Friday 12 May 2006

Mohair, Mothere

Upon arising this afternoon (hey I'm up all night when do you think I sleep?) I found a bag of mohair in my house. Just sitting there, waiting for me to see it.

It didn't just magically appear from the fibre fairies-and I find it is good to have alternative connections, as the fairies have proven themselves to be quite unreliable-apparently it does come from a real live local goat. Some people my mom knows were shearing their older angora goat; it's hair is too old to be used for garments, so they have given some of it to me (via mama). I have been given much odder presents than this in the past (i.e. porcupine) so I appreciate it very much.


I've never worked with mohair of any type before, so I have been doing a little internet research. I found that mohair takes dyes quite beautifully which is exciting, especially since it is about time to haul out the dye stuff.
I'm not entirely sure how I will use it, though I do know it needs to be combed or carded to get the plant materials out-it has been scoured apparently. Maybe I will felt it or spin it for non-garment use. It is rather itchy, but the inner crow notices it is also rather shiny and wants to touch it anyway-it has more sheen than I expected at least.


I was looking at pictures of the goats while I was searching and now I want one, they are adorable. I've also heard they can be aggressive; they might keep annoying people out of our yard, including the hellions.

Oh and the shoes I've been waiting for finally came, that is them in the corner of the first pic. Shoes + fibre=happiness.

3 comments:

marc said...

Those goats are cute. I always wondered what mohair was... but not enough to actually look it up on the internet or something.

Char said...

Sometimes information on the www comes to you.

Actually I knew what it was, but I was looking for some information on how to process it. Plus I just wanted to see what the goats looked like.

arlee said...

OO pretty cool prezzie! Does look very touchable--and oooo that sheeny shiny shine! Can't wait to see whatcha do with it!