Dreimal Mohair mit Wolle.

How to combine wool and mohair

Many of our models are knitted with one thread of wool and one thread of mohair (usually a thin thread of silk + mohair).

This thread makes the knitted piece softer, airier and fluffier - the fine mohair threads lie over the stitches like a soft focus, and the silk thread gives a fine shine.

How does a thread of mohair affect the knitted piece?

The mohair thread is very thin, but it still has a significant effect on the needle size and gauge when knitted with a thicker yarn: When we add mohair to our main yarn, we usually go at least one, sometimes two needle sizes higher we would use for the main yarn alone. The fluffy mohair fibers fill the stitch structure, making the knitted piece looser and lighter, but not full of holes. This means the material falls very nicely.

How can I add mohair if it isn't included in the instructions - and can I leave it out?

Basically, any model that is knitted with one thread according to the instructions can also be knitted with one thread of mohair. This changes the stitch pattern, structure and “feel” of the model; patterns become softer and less sharply defined. So here it all depends on your own taste!

If you prefer to knit a single-thread model with mohair, switch to a slightly thinner main yarn:

One pattern, three yarn combinations.

Here you can see three samples, exactly the same pattern three times, three different yarn combinations: At the top (beige) thick merino wool without mohair. In the middle a thread of thin, somewhat fluffy yarn (Ecopuno from Lana Grossa) with mohair, and at the bottom a thread of thin merino wool with mohair.

The sample piece at the top without mohair is very grippy and firm, the pattern is particularly sharply defined. The middle sample, on the other hand, is very light and fine because both threads are airy and fluffy. The third sample is roughly in between - it is more grippy than the sample made from the fleece yarn, but still softer and lighter than the sample made from pure merino wool.

So if the model is knitted with medium-thick merino wool, e.g. Cool Wool big from Lana Grossa, you switch to the next thinner alternative, here the Cool Wool, and add a thread of mohair - and then knit the model with the specified needle size. You can also knit a two-thread model with one thread if you can't tolerate mohair. To do this, leave out the mohair thread and use a slightly thicker single-threaded wool - it is important that you achieve the specified stitch sample.

When it comes to the amount of yarn, the yardage is crucial here: If you need 750 m of thicker wool for the single-thread knit sweater, for example, you need the same amount for the two-thread knit sweater, namely 750 m of the thinner wool and 750 m of mohair.

How do I choose the right shade of mohair?

Especially at the beginning, many people think that the mohair has to have the same color as the main yarn - and then don't know what to do if they can't find the desired color in both yarn qualities. This need not be! Here we will show you how many different colors of mohair can be combined with the main yarn, and what effect similar but also contrasting colors have.

We knitted some samples and, for example, knitted the same basic color with different mohair threads, but also different basic yarns with the same mohair. Below we show you our results:

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One base color, different shades of mohair

  • White base yarn, five shades of mohair

    Here we have knitted the same white yarn throughout, but with five different mohair threads.

    From bottom to top: soft pink, beige, yellow, rust red, black.

    The light pink and beige mohair merge with the white wool and give it a pink and beige shimmer respectively. Patterns also come into their own here.

  • White base yarn, five shades of mohair

    The yellow mohair thread is clearly visible, the rust red and black form a strong contrast.

    We wouldn't use these three combinations for complicated patterns, but they can make large stockinette knit areas more lively and interesting.

  • Rust brown alpaca wool, two colors of mohair

    Here we have combined a thread of rust-brown alpaca wool with two different but relatively similar colors of mohair:

    In the lower half we knitted a rust-red thread of mohair, while in the upper half we knitted light brown mohair.

    The difference is hardly visible. The red mohair makes the alpaca wool shine red, the brown mohair mutes the color even more.

  • Rust brown alpaca wool, two colors of mohair

    Here is the sample with the two different shades of mohair on a sweater that was knitted from the same rusty brown alpaca wool but without any mohair.

    Since the alpaca wool itself is already fluffy, the mohair makes little difference here. The color can change, as you can see in the sample, and again we knitted the sample with mohair with thicker needles so that the stitch pattern is looser and airier.

  • Three different colors together

    We knitted this sweater with three completely different colors - gray alpaca wool, brown merino wool and beige mohair.

  • Three different colors together

    In the first rounds you can still see the individual colors clearly. In the finished sweater, the colors have merged into a lively unity across the large area.

  • Mohair and Merino in the same color

    Here we have the classic case again: one thread Merino and one thread Mohair, both from the same manufacturer and in the same color number. The colors are still not exactly the same, as the different fibers absorb the colors differently, but you still get a very uniform stitch pattern, with a slight silky sheen and fluffy mohair.

  • The same base yarn, with and without mohair

    Here you can clearly see what makes a thread mohair: the jacket and hat were knitted from exactly the same base yarn.

    We knitted a thread of brown mohair into the jacket and the hat was knitted in one thread without mohair using needle size 2.5.

    The mohair has colored the jacket significantly darker, and here we used needle size 3.5, so the jacket is knitted more coarsely than the hat.

One mohair - three different basic colors

  • Sample A

    Old pink alpaca and old pink mohair.

  • Sample B

    Dark pink alpaca and old pink mohair.

  • Sample C

    Light pink alpaca and dusty pink mohair.

Here we have knitted three different base yarns, each with the same ball of mohair.

Samples A and C worked well - the mohair muted the bright pink of sample A a little, but colored the light pink tone of the merino wool in sample C a little more strongly. The hole pattern is clearly visible in both samples.

Sample B, on the other hand, is more difficult: the very dark wool forms a strong contrast with the light mohair and a very moving, restless stitch pattern. In large areas knitted in stockinette stitch, this combination can make the knitted piece a little livelier and more interesting - but the delicate hole pattern is completely lost here and was so difficult to recognize when knitting that a few mistakes crept in. This combination is therefore not recommended for patterns.

Further examples

You can see that basically anything is possible, depending on your taste: Do you just want to add a little fluff to the knitted piece, but change the color as little as possible - or bring a lot of life and movement to the material with a mohair thread in a contrasting color?

How you decide also depends on the model. Complicated, delicate stitch or hole patterns are quickly swallowed up by contrasting yarn combinations. Here I would use mohair in a relatively similar color. Stockinette stitch pieces that quickly seem boring can be made more interesting with different shades of mohair.

In the end, which mohair you use plays a minor role. Virtually every manufacturer and every wool store carries at least one type of mohair.

Yarns from different manufacturers sometimes have different characteristics: the silk content can vary, some manufacturers also mix in synthetic fibers (polyester or similar), some types are a little softer than others or shed more hair, there are different certificates for origin, animal welfare, etc Manufacturing.

Here you have to decide for yourself which mohair yarn you use - but it is by no means necessary to use the exact yarn from our specified manufacturer; it can be easily replaced without fundamentally changing the knitted piece.

To our instructions with mohair