Working With Mohair

Back in the day, I had 3 mohair sweaters. One in pink, one in lime green, and one in a burnt orange. I loved the fuzziness of them. When I had my own fiber animals and spun my own yarn, I had an angora goat named Jill. She was a delicate looking animal with long, wavy ringlets of hair, back curving horns, and a sweet disposition. The angora goat is the source of mohair. Natural mohair comes in white and I have seen black. The white is the most used commercially because it can be dyed. It holds dye well and one can still see the natural luster of the fiber. Pure mohair and blends with mohair have the characteristic shagginess. Mohair fibers do not have microscopic hooks on them which causes wool fibers to stay together and not come loose from the yarn.. Yarns made from mohair need to be spun tightly in order to hold the long fiber in place so it does not shed or come apart.

Mohair fiber is heavier than wool fiber. Articles made from pure mohair need to be made from sport or lace weight yarn to avoid the garment being stretched out of shape under its own weight. The sweaters I had were made from worsted weight but knit on large needles to lighten it some. Even then, the cardigan would stretch longer and longer. I think it was the pockets that added the extra weight. Blends with other fibers, natural or man made, can be light enough to use in any weight yarn without stretching being a problem.

Mohair has good insulating ability. The yarn itself does not trap much air because of the need for the tightly spun nature but the resulting loft from the fibers that work their way loose add a considerable amount of trapped air space and this makes for a very warm fabric. As with wool, it has a natural wicking action that pulls moisture away from the body which aids in keeping the wearer warm.

Mohair, whether pure or in blends, makes a beautiful, durable fabric. I like to use it to knit simple patterns, nothing too complicated. The loft from the yarn itself makes it difficult to clearly see a complex pattern and the extra effort is wasted. It is appropriate to knit or crochet scarves, hat, mittens, sweaters, afghans, shawls, durable socks, anything you wish a little fancier than wool. It does have it's drawbacks. Like wool, it is attractive to clothes moths so the yarn and garments made from it need to be protected. Although I've not heard of anyone being allergic to the fiber, it can be irritating to wear and if that seems a problem (mostly with pure mohair), the garment can be lined or I would wear turtle neck shirts with the sweaters. I find kid mohair, mohair from baby angora goats, to be less irritating and of course blends are much less irritating because they contain smaller amounts of mohair yet.

Mohair needs to be washed by hand, as you would wool. I previously mentioned the process when talking about wool. The only part of the process that is different is after it is blocked and is dry, brush it to untangle the fibers and make it fluffy again. I use a hair brush but mohair brushes can be bought.

See 500 types of mohair yarn here This is a link to Shanti's Yarn Stash, the page it opens to is mohair blends. Explore the index for other types of mohair yarn. There are hundreds in any style you can think of in any color in any blend. Enjoy looking!