Questions & Answers
1. What is Fur Yarn?
2. How do I order Fur
Yarn?
3. Is it real fur?
4. How is it
made?
5. How do you get all the colours?
6. What is Ombre?
7. How can I use Fur
Yarn?
8. How do I match the colour of the Fur Yarn to my
project?
9. How long will it last?
10. How do I clean it?
11. How much do I
need?
12. What does it cost?
13. Shipping?
14. Have a question not answered here? Or just have
a knitting question? Click
here to email our resident knitting with Fur Yarn experts who will gladly
answer all of your questions.
1. WHAT IS FUR YARN?
In the 1970s, Paula Lishman developed a process to create a warm and
comfortable double-faced fur fabric.
This was accomplished by cutting a rabbit pelt from the outside surface into
a narrow strip. The strip was then twisted, and used as a yarn that can be knit,
crocheted, woven, or used as trim.
Over the past 25 years, we have further developed this initial concept to
create a strong, washable yarn from beaver, fox, mink, and muskrat, reinforced
with a natural fibre core. The result combines the luxury of fur with the
simplicity of a yarn -- which can be used to trim or create your own knits.
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2. HOW DO I ORDER YARN?
To order yarn, simply CLICK
HERE TO BROWSE OUR ONLINE CATALOG . Yarn is sold in 15, 30 or 50 gram balls
and we also offer kits which include everything you need to make a Lishman
original yourself!
We will confirm the order by email as well as keep you up to date on it's
status.
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3. IS IT REAL FUR?
Yes, our yarn is made from full, dressed fur pelts -- a natural &
renewable resource. The mink and fox are ranch-raised, in accordance with humane
standards. Trappers who choose to live on the land harvest the beaver and
muskrat in the wild. Trapping in Canada is well regulated to ensure a healthy
ratio of population to habitat.
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4. HOW IS IT MADE?
Fur pelts are dressed and dyed, then wetted and blocked. The blocking process
stretches the skin, and gives it a stiffer consistency to facilitate cutting.
As per our logo which graces the bottom of these web pages, the skins are
trimmed of uneven edges, then cut from the back with a razor blade, always about
1/8" (approximately 3 mm) from the outside edge. We aim for one continuous strip
from a pelt or piece of pelt (ie. flank or center back of a beaver).
This strip is then reinforced with a strong mercerized cotton yarn by
twisting the pelt around the cotton core. The fur yarn is a two-ply yarn, with
the leather back of the strip and the cotton reinforcing yarn as the core, and
the fur itself positioned radially outward, much like a pipe cleaner.
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5. HOW DO YOU GET ALL OF THE
COLOURS?
After tanning, the skins are professionally dyed in Montreal. Skins can be
bleached first, then dyed, to get an even colour throughout, or dyed from
natural to obtain an ombré or shadowed effect, with variations of dark and
lighter shades of the same colour.
If a white mink pelt is dyed, the resultant colour may have white tips on the
guard hair. Beaver pelts are plucked to remove the coarse, long, guard hairs,
and are then sheared to an even length. Mink, fox, and muskrat are generally
longhaired, unless indicated as sheared.
NOTE: Some of the colours are available only in limited quantities.
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6. WHAT IS OMBRE?
If the skins are not bleached before dyeing (usually beaver), the resulting
pelt has much more colour texture. Ombre pelts tend to be lighter around the
edges and darker in the middle.
The lack of bleaching before dyeing has little effect on the darker colours,
but can be very pronounced in the lighter shades we offer --which results in an
ombre effect.
All colours are dyed from bleached pelts unless they are marked as ombre.
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7. HOW CAN I USE THE
YARN?
The yarn can be used for crocheting, weaving, macramé, hand knitting, and
machine knitting. Keep in mind that you are using a natural product and the
result of your "fur yarn" adventure depends on your effort and mastering your
tension against fur consistency. Fur yarn will come in a strand, just like a
fancy wool yarn. If necessary, you can always rip it back and redo your work.
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8. HOW DO I MATCH THE
COLOUR OF THE FUR YARN TO MY PROJECT?
Because colours are not perfectly reproduced on the web page, if you are
concerned about getting an exact match, we suggest you mail us a sample of your
yarn or fabric. Our mailing address is:
Fur Yarn by Paula Lishman
14341 Old Scugog Rd.,
Blackstock,
ON
CANADA
L0B 1B0
We will send back small swatches of colours we think will match and wait for
your order.
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9. HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?
Your fur-trimmed garment will last your lifetime, providing you assemble and
clean it as suggested.
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10. HOW DO I CLEAN IT?
All fur-trimmed knits should be hand-washed in tepid water and immediately
laid flat to dry. No soaps or detergents should be used, as this may alter the
colour of the fur yarn.
Use a steel wool brush or old hairbrush to bring fur up. Dog grooming
brushes, with bent fine wire bristles, are what we use in production after
crocheting to pull the hairs out. Natural mink must only be dry-cleaned, as the
skins have not been tanned for dyeing and washability.
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11. HOW MUCH DO I NEED?
For crochet trim, please allow three to four times the circumference or the
length of your garment, and use a #4 or #5 crochet hook.
A neckline can be trimmed with a single crochet capped edge (four times
around) or double crochet (six times around).
Loops, shells, and similar can be crocheted, requiring extra yarn. The length
needed is close to 1.6 feet per gram.
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12. WHAT DOES IT COST?
We sell our yarn in 15, 30 & 50 gram balls. To convert to length you
can use this basic formula (the weight varies depending on the yarn as
this is a natural product with slight variations in thickness, etc); 2
grams per yard of Beaver and 4 grams per yard of Fox,
approximately.
Please contact us at 1-877-FUR-YARN for current pricing, or visit our
webstore
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13. SHIPPING?
Fur Yarn by Paula Lishman will ship the yarn anywhere in the world. In Canada
ship orders via Canada Post or UPS. We send large orders via UPS to the US and
internationally.
You will receive an order confirmation. If you have any questions about
shipping costs before ordering, please contact us via email or telephone.
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