Mohair: Knitting Properties
Mohair is the long, lustrous fibre of the angora goat. Used alone, it produces a halo of fuzz around every stitch; blended with silk in lace weights, it produces the iconic kid-mohair-and-silk fabric of modern luxury knitting.
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Fibre characteristics
Adult mohair is 100–200 mm long with diameters of 25–40 microns. Kid mohair (from young goats) is finer and softer. The long fibres produce a halo when knitted — fibres extending out from the surface of every stitch.
Halo and bloom
A wet block dramatically increases the halo, making the fabric appear softer and more substantial. For kid-mohair-and-silk lace, the unblocked fabric looks limp and the blocked fabric is luminous.
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Held with another yarn
Lace-weight kid mohair is often held with a second yarn (fingering or sport weight) for sweaters that combine softness and structure. The mohair adds a halo of fuzz that smooths out the underlying yarn.
Care
Hand-wash gently. Avoid wringing or rubbing — the long fibres tangle easily. Mohair sweaters can be brushed lightly with a soft brush to lift the halo after washing.
Abbreviation reference
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CYC | Craft Yarn Council |
Tips
- For lace, use kid mohair held alone; for sweaters, hold mohair with a fingering or sport-weight base yarn.
- Block aggressively to maximise the halo.
- Brush lightly after washing to lift the halo back up.
In depth
Mohair has been used in hand-knitting for centuries but found new prominence in the 2010s with kid-mohair-and-silk lace yarns. The combination of fine kid mohair (for the halo) and silk (for strength and lustre) produces a fabric that drapes like a cloud and shines like a textile from a museum collection.