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Our yarn
The yarns you will find in AngoraGarnet's e-shop and in Skattkistan for knitting kit in Bohus Stickning and Silfverberg Design are ethically produced. for our angora/merino yarns in 50% angora wool and 50% merino wool, the angora wool comes from our own angora rabbits that we cut by hand with a simple small wool scissors. The angora wool goes through our hands and is sorted into first class, which is used for to spin yarn, and second class, which is intended for for felted products, while the angora rabbit is sheared. This way we can ensure the highest quality of our angora/merino wool yarn.
The merino wool in our yarns is carefully selected lambswool from farms in New Zealand that are mulesing-free, i.e. they do not use the procedure of mulesing on their sheep. We get the merino wool through Henrichsens Uldspinderi in Skive, Denmark, the same spinning mill that spun wool for knitting kit for recreated Bohus Stickning even before Pernille Silfverberg took over, when Solveig Gustafsson worked to recreate models in Bohus Stickning and produce knitting kit for these.
Yarns for Bohus Stickning are dyed by hand by Pernille Silfverberg at home on the farm. You can be sure that the yarns in your particular knitting kit are all dyed very carefully after the original yarns for Bohus Stickning , and that we have stood over the yarns in daylight to compare them carefully before they are approved.
The soft and feathery texture of Angora yarn makes knitted garments in Angora beautiful and elegant, with a soft drape. It was when Bohus Stickning started designing garments in angora yarn that Bohus Stickning developed for a worldwide success and became the top fashion in the USA in the 50s and 60s.
Wool shearing
for yarn, we only use carefully selected premium angora wool.
It is very important for the rabbit's well-being that the wool is cut every three months. At that time, the wool fibers are about 7 cm long and are for suitable for spinning yarn.
"First class" is the wool cut from the rabbit's back and sides, which is the correct length, 7 cm. The rabbit must be 6-8 months old before the wool can be classified as first class, individually from rabbit for rabbit.
Wool from young animals has a tendency to become felted. This young animal wool is then used instead for to produce felted products. Maggots' wool is also for used.
AngoraGarnets rabbits are sheared in two steps: First we shear the finer wool on the back and sides .The rabbit is then allowed to keep the belly wool for a few weeks before we cut that too. The reason for that we wait to cut the belly wool is that it can be a big adjustment for the rabbit to cut all the wool at once.
Our Angora rabbits are clipped by Pernille Silfverberg by hand, using a special pair of scissors for wool clipping. It is a pleasant, quiet and stress-free moment for the rabbit.
Pernille starts by brushing the rabbit with a wool brush, creating a central bone along the rabbit's spine. Then she cuts down along the sides, until the point where the structure of the wool changes, what we refer to for as "second class" belly wool.
We are careful not to double-cut the wool fibers, i.e. cut the wool we have already cut. Then we ensure that only long wool fibers are spun in our yarn and avoid a dusty yarn. All wool goes through our hands during the shearing process and wool that does not meet the size is sorted away, before it is packed in bags for the spinning mill. In this way we ensure good quality and that only first class wool with silky texture and long fibers goes for to the spinning mill and is spun into for yarn. It is only because we choose to cut the wool by hand that we can ensure this quality.
In all the years since we started having yarn spun in a spinning mill from our own angora wool in 2013, we have had only 7% wastage after each batch of spun yarn. Compared to the normally estimated 10-30% wastage rate during the spinning process, our wool is of very high quality.
The fact that we have only 7% wastage can be attributed to our accuracy at every stage of the process and to a close and good cooperation with the spinning mill.
Henrichsens Uldspinderi
AngoraGarnet has always had its angora wool spun at Henrichsens Uldspinderi in Skive, Denmark.
Henrichsens Uldspinderi is a family-owned spinning mill that has been run by the Henrichsen family for five generations since 1885. The spinning mill is located in the center of Skive. It is admirable how the spinning mill has succeeded in adapting to the limited space it has at its disposal and throughout the years managed to deliver high quality yarn, uniform, even and finely spun, batch after batch, year after year. It has happened that a customer who bought knitting kit with wool yarn from Henrichsens Uldspinderi by Solveig Gustafsson in 2000, has missed a little natural gray yarn and received yarn of AngoraGarnet spun by Henrichsens Uldspinderi 20 years later that has become perfect in both shade, melange and structure. It is truly remarkable and we are so grateful and full of appreciation that this small spinning mill is so benevolent and helpful in all questions about our yarn spun for Bohus Stickning .
