Donna Panner was heartbroken when her last, and longest-living, rabbit, Hef, died two years ago. She still hasn’t replaced him. But the 48-year-old Pomona, NY, resident, did figure out a way to keep him near: knitting.
Panner began spinning the hair she had collected from grooming sessions with Hef —a mini Rex who lived until the ripe old age of 9 — into a rich gray yarn for knitting.
“Spinning is a nice way to keep him around,” she says. “I’d rather have a memory of him be a pair of gloves or scarf, rather than having him stuffed.”
Panner, who has been knitting for more than a decade, didn’t combine her two hobbies until after Hef’s death. But some industrious knitters in New York are getting rabbits specifically to keep a ready supply of the luxurious fiber on hand — and only later falling in love with the sweet furballs as pets.
Knitters typically favor Angora bunnies for their baby-soft, extra warm hair, which is strong and blends well with other fibers. “It provides softness and fluffiness” to the finished product, explains Tabbethia Haubold, 41, a professional shearer who keeps two Angora rabbits and several other farm animals on 17 acres on Long Island. “It gives a natural halo, or buzz, to the yarn. It just has a really nice touch to it.”
Even knitters who don’t have such acreage are opting for bunnies as live-in yarn suppliers.
“I have a small backyard, so a sheep would be kind of out of the question,” says Abbie Bennett of Perry, NY. She bought two female Angoras about a year ago to support her knitting habit.
The 41-year-old, who was a stay-at-home mom before her kids left the nest, has long made her own clothes, but says she wanted a “cheaper but better quality” fiber source. Now she’s working on a hoodie for her hubby. “It’s the softest thing I’ve ever touched,” Bennett says.
Lisa Konnerth, 53, a teacher living on Long Island, sells, breeds and knits from her five English/giant hybrid Angoras, whom she also considers her pets. She collects 2 to 4 ounces of raw fiber from each of her rabbits two to three times a year; 2 ounces can yield 60 to 100 yards of yarn.
“The Angora has a great personality,” she says. “They’re very curious, very low-key — and they have great fiber.”
The bunnies aren’t exactly low-maintenance, though. Keeping these rabbits’ long, soft hair in shape requires daily grooming. Dr. Anthony Pilny, the head veterinarian at the Center for Avian + Exotic Medicine on the Upper West Side, says he’s found hay, pellets, poop and even store receipts caught up in the tresses of Angoras. For that reason, he recommends that Angoras be kept shaved, but it’s not an easy job.
“I can shear my sheep in under five minutes,” says Haubold. “But rabbits take me an hour. They’re so tiny, and rabbits’ skin is tissue-paper thin, so it’s super easy to cut them.”
Still, for those that own bunnies, all of the upkeep is worth it — and not just because of their luxurious hair.
“I bought [my bunnies] originally for the wool, and immediately fell in love,” says Bennett. “They’re very sweet.”
And, these bunny owners say it doesn’t seem odd to wear duds made from their pets.
“It’s definitely not weird,” says Konnerth. “No animal was harmed during this process.”