The second of the new yarns I was sent to swatch for TNNA’s Great Wall of Yarn is Colinton Australian Angoras 100% Kid Mohair in natural white. The yarn ‘told me’ it wanted to be worked in one of my favorite reversible eyelet patterns based on HeartStrings pattern #A7 Reversible Lace Cables Scarf. I knitted a 6″ by 8″ swatch using the minimum repeat of the main section of this scarf pattern for an overall cast on width of 28 sts rather than the 48 sts of the fully-sized scarf.
This 100% Kid Mohair yarn was a soft caress as it ran through my fingers for knitting. The yarn is not highly brushed like so many mohair yarns on the market, but finely worsted spun with low halo into a substantial 2-ply coming in at 133 yards per ounce — not exactly lace weight, but because of the density of mohair gives a grist that is definitely on the much finer side of fingering weight. It also has a slightly uneven look to the plies similar to having been handspun. Not drastic, but just enough to give added character over the more common mechanically produced non-100% kid mohair yarns that are spun around a binder thread. After hand washing and laying flat to dry under the moderate tension for lace blocking, the yarn remained soft and with only a slight halo to retain good stitch definition.
The softness is such that I could see this yarn being used in a next-to-the-skin garment — assuming someone would want to knit a sweater on small needles. Even at the light weight of this yarn, however, it would definitely be a warm garment (especially for my south Louisiana climate!) I did make a 6″ swatch of plain stockinette on size 2 needles for a gauge of 7 stitches per inch which has a nice hand and stable fabric for a garment. I’ll post an article about what this swatch becomes later, lol.
There was not much more in the ball than this to work up as I was supplied with just 100 yards (22g). I am not sure if this will be the standard put-up of this new yarn (the yarn was merely labeled with a general business card hang tag for Colinton Australian Angoras listing Julie Parnes in Salem, OR as the distributor for inquiries) with hand-written information about the yarn on the back.
Although this yarn is not nearly as fine and luminous as the lace mohair I viewed in Kaethe Kliot’s vintage collection of European knit laces, it brought to mind when I had the distinct fortune to view those finely spun luminous mohair yarns of that era. In fact, I have had for some time now the finest 100% Kid Mohair fiber in my stash that I plan to hand spin into a special project. For those that don’t spin, or even someone like myself for whom my spinning wheels have been very lonely, this Colinton Angoras yarn could meantime become one of my favorites.
p.s. Do not be confused by the name Angoras. The fiber for this yarn, which is mohair, comes from the Angora Goat, not rabbit.