 PM

    I knew someone who had a pair of collies and made a hat and scarf from their fur. The items did not smell like dog, and were kind of a soft grey.

    But it's still creepy.

    ReplyDelete
  25. phlegmfataleDecember 6, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    Next we'll have "felting with manfur." Or perhaps we need to pen that one?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Norfolk BoyDecember 9, 2009 at 9:15 AM

    How is it creepy? My Aunt when she was alive, was a real spinster, and made yarn out of anything. Several kinds of wool, fur and hair.

    And Phlegmfatale, Human hair was used for lace in time past.

    ReplyDelete

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