Guide to Local Goat Fiber Yarns

 

Although most people think of sheep when they think about yarn, in fact some of the most prized fibers come from goats. Elegant mohair comes from angora goats (not to be confused with angora, which comes from angora rabbits). Cashmere comes from goats, but not one particular breed. Any breed except angora goats can produce cashmere, which is combed from the goat’s undercoat and is prized for its softness.

New England is rich in farms producing high-quality goat fibers. Our staff “knitting correspondent” Cait DesRoches reviews the products of a few of these farms.

Chasworth Pottery and Farm Handspun Yarns

At Chasworth Pottery and Farm in St. Albans, Vermont, Marcia and Grey Hagwood raise both Angora goats and a rare breed of sheep called Leicester Longwools, which produce long, smooth, soft wool. Yarns made from this wool are unusually soft and smooth for a fiber with such strength. Chasworth yarns are also handsun, which means the yarns will soften slowly with use, making a garment that just gets better with time. Roving and raw fleece are also available.  In addition, the pottery produces handcrafted buttons to complement homeknits.

Martha
25% mohair, 75% lambswool
5 ¼ sts per inch, #6 needles

This mohair wool blend knits up very evenly and my finished swatch had a fine halo of mohair fuzziness;.  The yarn bloomed slightly in the wash.  My original gauge was 5 sts per inch before washing and 5 ¼ after washing.  The yarn stood up nicely to abuse, developing a few pills that were easily removed. 

This yarn would not be suited for a garment worn next to the skin.  It would make a wonderful, long wearing sweater.

Constance Twist
Mohair, Alpaca, Wool blend
3 ½ stitches per inch, number 10 needles

This is a bulky yarn consisting of two yarns twisted together.  It knits up into something that resembles a variant on a tweed, but with a varying gauge as the yarn is a thick/thin. Due to the twisted construction, the yarn was slightly splitty, but after I switched to a blunt tipped needle, the knitting was very smooth. 

My swatch softened up nicely after washing, with no change in gauge.  It stood up nicely to abuse, with no pilling.  The rubbing resulted in an even layer of fuzz over the top of the swatch.  This is a very hard wearing yarn, best suited to sweaters or other outer garments.

 

Mathias
35% Kid Mohair, 65% wool
5 ½ sts per inch, #6 needles

This was my favorite of the Chasworth Farm yarns.  The color is a deep brown and the mohair blend results in a nicely fuzzy swatch.  The yarn was very easy and felt good to knit with.  It did not bloom in the wash and dried into a swatch with a lovely drape.

I can see this yarn knit into an Aran style sweater with intricate cable work.  The yarn would not be appropriate for for a baby blanket or t-shirt, but it would make a gorgeous, hard wearing sweater.

 

Dancing Goat Cashmere
Dancing Goat sell both handspun and machine spun cashmere from Black Locust in Maine. Yvonne and Lance Taylor of Black Locust are committed to sustainable farming practices.

Cashmere
7 sts inch, #1 needles

This is a lovely, soft cashmere yarn.  It is beautiful and feels luxurious to knit with.  The yarn produce even stitches and did not bloom at all in the warm bath.  Because the yarn is cashmere, it did not stand up very well to my abuse and quickly developed pills.  This was not unexpected, cashmere is not a hard wearing fiber, but it should be taken into account when planning to use this yarn.  It will make a beautiful heirloom garment or one that the wearer would be willing to treat very gently.

 

Yellow Dog Farm
Yellow Dog Farm in South Hero, Vermont is a small, family farm which has been producing mohair yarn from their flock of angora goats since 2003.

75% Mohair, 25% Merino Wool
4 sts per inch, #9 needles

This is a wonderful yarn.  It produces even stitches and feels good to knit with.  The swatch did bloom slightly but shrunk back into shape nicely while drying. The yarn is also wonderfully soft and softens even more after a warm wash.

With such a soft yarn, I expected it to pill and fuzz significantly with abuse but it didn’t.  The stitches retained their definition even after being abused.  The combination of soft, hard-wearing yarn means that this yarn could have a wide range of uses from sweaters to baby blankets to children’s clothes. 

 

Roka Farm
Roka Farm provides cashmere yarn and roving, as well as horns and hides.

Cashmere
8 sts/inch, #2 needles

This is flat out the softest yarn that I have ever had the pleasure of knitting with..  While it was beautiful to knit with, it only became softer after a warm wash.  The gauge did not change after washing and the swatch dried with crisp, clear stitch definition.  Cashmere is not a hard-wearing yarn, and this yarn is no exception.  It quickly started to pill with rubbing, however, the pills were very easy to remove.  Continued rubbing resulted in a soft halo of fuzz on the swatch.

This yarn would make a wonderful scarf or other garment that could be worn directly against the skin.  It’s not something that you could wear everyday; it would wear too quickly.  But, it would be well worth it for something or someone special.

Stonesthrow Farm
At Stonesthrow Farm in Wallingford, Vermont, angora goats mingle with Icelandic, Shetland, Romney, Blueface Leicester, Border Leicester, and Cormo sheep. Yarns are created from mohair/wool blends. Roving, pelts and fleeces also available.

Northern Lights/Vintage II
52% Kid Mohair, 48% Rambouillet Wool
5 sts/inch, #6 needles

This mohair/wool blend was softer than I expected while knitting.  It is tightly spun and produces even, crisp stitches.  The yarn did not bloom in the wash and dried feeling slightly softer than it did before washing.  The dried swatch had a nice drape

This yarn held up very nicely to rubbing, developing very few pills.  The tight construction of the yarn made the pills that did develop were a little hard to pull off.  This yarn would be good for a sweater.  It’s soft enough for a scarf but I think it would look wonderful in an Aran sweater with intricate cable work.

Vintage V
60% Cormo Wool, 40% Mohair
6 sts/inch, #2 needles

This blend has a nice hand and knit up quickly into a swatch with crisp even stitches.  It emerged from its warm bath even softer than it went in.  One word of caution, this yarn blooms.  Pre-wash, the yarn knit up at 7 sts/inch on #2 needles.  After washing, the gauge measured 6 sts/inch.  That will be important to keep in mind when planning a project.

The yarn held up nicely to rubbing with very little pilling or fuzziness.  This stitches did lose a little of their definition, leading me to believe that with wear, this yarn would develop a soft look.  The yarn would make wonderfully warm, soft socks or a delicate lace shawl or scarf.

Handspun
100% Mohair
4 sts/inch, #5 needles

This yarn produced an interesting swatch.  It is handspun and consists of two strands wound together.  The construction made it slightly splitty but a switch to blunter needles fixed that problem.  My gauge was slightly even, also due to the yarn being handspun.  Finally, the yarn bloomed in its wash from a gauge of 5 sts/inch to 4 sts/inch after drying.

Not surprisingly, this yarn did not hold up well to the rubbing abuse.  It would be good for a garment that the wearer was willing to treat gently.  That said, the yarn is has a lovely look to it and would be excellent for an interesting looking accessory like a hat or scarf.