IntroductionHello to everyone reading this book! We (umatan and rojiman) are a cat-loving couple from Japan who make hats for our cats. We use the hair shed by our family cats Maru (a white cat), Mugi (an orange tabby), and Nya (a blue-gray tabby who sadly left this world in 2020). Yes, what you see on these cats’ heads are hats made out of their own cat hair.
It all started in the summer of 2016, while umatan was brushing one of our cats, as she usually does. After removing the cat hair from the brush and piling it all up, it started looking like a mountain. Rubbing the hairs together on this little mountain made it taller and look like a radio tower. Feeling mischievous, umatan gently placed the radio tower on our cat’s head, and the cat sat there, relaxed, with a composed look on his face. She was astonished by how cute and funny it looked.
At that moment, umatan realized that she could take the excess hair generated by our cats and, by rubbing it together, form any shape she wanted. The hair is so light that the cats don’t mind when it’s put on their heads. Cats have an excellent sense of smell, so they’re probably comfortable with us putting their own hair on their heads because it smells like them.
Since then, we’ve made more than 160 different hats. Our cats provide us with their extra hair, umatan makes the hats, and rojiman takes the photos. Making these hats has become our life’s work and allows our whole family to come together.
Shedding is a headache for most cat owners. But once you learn how to make hats with cat hair, all that extra hair will become near and dear to you—and your cat can become as fashionable as your imagination allows. This book will show you how to make twenty-five cat-hair hats along with some basic techniques to create your own custom designs. We hope you have fun making these hats with your cat!
Copyright © 2022 by rojiman & umatan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
