Possessed of one of the softest furs of any animal on earth, the Angora rabbit periodically sheds or molts its silky coat which can then be gathered and spun into yarn. More often though the fibers are shorn or plucked and sent to a mill for processing into yarn.
Angora fur has a hollow chambered fiber that provides natural insulation while allowing body moisture to escape, keeping the wearer dry as well as warm. It's eight to ten times warmer than wool but infinitely softer and lighter; in some cases even more so than cashmere.
The angora fur yarns that I use in my Pussy Caps come from many different places all over the world and I'm very careful to make sure that the fibers that go into these yarns are harvested from the rabbits in an ethical and respectful way so as to cause no harm or pain.
Angora yarn will halo over time, meaning that as the fibers begin to loosen up a little bit from the twist of the spinning they will rise up and form what looks like a delicate halo around the body of the yarn. This is further accented with body warmth which will cause some of the angora fibers to stand straight up as if they were bristling.
