Uncommon Enterprise - August/September 2005

A Furry Affair

by Lena Basha

When Victoria Pettigrew brushes any one of her 10 pets, she ends up with handfuls of fur. But instead of throwing them away like the rest of us, she saves the tiny tufts so she can spin them into yarn. Sounds strange, but Pettigrew has actually built a good business with pet lovers all over the world.

When one of Pettigrew's dogs, Karly, passed away in 2001, she got the idea to spin the dog's hair into yarn and turn it into a keepsake scarf. "Spinning her collected fiber and knitting a small scarf gave me such comfort that I thought others would benefit from such a service," she says.

And so VIP Fibers, Pettigrew's spinning business in Morgan Hill, Calif., was born. With two full-time employees, Pettigrew receives anywhere from 2 ounces to 20 pounds of pet fiber each day from customers who hail from around the world. VIP Fibers (http://www.vipfibers.com) then spins the pet fibers into yarn. They can even make finished keepsakes, including scarves, tote bags and hats.

Pettigrew usually recommends other keepsakes to her customers, though.

"Scarves and hats spend most of their time tucked away in a drawer," she says. "We would like to see you have something that can be out on display year-round, always in petting distance and where everyone can enjoy it." For that reason, Pettigrew often suggests a pillow, a pettable picture frame, a cozy throw or even a keepsake bear.

"The decision is completely yours; we just want to make sure that you are 100 percent thrilled with your special keepsake," she says.

One reason it's such a big decision is the amount of yarn it takes to create a keepsake. One ounce of pet fiber can yield up to 27 yards of finished two-ply yarn; a scarf, for example, can require up to 300 yards of yarn.