A Yarn About Yarn

     I admit it.  I have gotten carried away with all the different types of animals who give us yarn. It's novel to have a hat woven from Rover or a hairball necklace from Tabby, but I'll bet you had no idea what a status symbol it is to have a scarf made out of muskox. It's called qiviuq or qiviut (pronounced kee-vee-ut), and it's the world's most expensive wool.  It is also one of the world's softest wools, and it won't shrink when you wash it, no matter how hot the water.  A qiviuq scarf can cost $300, but it will last 20 years.  I'm assuming that's 20 years of almost daily wear since I have some acrylic scarves that might be approaching the two decade mark.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiviut
     Everybody knows wool comes from sheep.  I suppose almost everyone knows that angora comes from rabbits and cashmere, mohair, and pashmina come from goats.  I never considered that camel coats really come from camels.  I just thought it referred to the tan color.  Other members of the camel family are prized for their wool - alpacas, guanancos, llamas, and vacuñas. The yak has hair that is odor resistant and is desirable for garment making.
     School kids are taught about silk worms, but did you know that byssus cloth or sea silk is made from the filaments clams secrete to attach themselves to surfaces?  Catgut was used for surgical sutures when I was a child.  It is also used to make strings for musical intruments.  It doesn't come from kitty cat intestines, but from the intestines of sheep, goats, hogs, horses, or donkeys - in other words from cattle.
     I marvel at human resourcefulness.  Who decided to shave sheep, spin their hair, and weave it?  Who figured out knitting and crocheting?  They didn't have rocket scientists several thousand years ago.  They had farmers, fisherman, and herdsmen.  Those guys were freakin' brillant.