Henrichsens Uldspinderi specializes in handicraft yarns for weaving, hand and machine knitting always in 100% natural fiber of the highest quality. The spinning mill is certified and environmentally approved and always careful about where the wool comes from. High demands are placed on the spinning mill's suppliers of natural fibers, both in terms of animal welfare and the quality of the wool.
It is Henrichsens Uldspinderi that Solveig Gustafsson has cooperated with and acquired yarn from since 1999 for knitting kit and Bohus Stickning. The fact that we have used the same spinning mill is one of the coinciding circumstances that made it so perfect that Pernille Silfverberg took over the recreational work with Bohus Stickning in 2014, when Solveig and her husband Lars-Erik chose to stop this work.
Yarn dyeing
Bottom colors for Bohus Stickning are dyed at the spinning mill, with which we have a close collaboration. When developing the bottom colors in the re-creation work, Pernille first dyes the bottom color based on the original Bohus Stickning design by hand, after which the spinnery can start developing its own color recipe at the spinnery for the same color.
All pattern yarns, except those included as base colors in other models, Pernille dyes by hand in the kitchen at home on the farm. for each knitting kit for a design, all yarns have been dyed according to a method we have developed based on original yarns for the design. During Bohus Knitting's active years, the yarns could differ slightly even with the same color number for the same design. Dyeing yarns is an art and involves precision and accuracy, just like all chemistry. Sometimes the dye powders we have used in the past to produce yarns for Bohus Stickning change, and we have to try again.
In hand dyeing, the angora yarn is slowly brought up to for temperatures of around 80-90 degrees celsius and then left to cool in the water. Yarns made from natural fibers such as angora and lambswool can withstand high temperatures provided they are not exposed to any dramatic changes in temperature.
Recreating designs for Bohus Stickning is a detective work and a puzzle, which can take a long time and is laborious. In order to produce a knitting instruction once a design has been recreated, the garment has to be knitted up and the yarn consumption weighed. You can read all about Bohus Stickning and our re-creation work under "Bohus Stickning".
Knitting with angora
Angora yarn is said to be a forgiving yarn, it falls softly and evens itself out. If you make a mistake, you can unravel it and knit it again and again. It is a durable, yet thin and lightweight yarn.
Your finished project may need some time before the angora wool emerges and creates the wonderfully soft and warming halo effect that angora is known for. Before the yarn is spun and twisted Two-ply, it is first carded, so that all the fibers lie in the same direction during the spinning process. When the yarn comes from the spinning mill, the angora fibers are spun between the lambswool fibers so it takes some time and handling for the angora to emerge. The angora emerges when you hand knit and even more so when you start wearing your finished garment. Knitted up, angora becomes more beautiful and softer over the years. Provided you are prepared to maintain your garment and handle it with care, of course, but it is not a big job. You then have a garment for life.
For those who knit a lot, it is positive that the work does not weigh so much, angora is comfortable to work with and puts less strain on the hands, wrists and shoulders.
Washing & care advice
The Angora rabbit's silky wool gave them the older breed name 'silk hare'. The wool is much more airy and thermally insulating than lambswool because the fibers are hollow, which also gives the wool its characteristic floating feel and the fluffiness that knitters refer to for as a "halo".
For angora, this means that the wool is very moisture and dirt repellent. Thus, it is not often that you need to wash angora garments.
Should you still feel the need, our advice is to wash by hand in 30°C hot water. Preferably use wool detergent, never regular detergent. Do not twist or rub, otherwise you risk tangling.
Rinse thoroughly after washing and add some vinegar or apple cider vinegar to the last rinse water to restore the wool after washing.
Gently squeeze the water out, roll the garment in a towel if necessary and press the towel lightly. Dry it lying down on a towel and shake it out when it is almost dry.
The fluffiness, or halo, of angora wool comes from body heat and use of the garment. The same happens after washing.
Store the garment lying down and let it rest after use. Feel free to hang the garment out for a while when the air is humid.
All rabbits are sheared by hand with small hand scissors by Pernille herself, so we can guarantee that only 6-7 cm long first class wool from the rabbit's sides and back is used for spinning yarn. In all the years since we started spinning yarn at the spinning mill from our own angora wool in 2013, we have had only 7% wastage after each round of spun yarn. Compared to the normally estimated 10-30% wastage rate during the spinning process, our wool is of very high quality.
However, with any fine-fiber wool, you have to expect some maintenance needs. Friction, heat and moisture can all contribute for to the knitted garment becoming a little knobbly, but you can easily pick these off with your fingers. Another contributing factor for to a linty garment is foreign particles settling in the fluffy angora wool and causing lint to form.
Our yarn gets a lot of praise, but some maintenance is needed to keep the product looking good.
