I'm spinning some extremely soft, shiny, beautiful kid mohair. It will be fingering weight and I want to use it for the warp to weave a scarf or shawl.I've seen some commercial ‘brushed’ mohair that was unbelievably fuzzy, and I'm wondering if my yarn will have a large halo like angora when my project is finished and used. I love mohair for its softness and shine, but I don't want it fuzzy. I'll probably use sizing when I weave with it to prevent it from sticking, but I'm interested in what it will look like after it's been used for about a year.I'm spinning it 100% mohair, but the weft will probably be wool or a wool blend. I spin a lot of dog hair, and after the article is used for a while, it looks like one big fuzz ball. I want to prevent that with the mohair.

Comments

Sun, 08/29/2010 - 08:23

ruthmacgregor (not verified)

A lot of the mohair's behaviour will depend on how it's been spun:  if you give it plenty of twist and a firm plying, it won't fuzz much at all.  (It will also have less sheen when it has more twist, so if you're making adjustments here, you'll need to make some choices.)

Having said that, since you'll be using it as warp and weaving through it with wool or a wool blend, it's probably hold still and behave like a lovely, shiny, soft-to-touch yarn that doesn't fuzz up (much).

The commercial mohairs with their amazing halo effects are interesting to take apart, by the way.  They're usually spun pretty loosely, but firmly plied with a fine binding thread (usually nylon) that will hold the fibres in place and keep the yarn from shedding; then they've been brushed to pull ends of the fibres loose from the yarn.

Unless you're giving your mohair just a light twist, though, your yarn won't be doing that big-halo thing.  Also, the wool weft will anchor the mohair pretty well in place once the fabric has been woven and wet-finished, so you're unlikely to get major fuzzing.

What you might get, though, after a year or so of use, would be a creeping of the mohair fibres over the surface of the fabric -- like a light touch of frost, if it's white mohair.  That can be really nice, softening the feel of the cloth's surface without looking messy or going fuzzy.  ...But I don't think you'll see more than a faint halo, even after a year's use, unless you expressly do something (like brushing) to raise a nap.

That's off the top of my head, based on things I've made mixing all-mohair and all-wool handspun yarns.  In my experience, it doesn't go totally fuzzy.  Occasional wisps, yes.  Some gentle frosting, yes.  But definitely not fuzz-ball. :-)

I'd be interested to hear what experiences others of us have had here, too!  We all make yarn a little differently, which is part of what makes this all so fascinating!

Ruth

Mon, 08/30/2010 - 10:48

Aunt Janet (not verified)

I agree with Ruth.  Mohair won't turn into a fuzz ball.  I wove a mohair rug as one of my first handspun handwoven projects, about 20 years ago.  I walk on it daily, and it is still not a fuzz ball.  I have a new skein of kid mohiar plied with silk.  I spun it from locks, but only let some tiny tips stick out.  This will be fuzzier, but not much.  The fuzz on this yarn is very, very soft, and silky.  It doesn't have that fly-away static feel of angora, either.  It is much more silky.  I think you will love using your mohair.

Janet

Mon, 08/30/2010 - 12:14

kellytwo (not verified)

Thank you so much for your comments. I didn't spin it loose at all. It's a nice rounded yarn and it's so soft and luxurious, that you just want to pet it. It was such a pleasure to spin and have the fiber pass through my hands. Your advice was exactly what I wanted to hear. Our spinning guild had a dye day workshop yesterday and we used the kettle dyeing method by putting three colors in the pot. My mohair came out beautiful, so I think I'll use it for a shawl with some black between the colorful mohair to make the colors really pop. I'll be weaving it on my rigid heddle so there won't me too much abrasion. Mohair and silk sounds lovely. I still have a lot of mohair left, maybe that will be my next combination.
Mon, 08/30/2010 - 12:26

Caroline (not verified)

Mohair and silk is lovely, mohair and sari silk is spectacular! I spin my own mix, keeping the sari silk soft and organic. Its fabulous for accents in outerwear, or furnishings and ideal for weaving.

Fri, 05/04/2018 - 08:39

creaturecomforts

Hi Ruth, 

This is an after comment -- I wrote what follows before realizing you posted it 8 yrs ago!!   So different than fb that I am used to where it is a daily check in.  But I will leave the comments anyway as someone may benefit.   I have not woven with mohair (yet -- I am a just a new weaver - my loom has not arrived yet!) But have been a spinner for a very long time and have raised my own angora goats for the past 10 years.  And have knitted with it.  The commercial mohair is brushed purposely.   If you are spinning it for warp it needs to be slightly overspun especially if you are using singles.   Here is a recipe I found on line from someone named Sue developed by Alex Petrowski.  Alex raises her own angora goats and makes incredibly beautiful woven blankets and rugs with her own mohair so I trust this recipe completely.  .  Worth visiting her website.  But here is the recipe...

 

 Sizing for Mohair Warp

Sue : Hi, I have spoken with Alexandra Petrowski of Singing Falls Mohair in Oregon and she uses a "sizing" made from corn starch for her mohair warp. She weaves a lot of mohair. This is her "recipe" from memory:

1 gallon pot - fill about 3/4 full with cold water and then approx 4
tablespoons of corn starch to that - stir...then gently heat up until
it's very hot and it should thicken just a wee bit when it's almost to a
boil.  Add a tablespoon if it seems to thin...

anyway - then you just stir well and turn off the heat -

then when it's cooled enough to handle - you dip your warp yarns that
you've already spun up and washed well and that are ready for warping
the loom...then dry them outside - until you have some rather stiff
spaghetti yarn -

you don't want the yarn gooey (but everything will eventually wash out,
no worry) -- I learned over time just the way I need it to be - it's
just slightly "stiff" after drying but the main thing is that it is

rather smooth and the hairs of the mohair won't get caught so easy.    

So the sizing  helps prevent the fuzz while working with the yarn .  But after washing your finished product it will have a slight halo.  Not as much as angora  and not as fluffy as the brushed commercial mohair .Just light and breezy and wonderfully cozy especially if you are using kid.  Here is a picture of a handspun knitted sweater I made. Yoke is angora and the rest is 100% kid mohair.  So you can see the halo a bit but it does not cover the stitches like the angora does.  Like angora though the halo comes up the more it is worn but it does not have the heavy halo that angora does.