A Donegal weaving company has helped a distraught dog owner maintain a special bond with his beloved pet following its death.

 

A week before Christmas and after more than two years of work, Kilcar-based firm Studio Donegal presented Tony Jenkins with a cardigan woven from the hair of his family dog, Harry.

 

Harry, a Samoyed Husky, passed away in April 2015 after developing pneumonia.

 

The dog was given to Tony’s daughter by her boyfriend in 2004 but it quickly fell to the Strabane man to look after him.

 

In the 11 years up until his death, Harry and Tony were almost inseparable.

 

Native to Siberia, Samoyed’s are renowned for their thick white double-layered coat. Traditionally the Samoyed people brush them for their fine hair which they then weave into fabric for clothing.

 

Throughout their many years together Tony did the same, brushing Harry and storing his excess hair. When Harry died, he decided to try and get it knitted into a jumper.

 

Tony headed for Studio Donegal where manager Tristan Donaghy was initially sceptical about the idea.

 

“Tony had read about the Samoyed and he thought it would be interesting to keep the fibres from the groomings,” Tristan said.

 

“When the dog died he started looking for someone to spin the fibres for him. Years ago we hand-carded the hair of a chow dog into a hat and it was not a particularly pleasant experience for us. So when Tony came down my initial reaction was to say definitely not.”

 

On inspecting the Samoyed hair though, Tristan noted that it had been well looked after and was not dissimilar to wool. Because of its slippery texture though, it was deemed not suitable for machine spinning. Instead it had to be done by hand.

 

 

Tristan’s mum agreed to give it a go but because of the slow nature of the process, the material took nearly two years to complete.

 

Once spun, it had to be hand knit. Local woman Kathleen Meehan took on that task, producing the garment in time for Christmas.

 

During the time it took to create, Tony and Tristan became firm friends. The Donegal weaver added though that he would be in no rush to take on such a project again.

 

“We took this on as a courtesy but it isn’t something you would be in a hurry to do again,” Tristan said.

 

“When someone presents you with a challenge, you don’t like to be beaten. Tony and I have become friends and it is something I was happy to be part of but if I got up tomorrow morning and found a queue of Samoyed owners at my door, I would be alarmed.”

 

Studio Donegal will be in Dublin this weekend at a ‘Slow Made Garment’ exhibition. Tristan Donaghy said that given the length of time it took to create Tony’s cardigan, he reckons he has that title already in the bag.

“It is the definition of a slow made garment,” he said.

 

“It took about 13 years when you consider the length of time to grow the fibre, spin it and then knit the garment. It is definitely one of a kind,” he added.