# Spinning Angora .....



## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

This is my first time spinning it , going well so far .... but I forget, do you want to put extra twist in it ? 
Thinking I will ply it with 1 or 2 ply's of wool , I want to make a pair of fingerless gloves .....
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/susie-rogers-reading-mitts


...this is my Angora's first shedding( my first time too ! ) , I plucked it last winter , all willy-nilly spinning from a shoe-box !!


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

what I have been told is that "the shorter the fiber- the tighter the twist" (or the more twists per inch) to hold it all together. 

This will be a yarn you will want to thwack so it will bloom and get fuzzy for you! How exciting - I have a bunch downstairs but haven't made it down to angora on my to do list!


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

Thwacking yarn? As in smack it up against a wall or something????? 

So much to learn....


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Miz Mary I used to spin mine from the handful too. I love the more rustic look of angora that way the best. It link of like llama, alpaca, or mohair in that there isn't a lot of give and it is super slick. Add extra twist especially if you will be plying it. But you don't want too much. I think you will be fine.

I can't wait to see how it turns out.


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

I try to spin mine with the least amount of twist to keep it from shedding so it will be softer and fluffier. If it gets too much twist, you can lose all that angora softness.

Angora has very little stretch or "memory" to the yarn, so adding in wool or nylon will help it cling when the mitts are finished. I usually make scarves or shawls from it so it doesn't have to cling. 

You don't have to thwack the yarn, it will bloom on it's own as the items are knitted but if you want it to bloom early, you can thwack it. After washing the yarn to set the twist, just flap it on something a couple of times. But, it's not really necessary, it's angora, it's gonna bloom.

Nice color of bunny fiber! Is it from a fawn or a tortoiseshell? 

Which type of angora? English? Plucked/combed or sheared from the bunny?


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

agreeing with everyone else- this stuff will bloom no matter HOW you spin it and you don't want to OVERDO the twist- otherwise you will have barbedwire fuzz and thats no fun.

Our angora spinner in our group just spins it straight from the hand fulls- better yet- spin it straight of your bunny's back!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG63-4gtL8A[/ame]


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Hotcatz, she is a French / Satin , mostly French ..... thankfully, she is able to be plucked .... her color is a Copper Chestnut 

That is amazing, wish my bunny would sit like that !

This is her last year, when she was plucked...



And her now !....


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

What a lovely bun! What's her name? Miss Fuzzybun? Nice clear colors on her, too.

We have the sort which have fuzzy faces:



























This is Trinity, she's just a regular "agouti" or "chestnut" English angora and a pretty good sport. This was one of the first shearings done with the horse clippers. I'm not good at an even clip, I have no idea how dog groomers manage to make their clients look so nice afterwards! Maybe they aren't trying to get the fiber off in one long piece, though. Fortunately, Trinity was able to laugh about it afterwards. She did look pretty silly.

I think French would be easier to take care of. These only give about five to seven ounces of fiber three times a year, does your girl make a lot of fiber?

Sometimes they get the fiber spun off the bunny, but that's usually only for events and not as a routine thing. The bunnies get bored after awhile and either get restless or grumpy or pee on me.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Her name is Racetrack.....'cause thats her favorite game ! She is what I call a continual plucker ..... I havent taken all the fiber at once, when I see she is getting frizzy, about every few weeks, I pluck and store in a baggie ..... if it gets really hot this summer I plan to shear her to keep her cool ..... your bunny is adorable !! I cant believe your bun sits still for so long for a shearing....way cool !


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

Miz Mary - I was just spinning copper satin angora last night and this morning. Usually, I spin angora from any of the other angora rabbits, but this satin I'm working with is pretty slick so I'm doing a fast twist with light brake to get it just the way I want it. You can do a lot of different things when you make this into yarn. Try it all because you can use it a lot of different ways. I thwak, don't thwak, vigorously wash in real hot then very cold water, spin woolen, worsted, etc. There's lots of ways. When I was learning to spin angora on a wheel, I needed more twist to hold it together until I learned where I needed to be for it to hold together. It pulls apart pretty easy. If it keeps pulling apart, more twist


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

Its neat how the copper color stands out more when twisted. The pics don't do it justice. It looks metallic with the naked eye. Beautiful!

If you make 100% angora, I have some really neat patterns for fancy collars and sleeves I'm happy to share. (very old, public domain)


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

Well, with a name like RaceTrack, how can you expect her to stand still? Maybe if her name was changed to Serenity or Still Waters or something that doesn't go very fast? I suppose there's always Parking Lot, but that seems rather plebeian. Well, when she has babies there will a lot of scope for names!

We try to groom the bunnies when it's their nap time. Bunnies around here are busy in the mornings and busy in the evenings and kinda nap out during the day, especially around mid day. If we wake them up to groom them, they are pretty mellow during grooming time.

Wow! Copper Satin is lovely fiber! Shiny! Is it from your bunny? What are you going to make with the yarn?


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

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