Vegan alternative to wool?

I did something similar. I crocheted my dog's hair into a dread. I bathed her and cut off a lock a week before she passed. We had a really deep connection so I "knew" her time was approaching. Took me over a year to get the emotional strength to crochet it in because my heart was broken.

To reply to the original post... acrylic knits work fine for dreads as an alternative to wool. I personally prefer natural materials like wool as they are better for wicking out moisture, but understand the argument against it. It's not so much the point that the wool comes from sheep as the reason it should be avoided, but that the sheep are often kept in horrible, inhumane conditions... so purchasing and wearing wool supports this inhumane treatment.