![]() You certainly don’t want to begin a project only to discover that your expensive, beautiful yarn just isn’t right for the project you’ve chosen. It has certain disadvantages that you should know before you start knitting ( see the second list below). See the first list below to understand the advantages to knitting with this yarn.īut sometimes you’ll want to skip using mohair yarn. It’s nice to knit with (if you don’t find it scratchy), can be easily blended with other yarns, and can be used for many different projects. Mohair is considered a luxury yarn – with good reason. “Angora goat” by Tim Green aka atoach is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Properties of Mohair Yarn This makes the fibers very lightweight as well as making them very good insulators – so mohair is a great choice for garments that will keep you warm in cold weather. Instead, it’s often spun as a ‘brushed’ fiber with a halo or fuzziness.Īnother interesting fact about mohair is that the cortex (the middle of the hair shaft) contains air pockets. But this smoothness also means it needs to be tightly spun so it won’t fall apart. This also means it won’t felt as easily as wool (those scales on wool fibers are what causes it to felt so readily). Mohair fibers are 4-12 inches long with fewer scales along the shaft than wool, making it smooth and lustrous. This also makes the mohair used for knitting an expensive fiber – because it only comes from young goats. The fleece that’s commonly used in knitting comes from the Angora kids (young goats) and the fiber is known as kid mohair, which is the softest and finest grade of mohair. One interesting fact – it was used for upholstery before commonly used synthetics for things like theatre and train seating because it is a tough fiber that can stand up to hard use. The fleece sheared from older goats is coarse and often used for upholstery. The goats are sheared twice a year and, interestingly, they produce a single coat of fine wool (most wool-producing animals have double coats). Today, South Africa is the large producer with the United States (specifically Texas) in second place. ![]() This beautiful fiber comes from the fleece of the Angora goat, which most likely originated in the Himalayas but was traditionally raised in Turkey. It also falls within the ‘specialty wool’ category because, while it’s considered ‘wool,’ it doesn’t come from sheep. Mohair falls within the animal fibers category because the fiber comes from the Angora goat. A Look at Mohairįibers and fleeces used for knitting can be divided into four broad categories – animal fibers (like wool, silk, and alpaca), plant fibers (like cotton and linen), biosynthetic fibers (like rayon and bamboo), and synthetic fibers (like acrylic and nylon). ![]() See the disclosure policy for more information. If you click through and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. To help you know when mohair is a great choice for your next project – we’ll look at all of these common questions in the sections below.
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