What is mohair?

Mohair is a long, soft fiber that is used to make sweaters, caps, and other fluffy accessories. You may recognize the term but be unaware of how it is obtained, but be warned:

the creation of mohair clothes, like all animal-derived textiles, includes misery and slaughter.

Mohair is derived from angora goats. You may have heard of angora before, but if you see the word “angora” (or “angora wool”) on a clothing tag, don’t mix it with mohair. Angora wool is a completely different fiber that is violently harvested from rabbits

South Africa and the United States produce the majority of the world’s mohair (particularly Texas). Angora goats are primarily bred for their soft inner coats, which are sheared twice a year, beginning as early as six months after birth. However, the difficulties with mohair begin much earlier and persist until the goats are butchered.

Knitting With Mohair Yarns                        

Knitting and crocheting with mohair yarn is a completely different experience from knitting or crocheting with cotton or sheep’s wool. Mohair provides softness and gauziness to a finished garment. It can also cover the little gaps between stitches in a halo yarn. It can also affect the texture of cloth, making it more fluffy and, in most cases, warmer.

Mohair can also be utilized in your fabric to create a nice marled look. Instead of using complementing mohair with your underlying yarn, use a contrasting color to provide visual interest and variance to the fabric. The effect is similar to a barber pole twist or excessive heathering.

When designing your mohair projects, a reasonable rule of thumb is that each strand of mohair adds around a weight category to your base yarn.

I believe knitting with mohair is achievable and well worth it if you want texture, fluffiness, or color interest in your creation. I was pleased with how the complementing and contrasting colors appeared in my swatches. Plus, because mohair fluffs up more with blocking, all of the textiles were fluffy and lovely.

You can find everything about crochet and knitting on the IceYarns Blog!

If you want to knit projects with mohair yarns, you can check out the mohair yarns on iceyarns.com!