Love......
....mohair
words by Marie Wallin
Continuing our series of interesting fibre facts, this season the spot light is on MOHAIR. This truly wonderful, versatile and luxurious fibre is an important component in many of our beautiful Rowan yarns including: Kidsilk Haze, Cocoon, Kid Classic and the new Fine Art.
MOHAIR is the lustrous long and strong hair of the Angora goat. Used alone or in blends, this soft and hard wearing fibre imparts its unique characteristics to a wide variety of end uses but is mainly used in fashion garments, textiles and knitting and weaving yarns.
HISTORY Believed to have originated in the Himalayas, the Angora goat was first domesticated in Turkey, where the name Angora was derived from Ankara, the province where the goats thrived. Heavily protected from export with an export ban until the 19th century, the first Angora goats were imported into the South Africa in 1838 and into the United States in 1849. They came to the UK in 1881 when animals were imported from South Africa by the Duke of Wellington.
TODAY the major producers of mohair fibre are South Africa, Texas in the US and Australia. However there are small pockets of Angora goats being bred for their mohair in numerous countries throughout the world. Over the years the climate and geography of these very different areas, together with the different breeding programmes adopted by each country, have led to very different characteristics of the mohair fibre produced. QUALITY American fleeces tend to be dense with a long
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