Experience with mohair

Hi,

from my days as an avid knitter—which, admittedly, were over 20 years ago ;-)—I remember that I eventually stopped knitting with mohair because it was just so terribly itchy. Switching to angora isn’t much better either, because the fine hairs are constantly flying around (the “red-eye” effect). Is mohair different now, or is it the blend? I’ve seen yarn cakes with a mohair content, for a cozy, soft result… but I’m still a bit skeptical ;-)

Best regards
Michaela

Well… I really don’t like working with mohair because I’m also super sensitive to itchy yarns. I’ve never come across mohair that’s truly itch-free. I don’t work with angora on principle (because those poor bunnies often have to suffer terribly). But I think baby alpaca is unbeatable. I’ve rarely come across anything so cozy and soft.
A while back, I worked with LanaGrossa’s Lace Seta, which is baby alpaca blended with silk—it’s absolutely wonderful!!! 

You’re right about that… Back then, I didn’t even think about how angora is sourced. Silk isn’t exactly great either—who likes being killed with boiling water… though, the shearing… well, that’s not exactly like getting a haircut at the salon. It’s tricky…

Hey there!

I soak scratchy yarn overnight in a vinegar-water solution (1:5).
It really helps.

Best wishes

Mohair has improved tremendously in recent years; the varieties blended
with silk are super soft and easy to work with since they’re very fine.
I also like to hold them double when knitting—for example, together with sock yarn—
but then I knit very loosely with thick needles (size 6–7), which makes the finished piece really soft.

Angora is awful—I once got to tour an angora spinning mill; the hair was
everywhere, even hanging down from the ceiling. You could only work there wearing masks—
it was just terrible. Ever since then, angora has been off-limits for me.

I recently used a rainbow yarn cake with mohair (by Rellana).
Composition: 45% acrylic, 40% nylon, 15% mohair

I could practically curl up in this scarf—it’s that cozy.

I have to say, I’ve always been very skeptical about mohair, but lately I’ve used blends with a small amount of mohair a few times and was totally thrilled.

@Petra

I haven’t come across those yet. How do they work up?