I have decided to part with some of my angora stash, it keeps growing, funny that – with app. 12 breeding rabbits what can you expect!
The fiber can be purchased at £3 pr 50 g, contact me for details.
Today I managed to get some good pictures of my angora rabbit fiber, showing the colours I have in my stash.
top: red and white, bottom: brown and black
My own rabbits are black and white, but sometimes I can get good fibers in other colours from other breeders, so always ask, and I will be happy to send you pictures of what is available.
Remember that colours vary on individual animals, so there will be lighter and darker versions of what you see here.
Here are some close-ups:
red and brown angora
These are both the traditional Danish (German) angora type, called type 1 from now on.
Type 1 angora
This is also the type 1 angora, white and black.
type 2 angora
This is the new type 2 angora, that I am going to concentrate on in the future.
The grey is a pure type 2, the white is type1/type2 crossbred.
Compare this with the picture above, and notice the lack of guard hairs!
And what is all this about type 1 and type 2???
Well, when angora rabbits got their first boom in Denmark around WWII, the fashion demanded a quite fluffy look to the angora garments, and the standards for judging the rabbits was set after the demands of the yarn producers, of course.
There has been several ups and downs in angora breeding since then, but the original standards remain the same. A lot of serious work has been done by breeders who has done a lifetime worth of improving the breed, so today the rabbits yield lots more.
The angora fur has two different types of hairs, the thin, soft undercoat, and the long straight guard hairs. It is the guard hairs that makes angora products look fluffy, and the undercoat that is responsible for the felting ability.
According to the standards angoras should have 5-10% guard hairs, the more the better. This is to prevent felting in the finished yarn, however, it makes you look like a candyfloss when wearing an angora garment.
All registered breeding animals has to be judged by these rules, and this is the official Danish angora that I name Type1.
Now, Nette, a friend of mine has for a number of years run a breeding program of her own, to produce angoras without guard hairs (or as little as possible), and she has come a long way with that project. This has only been possible because she has bred the angoras for herself and her spinning and knitting, and have never had the rabbits judged by authorized judges.
The result is that garments made of her angora does not look like candyfloss – it is warm and soft like all angora, but much more to my personal liking.
So I have got my new breeding animals from her, and plan to continue her brilliant work, by crossing her angoras with my selected Danish and Danish/satin crossbreds. First generation is looking very promising!
This is the Type 2 angora, and what I will be producing in the future, if all goes well, in black and white.
You can see some of Nette’s angora knitwear here:
http://lapinette.dk/Angora.htm
I will try to find more pictures of Type 1 versus Type 2 fiber, yarn and garment, to show the difference.
Hmm…perhaps I should do some controlled experiments, making for instance one mitten of type 1, and one of type 2, use them together and see how they differ? Or find some volunteers to do it?
However, I still have type 1 animals, and some type 1 wool in my stash, and that is the wool I may be able to get from other breeders.
