Get Soft, Fluffy Angora Yarn for your Knitting Projects
If you hadn’t noticed, knitting has become a very popular trend in the past few years. Online and physical yarn stores are popping up everywhere, not to mention the fact that novelty and traditional yarns have become readily available in a variety of textures, thickness, and colors.
One type of yarn that everyone is hoping to get their hands on is angora yarn. Angora wool can exclusively from angora rabbits unlike mohair than comes from Angora goats. Their names may be the same, but each animal produces very different products.
What you Don’t Know about Angora Wool
Angora yarn is revered for its low micron count. A micron is the measurement used to express the diameter of a wool fiber. The lower the micron count the finer the wool.
As a comparison, merino wool can range from 10-25 microns while mohair ranges from 25-45 microns. On the other hand, angora wool maintains a micron count of 12-16 microns.
Angora wool is also very valuable because it has an incredibly fluffy feeling. Therefore, it is the fluffy angora yarn that gives garments its light, downy appearance. In fact, angora wool is also one of the warmest types of yarn.
Angora strands are hollow which is the reason why it has the insulating properties that make it seven times warmer than sheep’s wool.
Some people may find the halo bothersome or inconvenient, especially if they have allergies, however, angora can be spun together with other wools to help decrease its softness and price.
In fact, it may be easier to get hold of angora knitwear that also contains some percentage of other wools, even acrylic fibers. This also goes for angora sweaters. However, you may be able to find smaller accessories (mittens, scarves and caps) that are made with 100% angora wool.
Luckily, if you’re a do-it-yourselfer then you can get hold of 100% angora and make your own project. Since it is a natural fiber, you can dye angora wool with a variety of different dyes. You can also purchase dyed wool.
Angora Rabbits
Just like sheep’s wool, the angora wool is removed from the rabbit by one of two processes. The rabbit will be either sheared or combed to remove the wool. Shearing produces cut fibers while combing insures a long, uncut strand.
Because rabbits are such small creatures, several people have taking the initiative to raise their own animals and spin their own yarn. However, not everyone is willing to invest the money and effort it takes to have their own angora farm, no matter how small it maybe.
ANGORA YARN offers 100% angora fiber that has been hand dyed and turned into a beautiful handspun yarn. The angora rabbits that produce this soft wool are well taken care of and are periodically combed to harvest their hair. This attention to detail is what helps ANGORA YARN produce plush and unique wool.
- Loreto Marquez
