How to Spin Yarn From Rabbit Hair

If you enjoy producing your own luxury yarn for knitting or crocheting, spin the fur of angora rabbits. Angora rabbit hair is among the finest of all animal wools, so its delicate strands don't cause the itching that lambs wool does.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Angora rabbit hair
• Two wool carders
• Medium weight spindle
• Mild detergent
• Coat hanger

1. Obtain Angora rabbit hair from a reliable source. If you don't raise your own rabbits, make sure your supplier keeps rabbits free of mites, which weaken the fibers.

2. Card the rabbit hair with two wool carders. You must remove the stiff guard hairs from the desirable soft undercoat. Carding also helps the hairs to face in one direction so they are easier to work with.

3. Use a medium weight spindle, approximately 3 ounces, to begin spinning. Lighter spindles don't stay in motion and heavier spindles fall to the floor frequently.

4. Take some carded yarn in one hand and draw some fibers away from the mass with your free hand. Twist the fibers with your free hand to create a yarn leader.

5. Tie your handspun rabbit hair yarn to the drop spindle, just above the weight. Fluff out the end of your yarn leader and add tease rabbit hair from your hair mass together with the leader.

6. Turn your spindle clockwise and guide the free hair mass onto the yarn leader on the spindle. Rabbit hair is delicate and the yarn comes apart easily if you drop the spindle. If so, just fluff the lose ends and rejoin.

7. Set the twist of the yarn by soaking it in a tub full of warm water and mild detergent for 30 minutes. Roll the yarn in a towel to dry. Hang the yarn skein on a doorknob with a coat hanger on the bottom loop to straighten out any twists.