Mohair

The first point to clarify is that mohair comes from the angora goat; angora comes from the angora rabbit!

South Africa is the world's largest producer. Most UK producers are members of the British Angora Goat Society  (BAGS); we, too, are members.

BAGS has a marketing subsidiary, British Mohair Marketing, which collects, grades and markets the fibre. Some major producers work independently as do smaller ones who have their own craft operations. Some choose to sell direct to us.

Mohair generally comes in three qualities: kid, young adult and adult. The older the animal the coarser the fibre. The yarns are fluffy compared to wool. Goats are also bred for their meat and skin.

Almost all mohair is white, but some is silver. It dyes well. Unlike wool, mohair is uncrimped and smooth and therefore sometimes difficult to spin; in practice only kid can be spun pure and to produce a good yarn we recommend blending 10-15% of the fine wool with the other grades. 

Very little organic mohair is produced in the UK. Cashmere also comes from goats, but very little is produced in the UK, most of it in Scotland. The bulk of the remainder comes from Mongolia.